Caring and Trust in The Teaching Profession

      Teaching in any classroom of students involves more than subject knowledge. Teachers must create an atmosphere of caring and trust. In turn this creates an environment where learning has a better chance of taking place. Creating an atmosphere of caring and trust is very important when a teacher is trying to teach in a classroom with a significant number of students from low income households or students of color. In this situation a trust factor takes place. Teachers who truly care about students from low income backgrounds or students of color know that these students’ ability to learn has a lot to do with the environment from which they come. David Berliner quotes the economist Richard Rothstein recent book Class and schools. He states, “Policy makers almost universally conclude that existing and persistent achievement gaps must be the result of wrongly designed school policies—either expectations that are too low, teachers who are insufficiently qualified, curricula that are badly designed, classes that are too large, school climates that are too undisciplined, leadership that is too unfocussed, or a combination of these. Americans have come to the conclusion that the achievement gap is the fault of ‘failing schools’ because it makes no common sense that it could be otherwise….This common sense perspective, however, is misleading and dangerous. It ignores how social class characteristics in a stratified society like ours may actually influence learning in schools.” Like Anyon, Rothstein goes on to note: “For nearly half a century, the association of social and economic disadvantage with a student achievement gap has been well known to economists, sociologists and educators. Most, however, have avoided the obvious implication of this understanding—raising the achievement of lower-class children requires the amelioration of the social and economic conditions of their lives, not just school reform (Berliner, 2005).” If the achievement gap were a product of financial poverty the problem could be addressed with finance. However, there is an element of mental and physical abuse, causing baggage that comes from poverty. This is not so easily addressed. A fair number of students who come from impoverished neighborhoods bring to school with them mental and physical baggage from home. In many instances it’s the type of baggage most teachers can’t imagine. These students are looking for someone to trust and truly care for them.