Noddings took this concept a step further by clarifying that...

Noddings took this concept a step further by clarifying that an educator has a moral obligation and responsibility to actively care for their students and embody the values they want to instill in them by virtue of the educator’s position as a role model (Noddings, 1984).

She goes as far as to say that the one-caring (the educator) must “receive” the cared for (the student) into themself by being “engrossed” with their goals and needs; this motivational displacement involves temporarily preferring the student to one’s self (Goldstein, 1999, p.656). On the part of the cared for they are expected to somehow acknowledge or reciprocate this care in every caring encounter (Goldstein, 1999, p.657), but are not ordered to (Noddings, 1984, p. 72).

In fact, this reciprocity could involve the teacher being directly acknowledged or simply witnessing the cared for’s “happy growth” Consequently, Noddings (1984) has differentiated between naturally caring and ethically caring for one’s students; the former is not a reliable form of care because the educator might simply not naturally care for or be drawn to a particular student, while the latter involves an active, professional choice to care acknowledging an ethical obligation.

Ethical caring is an action, not a quality. A student/teacher relationship based on ethical caring is more important because naturally caring for all of one’s students may or may not occur. Also, people are naturally more drawn to those they are similar to in some way, in which case natural caring would not suffice for equitable guidance of students. Educators should choose to care in strategic ways, irrespective of whether natural caring develops over time or not.

Ethical caring demonstrates a sincere dedication on the part of educators to help students grow, whether they are having a bad day or not, whether they “like” the students or not; this choice requires a genuine belief in children’s ability to succeed, which empowers the teacher and student throughout the learning process. Such a practical and tailored approach to each child helps students develop intellectually and morally.

While this caring approach seems ideal in explaining what should be done, one question is left unanswered, how do we motivate practitioners to care?