Universal Journal of Educational Research Vol. 10(12), pp. 598 - 608
DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2022.101202
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The Caring Responsibility within the Pedagogical Environment

Hendrik van der Westhuizen ¹, Leentjie van Jaarsveld ^2,*
1 North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2521, North West Province, South Africa
² Faculty of Education, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2521, North West Province, South Africa

ABSTRACT

In modern-day times, there is a continuing debate concerning how much responsibility school leaders and educators have in terms of caring for students' necessities whilst they grow up. While some individuals believe that the responsibility of parentage lies in parents nurturing their children and the sole duty of educational establishments is to provide education, others feel that educators serve as subordinate parents to students. The fundamental legal criteria are outlined in education laws, along with the numerous caring obligations and leadership duties that school administrators must recognize in order to adequately meet students' needs. Being aware of children's demands for care and the viewpoints that many different roles are imposed on them presents school administrators with a variety of difficulties. These difficulties include not having enough time owing to administrative obligations, not having enough money or resources for education and not having the support of students' parents. The theoretical framework includes the ethics of caring theory, which explains how educators and school administrators can carry out their caring mission. The objective of this article was to investigate and report on the correlation between the responsibilities school leaders and educators carry, next to the accountability of parents when it comes to raising their children as students through acts of caring. It is seen that cooperation between parents and educators is ideal for serving students' best interests instead of shifting responsibilities between the two groups. This research was done in the interpretivist paradigm within the qualitative approach. A phenomenological strategy was followed. The research subjects were eight principals and 16 teachers, and data were collected by means of interviews. The data were transcribed, and thematic analysis was done. The investigation revealed that the school leaders had a lot of caring obligations resting on their shoulders, especially when it comes to contributing to the formation of establishing a school climate and culture with an emphasis on caring. Furthermore, the researchers show that both school leaders and educators viewed the role of caring for themselves as a vocation embedded in their teaching careers and preferred it for a living.

KEYWORDS
Caring, Educators, Parents, Raising, Responsibility, School Leaders

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Hendrik van der Westhuizen , Leentjie van Jaarsveld , "The Caring Responsibility within the Pedagogical Environment," Universal Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 10, No. 12, pp. 598 - 608, 2022. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2022.101202.

(b). APA Format:
Hendrik van der Westhuizen , Leentjie van Jaarsveld (2022). The Caring Responsibility within the Pedagogical Environment. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 10(12), 598 - 608. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2022.101202.