This study mainly emphasized the research of Noddings' caring in education emphasizing true human relationship and the connectivity among people as an alternative proposal for an educational theory focusing on rationality and principle. In addition, c...
This study mainly emphasized the research of Noddings' caring in education emphasizing true human relationship and the connectivity among people as an alternative proposal for an educational theory focusing on rationality and principle. In addition, caring in education was examined, focusing on the possibility that caring in education could be the new curriculum that every student was able to pursue excellence. Based on that, this study discussed if caring in education could be alternative plans for traditional liberal education, and make a contribution to true community education and the results are shown below after examining how educational courses for equity and excellence practical contents and methods of school education for care community were meaningful?
Firstly, the concepts of ethics of caring, the theoretical backgrounds of Noddings' caring in education, were analyzed and the arguments of ethics of justice and ethics of caring were reexamined. Namely, as ethics of caring and ethics of justice should be considered as an integrated aspect rather than a confronted aspect, a disputant constituted 'rationality of caring'. In other words, rational and emotional education is required in order to practice caring based on correct inferences that help make correct moral judgments, classify diverse emotional concepts, and decide when and to whom to practice and what kind of caring should be provided.
Secondly, Noddings insisted that the main aim of education is to nurture people who provide a good care for others and it should not pursue only the adequateness of academic knowledge without morality. Therefore, this study explored 'caring in education' as care community taking care of self and the inner circle as well as providing care of others, refuting Hirst's liberal education that esteems the substance of knowledge and the possibility of verification while slackening in human instinct, emphasizing the forms of knowledge based on public objective criterions such as the concept of knowledge, thesis and etc. Since human beings have a wide range of differences in the natural propensity, she argued that same educational courses are not beneficial for every student. If the meaning of equality changes from traditional view that considered the meaning of equality as the equality of input and 'identity' to new view that every student is equal in the consequences of academic achievements and if students are required to have the same consequences regardless of their environmental differences such as family backgrounds, races, genders and etc, it is not logically reasonable.
Noddings mentioned that it should be considered sufficient interests in and equal opportunities are provided to students with low scores in traditional liberal arts while taking interests in students who have academic abilities. In addition, although lots of public institutions offer standard curriculum and emphasize excellence, it degenerated into the education that has low levels of academic achievement and fails to achieve excellence and it has a serious problem with equality, encouraging mass production of low academic achievers. Therefore, as an alternative plan, practical and concrete care curriculum should be suggested. Therefore, ability grouping can be suggested as an example of the constitution of care curriculum for equality and excellence. In addition, the education that pursue both excellence and equality developed based on the spirit of caring needs the desire for educational achievements and more divisions of educational resources as rewards considering the greatest benefit of the least advantaged. It is associated with educational practice of the ethics of justice that represents the maximum benefit of the least advantaged and coincides with the basis of Noddings' other-respect and caring.
Furthermore, the previous perspective of caring has inquired based on the interconnection of long-term and unequal relations between a career and a cared-for. 'Self-caring' should be preceded before caring others. Therefore, this study demonstrates the necessity of self-caring and self-esteem education as the components and the education for caring for self.
Lastly, Noddings emphasized the community character of moral education as moral education of caring required in living and building relationship with people is considered as the business of a whole community, not as a task conducted exclusively at home, church or school. Therefore, multicultural caring in education that a variety of social elements such as races, peoples, nationalities, genders, social classes, religions and etc coexist in harmony are required. In addition, as a practical method of the education for care community, mulitculturalism caring in education is required in order to establish multicultural community that a variety of social elements coexist in harmony. And since voluntary activities emphasize children's moral behavior and practice, it has an important worth during the process of caring in education. From the caring perspective, voluntary activities should be conducted under the circumstances that students are positive beings that have potential to solve substantial problems of home, school and local community. It will make a contribution to preparing an opportunity to change current educational perspectives and school structures that put stress on the inherit of propositional knowledge by intellectual tradition.