Setting
- Professional stratification is a legacy and continuing tool of structural oppression within the academy
- While our experiences are particular, the circumstances are endemic
Ethic of care framework
Why ethic of care in teaching as loose framework?
- Care became a massive subject and consideration in higher education during the pandemic
- It’s not a coincidence that we have chosen something grounded in teaching philosophy (firmly defining the strongest thread of our work in the teaching domain)
- contradiction: both our roles have “non-teaching” or “non-instructional” in the contractual language
What about the ethic of care in teaching resonates with us?
- Relational
- An ethic of care that is also justice- and equity-oriented (see Equity-Care Matrix) is vital. A true ethic of care requires a political commitment to broader transformation (of institutions, of society).
- Critiques of “vocational awe” are useful for thinking about the boundaries of the ethic of care. In addition to caring for students and faculty members, how are we caring for ourselves?
- As a precarious worker, the care ethic can be challenging to navigate in an institution that unabashedly doesn’t care for you or your well-being (see Precarity Doesn’t Care).
