a culture of care

One of the most important points in both of these articles is their assertion that by providing for students development as a whole, well-rounded person – which includes not just intellectual but also emotional, psychological, spiritual, and social growth – teachers can help improve their students’ academic performance and belief in their own potential. Both studies emphasized the importance of teachers taking the initiative to listen and advise students about their personal problems and supporting them both in and outside of the classroom. In other words, teachers worked to help students not only become the smartest pupils, but also the best people – individuals who have developed their capacity to grapple with the various problems of life.

Guifridda’s study suggested that for African Americans students, teachers of the same race will be most effective in this endeavor as they have grapples with similar life experiences. While this may be true to a certain extent, at the same time many of the problems that students struggle with are not limited to a single ethnic group, but are human problems that all people inevitably face. Problems with relationships, health, and finances provide appropriate examples. At the same time, we shouldn’t ignore an important implication of Guifridda’s findings: teachers who have not successfully grappled with and overcome these problems or who are not interested enough to cross what they view as “professional boundaries” cannot possibly succeed in providing for students’ overall growth. As Daisaku Ikeda has often argued in his essays on education, in terms of cultivating students’ humanity and latent potential, the best teacher is he or she who has developed their own humanity to the greatest degree.

Guiffrida referred to such practices as “othermothering”: in other words, teachers treating students as if they were your own child. This term originates from the culture of African American slaves who had to help raise the children of others when the parents could not. This culture of care is also an integral aspect of Soka Education. There are numerous anecdotes of Makiguchi’s efforts to go above and beyond to support his students with a spirit of warm, fatherly care. Both studies demonstrate that a good teacher-student relationship is the most important factor in good education. And this relationship is defined by the educator’s compassion which provides the student support and encouragement to continue asking questions, seeking answers, and believing in their own potential to continue advancing on the path of learning.