ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ethic of care as a transformative, agentic practice. Such recognition repositions an ethic of care from a limited, passive pedagogy to a potent, thought- provoking art. To buttress his case for care as a transformative activity, the author reports on two case studies that delineate care practice as critical, deliberate, and unconsciously grounded in intentions and actions based on the interplay of race, racism, and gender. The chapter utilizes Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a means to ascertain the critical care-oriented pedagogical actions of one African-American male and one African-American female educator. Two dominant themes emerged from the findings: Gerry's and Tony's care actions stood as an evolving, complex structure of mediated and collective actions whereby they both sought to prevent such dualisms as exploiter-exploited and oppressor-oppressed; and Gerry's and Tony's agency and multiple subjectivities were dialectically related and mediated through care practices.
