Caring as a Teacher Virtue: Objections, Responses, and Affirmation

The aim of this study is to prove that caring, as conceptualized by Nel Noddings in her works on care ethics, must be a teacher virtue for students to achieve their potential. Several criticisms of caring as a teacher virtue are presented and rebutted. These criticisms include that caring is a private affair, teachers should focus on subject teaching, not every teacher has a caring character, not every student needs to be cared for, male teachers have caring anxiety, caring is a heavy burden, and caring will dominate teachers' professional viewpoints. Additionally, several positive reasons to support caring as a teacher virtue are given: (i) Caring makes education more decent; (ii) caring improves students' academic achievements and positive behaviors; (iii) caring is a win-win strategy; and (iv) caring establishes a connection to being. By way of debunking the criticisms and offering evidence for the positive benefits of caring, the result of this research affirms that caring must be a virtue for teachers.

關鍵字

caring relationship ； teacher-student relationship ； rights vs. virtue ； care ethics ； Noddings

並列摘要

本研究之目的在於證成諾丁斯所構思之關懷倫理的概念應成為教師的德行，使學生得以發揮其潛能。首先，本文陳述並駁斥數項對於關懷做為教師德行的質疑。這些質疑包含關懷應屬私領域之事、教師應著重於科目教學、並非每位教師均有關懷的個性、並非每位學生均需要關懷、男性教師會有關懷的焦慮、關懷是沉重的負擔、以及關懷將宰制教師專業觀。其次，本文提出支持關懷應為教師之德的數項理由：關懷使教育更合宜、關懷促進學生學業成就與正向行為、關懷為雙贏策略、以及關懷可建立和存有之聯結。最後，透過對反對意見之駁斥與提出支持的證據，研究結果肯定關懷應為教師之德。

並列關鍵字

關懷關係；師生關係；權利與德行；關懷倫理學；諾丁斯

參考文獻

Pintrich, P. R. (2003). A motivational science perspective on the role of student motivation in learning and teaching context. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(4), 667-686.

Google Scholar

Pogue, L. L., & AhYun, K. (2006). The effect of teacher nonverbal immediacy and credibility on student motivation and affective learning. Communication Education, 55(3), 331-344.