Responding, Responsivity, and Responsibility in the Elementary Classroom

• In Event: International Perspectives on Moral Development and Education

Abstract

Our current conversation in K-12 education leads educators to see students as scores as opposed to human beings. I argue in this project that excellent teachers know their students well, a knowing that goes beyond a checklist of needs and accomplishments. Knowing them in van Manen’s (1986, 1991) pedagogical sense requires teachers to respond to the needs of individual students as they are being and becoming. This project was a year-long qualitative case study (Dyson & Genishi, 2005) of one fifth-grade classroom teacher, and documented how she built relationships with her students that both informed and were informed by her responsive teaching.

Author

• Alexis Jones, Eastern Illinois University