ERIC Number: EJ794731
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 15
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1047-8248
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Identity-Centered Multicultural Care Theory: White, Black, and Korean Caring
Kang, SoYoung
Educational Foundations, v20 n3-4 p35-49 Sum-Fall 2006
The author introduces this article by saying that there is a very intimate relationship between how caring the teacher is and the knowledge that students gain. Actually, it is not limited to student-teacher relationships only but also student-student relationships. Knowledge is something people acquire as they build relationships and have interactions with others and the world around them. When people talk about someone becoming a "knower", they tend to focus mainly on the pure knowledge they gain, instead of looking at the journey toward that knowledge. Care theory plays an essential role in the process of learning and the author argues that teachers or other care givers should pay close attention to this process rather than focusing mainly on result centered education measured by grade point averages. The author theorizes that many teachers used to think it was inappropriate to notice the race of their students, because popular theory dictated that teachers focus more on student uniformity and less on their uniqueness in order to teach effectively. This article, however, expresses the author's desire to encourage teachers, here in the U.S. where there is such great ethnic and cultural diversity, to become more color conscious in their classrooms and acknowledge the differences of defining caring between White, African American, and other ethnicities in order to become a more effective, caring teacher. As a native Korean, the author decides to include Korean perspectives of caring since it brings yet another meaning to caring due to the influence of Confucianism embedded in the society. In this paper, the analysis and comparisons of White, African American, and Korean perspectives of caring across different boundaries are provided, along with the author's concrete explanation of care theory, and another perspective. The author concludes by saying that teachers need to teach students to value other peoples' differences, and the importance of of multicultural caring.
Descriptors: Multicultural Education, African American Culture, Cultural Pluralism, Ethics, Moral Values, Interpersonal Communication, Teacher Student Relationship, Peer Relationship, Interpersonal Competence, Whites, Korean Americans, Racial Identification, Identification (Psychology)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A