Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/the-invisible-curriculum-of-care/5023648/
“We sometimes speak as if caring did not require knowledge, as if caring for someone, for example, were simply a matter of good intentions or warm regard.
But to care I must understand the other’s needs and I must be able to respond properly to them, and clearly good intentions do not guarantee this. To care for someone, I must know many things.”
— Milton Mayeroff
“I didn’t get a master’s degree to change diapers!”
Nicole, a speech therapist who I worked with for many years, taught me a great deal about language development. We worked with toddlers in an integrated program. Nicole was not the type of therapist who came into the classroom to do a ‘speech lesson’; instead, she worked alongside me and embedded therapy naturally into every activity. While the children ate snacks, she ate with them and helped them learn to communicate using sign language, gestures, and words. We did therapy on the playground, and discovered the swings and slides were perfect tools for social pragmatic language. Nicole was my partner in just about every aspect of our work, except for diaper changes. When she was working with a toddler who had a dirty diaper, she would deliver the child to me. ...