Teaching Themes of Care

I believe the teaching themes of care are we really should seriously think about and I think Noddings shows very relevant examples which we can use as a model. In organizing interdisciplinary units on themes of care, I like the variation on his second way where the particular themes which are focused on are up to the teacher and their interests. I believe to effectively implement these strategies into the classroom, the teacher must be wholly invested in the topic. They must show interest and be prepared to handle the big questions that are are sure to come up. I believe this is especially important because if interest is not shown or lessons are unorganized, there is the definite risk of students becoming apathetic towards these important issues.

While I simply don’t see the complete reorganization of the school curriculum that Noddings hopes for, I think there are certainly things we can do which are more achievable and more within our control. The discussion above about organizing interdisciplinary units is surely possible without a complete reorganization of the curriculum. More easily however, and more importantly, in my opinion, is simply modeling the ethic of care. While, as secondary school teachers, we may not see each of our students for as much time as elementary school teachers, I believe we can still have an impact on our students through how we show are care. I think that if we are able to demonstrate a genuine care for all of our students, not only are we being a positive role model but I believe they will naturally be be more open to the topics of caring you choose to share with them.