Sustainable Care: Care as a Communal Virtue in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

Purpose Care is a core concern for early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions. Care may be understood as a basic form of interaction and a foundational need for human beings. For these reasons, care also presents challenges for ECEC staff. The staff must seek practical solutions to problems that philosophers have raised on a theoretical basis concerning ethical traditions, such as the ethics of care. These are the problems of justice, parochialism, and self-sacrifice. Design/Approach/Methods This article develops a theory concerning the ethics of care in ECEC institutions. The theory is informed by qualitative interviews with ECEC teachers reflecting on their caring practices. The study is therefore located at the intersection of normative ethics and applied ethics. In seven in-depth interviews, the informants discussed how to create a caring ECEC environment that is fair and possible to maintain over time. Findings Through analyzing the interviews, I found that caring practices that work toward these ideals can be described as sustainable care. These practices take care of all the children and provide the staff with opportunities to regain the strength they need to create a caring and educating setting. Originality/Value The theory this article develops makes ethics of care applicable and practically relevant to ECEC institutions.

Ethical Codes for Early Childhood Teachers: How and Why Should We Use Them

“…The fourth article, authored by Eidsvåg (2022), asks how the theory of care ethics can be developed in ECEC settings as a sustainable and fair means of ensuring care for children. He investigates the applicability of the ethics of care in ECEC as a catalyst for care as a communal practice.…”

“…Similarly drawing on ECEC teachers' reflections of care and about themselves as caregivers, Eidsvåg (2022) argues for sustainable care. In this respect, the teachers considered collective support and care for one another as colleagues as the basic premise for their ability to care for children.…”

“…Therefore, they reflected on the importance of collective judgements of how to care for children. Eidsvåg (2022) argues that sustainable care is not just about practical skills and an intersubjective attitude based on ethical virtues. Rather, the teachers considered care a personal commitment and key aspect of their professional identity and pride.…”

“…The authors also examine teleological ethics (consequentialism), albeit less directly. In particular, Rothuizen ( 2022 As both Eidsvåg (2022) and Zhang et al (2022) note, the ethics of love and care as a professional duty can be exhausting for teachers. They represent two different approaches toward how the ethics of caring for children can be meaningful and result in professional pride (Eidsvåg) or professional happiness (Zhang et al) According to Eidsvåg (2022), colleagues' caring for one another and their students and implementing common virtues can be considered sustainable and justifiable care.…”

“…In particular, Rothuizen ( 2022 As both Eidsvåg (2022) and Zhang et al (2022) note, the ethics of love and care as a professional duty can be exhausting for teachers. They represent two different approaches toward how the ethics of caring for children can be meaningful and result in professional pride (Eidsvåg) or professional happiness (Zhang et al) According to Eidsvåg (2022), colleagues' caring for one another and their students and implementing common virtues can be considered sustainable and justifiable care. This perspective corresponds to that of Melasalmi et al (2022) insofar as the ethics of community reflected in the Finnish curriculum documents for ECEC identify collective professional collaboration as decisive for ethical practice.…”