Pedagogies of Affection: The Role of Exemplariness and Emulation in Learning Processes—Extracurricular Islamic Education in the Fethullah Gülen Community in Istanbul

Abstract

Based on a fieldwork experience of cohabitation withinGülen community's housing system, the article analyzes the way older students act as both role models and sympathetic guides for younger students’ spiritual maturation process. In contrast to some recent learning theories that emphasize the active role of apprentices, the focus here is on educators’ specific pedagogical interventions through guidance and emulation, and the role these play in young people's learning processes, particularly within religious contexts. In so far as the paper draws attention to the implicit side of education, it also aims to overcome the conscious/unconscious polarity to which the debate onhabitusruns the risk of being reduced.