1. Introduction
Pedagogical tact has garnered considerable interest within educational research due to its focus on the nuanced interplay between theoretical knowledge and the dynamic realities of practice. Originating with Johan Friedrich Herbart’s (1806) initial conceptualisation, tact was framed as a mediator that links philosophical and psychological insights with the immediate demands of the classroom. More recent developments by Max van Manen (1990, 1991, 2014, 2015) highlight how thoughtlessness—an educator’s spontaneous and creative engagement—converges with thoughtfulness, the reflective stance enabling deeper understanding of learners’ experiences and contexts. 

Yet, several scholars (Giorgi, 2006; Dahlberg, 2014; Finlay, 2014) have raised concerns about the conceptual vagueness and methodological feasibility of thoughtfulness,even  because this concept is not recognized  in complex, multicultural learning environments. Against this backdrop, the concept of resonanz (Rosa, 2019) emerges as a potentially more robust lens through which to view the relational and affective dimensions of education. By situating pedagogical tact in a broader social-theoretical framework, resonanz foregrounds the intersubjective, responsive quality of teaching and learning, thereby promising greater analytical clarity and cross-cultural relevance.

2. Research Question and Objectives
This study is guided by a central research question: How can Rosa’s notion of resonanz address the limitations of van Manen’s concept of thoughtfulness and, in doing so, refine our understanding of pedagogical tact across diverse European and international contexts? Building upon this question, three specific objectives emerge. First, the paper examines the historical and philosophical underpinnings of tact—from Herbart’s seminal writings to van Manen’s phenomenological approach—in order to elucidate the conceptual shifts that have shaped contemporary understandings of educational practice (Kenklies, 2023). Second, it critically assesses the challenges posed by the somewhat elusive nature of thoughtfulness, as observed by  Giorgi (2006), Dowling (2007), Dahlberg (2014), and Finlay (2014). Third, it explores how the integrative framework of resonanz might offer a more operationally viable concept, enabling educators to engage with learners in ways that foster both relational depth and adaptive responsiveness (Rosa, 2016, 2019).

3. Conceptual Framework
Drawing on phenomenological and relational theories of learning, this paper positions tact within an interpretive nexus where embodiment, spontaneity, and reflection intersect. Van Manen (1990, 2014) underscores the importance of thoughtlessness as a moment of immediate, embodied response—a stance particularly crucial in spontaneous teaching scenarios, where formal lesson plans may not fully capture the experiential realities at hand. Thoughtfulness, in turn, represents the reflective attitude that allows educators to discern the deeper meanings embedded in pedagogical encounters. However, as critics such as Dowling (2007) and Finlay (2014) contend, van Manen’s evocative language, while illuminating, can lack methodological specificity, leaving practitioners uncertain about how to cultivate or measure this disposition in real-world settings.
In contrast, Rosa’s (2019) concept of resonanz frames human interaction as a continuous process of mutual attunement, responsiveness, and co-creation of meaning. Applied to education, resonanz casts tact not merely as a personal capacity but as an ongoing relational state wherein teacher and learner co-participate in forming and transforming each other’s perspectives. This resonates with aesthetic-ecological approaches that emphasise sensing, perceiving, and valuing lived experiences (Biesta, 2017, 2022). By integrating elements of reflexivity with a structured awareness of emotional and environmental feedback, resonanz reimagines tact as an embodied practice that is both context-sensitive and universally communicable.
In conclusion, by redefining tact as an attuned interaction rather than merely an individual skill, this perspective resonates with international calls for inclusive pedagogies that accommodate diverse learners. Through the lens of resonanz, educators can strive to cultivate environments where spontaneity and reflection converge in ways that honour cultural specificity, promote engagement, and foster genuine understanding—reflecting a truly global approach to the “art of teaching.”

This study adopts a two-tiered methodological strategy to investigate how resonanz might refine the concept of thoughtfulness within pedagogical theory. First, a conceptual analysis compares Johan Friedrich Herbart’s (1806) foundational ideas on tact, Max van Manen’s (1990, 1991, 2014, 2015) phenomenological framework of thoughtfulness and thoughtlessness, and Hartmut Rosa’s (2019) theory of resonanz. Drawing on scholarly critiques (Giorgi, 2006, Dahlberg, 2014; Finlay, 2014), this phase highlights where van Manen’s approach offers depth and where it remains ambiguous, thereby setting the stage for viewing resonanz as a potentially more precise alternative. Second, rather than relying on empirical data from real classrooms, the study presents a series of philosophical “case studies” in the form of carefully crafted metaphors (such as the organist, presented in Kant, 1798, and Merleau-Ponty, 1945). Each metaphor is designed to distill essential elements of tact and resonanz by highlighting key moments of embodied, relational and ecological engagement between an educator and his/her context. By examining these metaphors through the lens of resonanz, the analysis shows how a shift from an exclusively introspective focus on reflective depth toward an ongoing interplay of mutual attunement can enrich our understanding of tact. Together, the two methodological components – conceptual synthesis and metaphorical exemplification – illuminate how an attunement-based approach may resolve longstanding ambiguities in the literature on pedagogical tact, fostering a more coherent and broadly applicable framework for interpreting educational encounters.

The core argument here is that the concept of thoughtfulness as employed by Van Manen could be replaced by Rosa’s resonanz. This shift constitutes a further semantic transition: whereas, in Herbart, the educational situation was initially located in a middle ground between theory and practice, Van Manen’s interpretative framework draws our attention to the practical relevance of the pedagogical moment, opening a new dyad between a perceptual-hermeneutic reflexivity (thoughtfulness) and a creative instinct embodied by the educator (thoughtlessness). Now, with respect to the first concept—which remains somewhat opaque—it will be shown (1) how the concept of tact is linked to that of resonanz, via a case study; (2) in what ways the construct of resonanz affords a sharper focus on the dimension of feeling, perceiving, and the aesthetic-ecological perspectives through which one might experience education and formation (Rovea, 2024, Bonafede 2025). The final objective, therefore, is to elucidate the transition from thoughtfulness to resonanz, which, in the present author’s view, offers a more coherent and robust model for sensing the quality of the pedagogical moment and acting accordingly. One might liken this transition to moving from a hazy internal monologue to a vibrant exchange of echoes and reverberations, in which both teacher and learner find themselves in dynamic interaction with the educational context. Through resonanz, tact is enriched by an attunement that reveals new depths of meaning, ultimately allowing for a more profound and adaptive approach to pedagogical practice. Finally, analyzing this framework, resonance and tact shows their relevance for an affirmative pedagogy (Hodgson, Vlieghe, Zamojski, 2017), which starts first of all from a link with sensoriality and rediscovers the perceptual declination of knowledge (as proposed by Böhme, 2018, or Griffero, 2020).

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