Taking the standpoint of the least advantaged

Abstract

The ‘common sense’ understanding of schooling is that the quality of the teacher is the critical contributor to a young person’s success. National teaching standards assert that teachers should be able to include the diverse range of students in their classes in productive learning. If we agree that teachers are ‘knowledge workers’ and not social workers, and their primary responsibility is the official curriculum, worthwhile questions to ask are:

• How do teachers express care for young people on or outside the margins of the official curriculum, and;
• What do we mean by care in education?

Because it is the most enduring and seemingly intractable condition of education, the discussion here will attempt to answer those questions within the context of the effect of wealth and poverty on schooling participation and success.