An Empirical Exploration of the Who, What, and how of School Care

Abstract

This study examines how care exists in one alternative high school for students at risk of dropping out. Specifically, this article empirically explores who is involved in caring relationships at the school, what those relationships look like, and how the organization of the school affects the existence of care. Data were collected during the 2000–2001 school year and included observations, faculty interviews, and in-depth interviews with 16 students. From these data, a construct of care was created that includes five caring relationships, pervasive elements that exist throughout these relationships, and specific structural and ideological aspects that enable the existence of care. Suggestions for how schools can organize to create caring communities and directions for further research are also discussed.

Practicing a Professional Ethic: Leading for Students’ Best Interests

“…What is known currently about the topics of values, ethics, and moral leadership in the field of educational leadership pertains to how practicing educational leaders approach, or should approach, decision making and their consequent actions along various ethical frameworks, that is, justice, care, critique, community, administrative virtue, and other moral vantage points (Schussler and Collins 2006;Starratt 1991).…”

Developing Teachers' Capacities to Create Caring Relationships with Students: A Case Study of a Gandhi-Inspired Private School in India

“…Both Schussler and Collins (2006) and Cassidy and Bates (2005) found that caring was embedded into the culture of the alternative high schools studied by both pairs of researchers. Schussler and Collins stated that structures such as school and class size and the core school value of caring "created opportunities for individuals…to act in caring ways" (p. 1484).…”

“…Rather than give the details of each study due to the similarity of methods, the results have been categorized into three categories: (a) personal, (b) socialemotional, and (c) academic (Schussler & Collins, 2006).…”

“…Factors Affecting Teachers' Ability to Create Caring Relationships with Students Schussler and Collins (2006) stated: "…that students want to be cared for, seems so obvious that it is trite" (p. 1489). Yet, the students at the alternative high school where they conducted their research told them time and again that they had not felt cared for at any other school except this one.…”

“…Commitment to caring teacher-student relationships is a key factor in developing teachers' capacity to create these relationships (Berkowitz & Bier, 2005a), and must stem in part from the school community (Schaps, 2009;Schussler & Collins, 2006) and the teachers themselves (Ellerbrock & Kierfer, 2010;Minseong & Schallert, 2011;Noddings, 1984). Glassberg and Oja (1981) found that both training of in-service teachers and a supportive school environment were required to significantly raise a teacher's moral sensibility.…”