Noddings: A Voice from the Present and Past

Abstract

Nel Noddings is best known for her pioneering work in feminist ethics and philosophy of education. She came to national and international attention in 1984 with her book, Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Education (2013a). Noddings’ ethics of care replaces the traditional Western framing of ethics in terms of autonomous moral agents seeking to maximize utility or perform obligations for their own sake with situated social beings in face-to-face everyday relations with others. She argues that relationships, and not individuals, are ontologically basic (2013a, p. xxi). In the ethics of care, human encounter and affective response form the foundation of ethics, and moral relationships are organized in terms of connections, rather than traditional conceptions of freedom. Noddings’ distinctive ethical voice and commitment to improving education blend in her work on school reform. This work articulates educational aims grounded in an ethic of care and school practices that align with not only cultivating the interests and aspirations of individual students, but also that align with the moral and civic purposes of education. Noddings is an award-winning author and editor of over 20 books and 200 articles across fields as varied as philosophy of education, ethics, feminism, school reform, religious studies, peace studies, and social policy.