Sensitivity of Experienced English Teacher Educators: Autopoiesis of Communication through Emotional Attunement

Abstract

This paper clarifies the following concepts that are mutually related: sensibility, understanding, reason (Kant, 2010), emotion, feeling/core-consciousness, extended consciousness, image, language (Damasio, 2011), sensitivity (Bohm, 2013), emotional attunement (Seikkula & Trimble, 2005), and autopoiesis (Luhmann, 1995). These concepts are systematically represented in a single figure. It then analyzes the actions of three distinguished teacher educators of English teachers, and concludes that each (1) has high sensitivity not only in sensibility but also in understanding and reason; (2) skillfully induces emotional attunement among learners; (3) assists the autopoiesis of communication among learners; and (4) regards learners’ unexpected development from the communication as their professional reward.