1. Identify new insights and ethical understandings you gained from exploring the artist’s expression of the ethic of Care.
The overall theme of community and trust in the artist’s statement reminded me of how this can be translated to our classroom spaces. My number one goal is to keep our students safe, so that they can reach their highest potentials. It is important to create a safe and welcoming classroom environment from the beginning, so that students feel safe to communicate and take creative risks. Last semester, I had a fairly small class of around 16 students and we started each day off with an icebreaker question during attendance. At first, the students were a bit hesitant to answer but overtime, they began bonding with one another over shared interests. It became one of their favourite parts of the class, and by the end, they were suggesting questions of their own. I am fortunate to have had a group that really cared and looked after one another by the end of term.
2. Explore the significance of the artist’s expression of the ethic of Care for your own professional practice.
The saying “it takes a village to raise a child” is what came to mind when I looked at this artwork. I believe that in order to really incorporate the ethic of Care into my professional practice, collaboration with all school stakeholders needs to happen. This means communication and support from families, administration, and board members. Though a classroom teacher is limited to the resources that they are given, something we can always practice is compassion.
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