The main purpose of the present study is to explore how the ethical relationship between teacher and student in the classroom can be described and understood from the approach of the French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas. I also examine the theoretical concepts that can be derived from Lévinas’ ideas in order to be able to interpret the manner in which this ethical relationship manifests itself in the classroom. The empirical data was generated through observation of the kind often found in ethnographical studies like microanalyses using a variety of digital techniques. I also made use of direct observation and stimulated recall interviews in close connection with the classroom events. The study was carried out at two Swedish schools and the focus was placed on classroom practice and ethical communication in the classroom. Facial expressions, eye contact, gestures and other non-verbal communication was of great interest. Through microanalysis of classroom interaction I have attempted to uncover what exists under the surface of the classroom communication in more detail. According to Lévinas, ethics is understood as a relation of the infinitive responsibility to the Other person. In a pedagogical context, we may speak of the ”first meeting” face-to-face before any categorization of the other individual is formulated. The key concepts are Saying (in relation to the Said), the Other, the Face, asymmetrical relationships and alterity. In their encounter with the empirical data collected, the concepts have been freighted with edagogical significance. These original ethical thoughts of Lévinas, much of which challenge what has previously been taken for granted, can provide new insight into educational work. This investigation has provided other insights into the ethical dimension of education, especially as the teacher-student relationship is concerned. The close connection between vulnerability and interdependence in the teacher-student relationship, and communication as self-exposure, are important findings that can help teachers and pedagogues to understand the ethical dimension of the educational encounter with the student. Throughout the study, a relational ethical perspective has been developed as an alternative interpretative tool for analyzing and reflecting upon the teacher-student relationship.

The main purpose of the present essay is, based on Emmanuel Levinas’s ethics of responsibility,to gain new knowledge about the teaching relationship and the relationship between the selfand the Other in that relation. The overarching question in this essay is what characterizes theteaching relationship in the Epistle to the Philemon from a Levinasian perspective. The purposeis also to develop theoretical tools and models from this perspective to interpret the teachingrelationship in the Epistle to the Philemon and which can also be applied to the teachingsituations in different churches. The questions to which I sought answers included: Whatconditions or prerequisites are present in the teaching relationship? What conditions createopportunities for the recipient to learn something from the Other? How does the ethicalrelationship in the language of the letter to Philemon manifest itself? What theoretical conceptsand models of practice can be developed from a Levinasian perspective for interpreting theteaching relationship that can be applied to teaching in a church context?According to Levinas, ethics is understood as a relation of the infinitive responsibility to theOther person. The underlying assumption in my thesis is that teaching is, above all else, anethical relationship. In this essay I have used a Levinasian approach about the Subject (or Ego)to come into being in its encounter with the other person. In other words, the relationship isfoundational to the existence of the Subject. The key concepts in this essay are intentionality,Saying (in relation to the Said), the Other, the Face, Levinas’s ethical subject, asymmetricalrelationship, and substitution. In their encounter with the data in the letters to Philemon, theconcepts have been freighted with educational significance.An important conclusion based on the material is that the didactic relationship is constituted asan asymmetrical relationship where the persons are related to each other in a double asymmetry.This two-way asymmetry requires a double trust in the didactic relationship, which isindispensable for all pedagogical practice, not least in church contexts. Throughout the study,a relational ethical perspective has been developed as an alternative interpretative tool foranalyzing and reflecting upon the didactic relationship.