Men, Teaching, and Caring

Abstract

This article continues and extends the conversation regarding an ethic of care as reflected by two male elementary school teachers. It seeks to discover ways in which these men approach and practice their teaching that demonstrate the ethic of care traditionally linked with women. This article looks in depth at two male teachers in an effort to understand the ways in which being a male elementary school teacher alters the construction and performance of masculinity in a school and how this in turn affects the school in its attempts to create a more democratic society and reach its prosocial goals for its students. As the study progressed, it was evident the ways in which (although the terminology was different) the philosophy and practice of these two teachers reflected many of the elements of an ethic of care.