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An Adventure in Excellence: |
E. Todd |
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A Community Portrait |
Revised, 1999 |
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An Example of a Caring Community as a Completed Community Portrait |
Public Schools as Caring Communities
"Because we care . . .public schools
must be caring communities."
Rationale for Care Statements: . . . . . . . . . .
"If we are to become a civilized community we must be committed to becoming civilized human beings. The responsibilities of civilized behavior belong to everyone whose lives are affected by the public schools." (Todd, 1995).
Definitions: "A civilized community. . . . " "To care. . . . "
"A caring partner. . . . " "A caring community. . . ."
Consequences: If the human beings whose lives are affected by the school accept these definitions the following consequences will occur at __________________________:
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"Whatever we do in a public school depends upon what we think civilized human beings are capable of accomplishing in their lives. The goals we seek, the things we do, the judgments we make, even the experiments we are willing to try, are determined by our beliefs about the nature of a caring individual and his/her capabilities." (Todd, 1985, 1995).
1. A. Belief: If we believe that caring human beings are uniquely different--in physical growth, in intellectual power, in social maturity, in emotional stability, in aesthetic sensitiveness, in readiness to become caring peacemakers, in any human attribute-- then every effort should be made to facilitate civilized growth in those human beings whose lives are affected by the public school. (Todd, 1963, 1995).
B. Needed Actions:
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2. A. Belief: If we believe.....
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B. Needed Actions:
(1.).....
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as a Caring Community
A public school has the potential for becoming a caring community when the following conditions exist:
(1.) The system of educational ideas facilitates the development and continued growth of caring communities.
(2.) Professional and support personnel are employed not only for their professional competence but also for their potential for continued growth as caring human beings.
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"If we were starting from scratch to build a curriculum, I would suggest organizing it entirely around centers or themes of care: care for self, care for intimate others, care for strangers and distant others, care for nonhuman animals, care for plants and the living environment, care for objects and instruments, and care for ideas. But we cannot start from scratch. Further, several centers of care are compatible with existing subjects: There are students who are deeply interested in literature, art, mathematics, or some other academic subject. In the interest of compromise and practicality, then, I would suggest a secondary school curriculum that is divided equally between the subjects as we now know them and courses devoted to themes of care. (I will not discuss elementary school curriculum here because the public has always been reasonably receptive to humane alternatives in the elementary school. It is the secondary school curriculum that most needs reform.)" Noddings, 1992.
The activation and successful implementation of a community portrait provides an opportunity for appropriate curriculum development activities. The implications for elementary and secondary schools are as follows:
Elementary Schools:
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Secondary Schools:
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"The curriculum can be defined as the planned educational experiences offered by a school which can take place anywhere at any time in the multiple context of the school, e.g. public schools as caring communities, as scholarly communities." . . . . (Todd, 1965, 1992).
"The physical boundaries of civilized classrooms exist only in the minds of those human beings whose lives are affected by the public schools." (Todd, 1956,1995). "Teaching and learning can take place anywhere at any time (Todd, 1963). "The world is the classroom." (Todd, 1969). The universe is the classroom." (Todd, 1981,1995).
Since we can only speculate about the unlimited possibilities for educational experiences which could promote civilized behavior in the third millennium we believe that future classrooms can be described as follows:
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"Imagine all the people whose lives are affected by the school . . "
Decision-making Implications/Consequences of the Imagine Statement:
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(2.) . . . .
(3.) . . . .
Since there are different groups of (political constituencies) there are political risks for these persons responsible for the development and implementation of the community portrait. These risks are as follows:
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Related links:
Center for Successful Fathering, Inc.
Caring Parents of children with emotional, behavioral, and mental disorders