Teacher Care, a Fulcrum for Excellent and Equitable Education and Society or as Goes Teacher Care, so Goes Society

Educational reforms come and go; teachers transcend. Teachers shape lives in whatever context they live. The teacher is the one constant, necessary but not sufficient element in the educational process. For teachers to deliver excellent performance, with equity, in the classroom, they must receive sufficient, excellent treatment with equity in their roles in society. They cannot be expected to give what they do not receive. Some countries highly esteem their teachers, with salaries and opportunities to match, for example, Singapore and Finland. The outcomes are observed in the quality of life in those societies. These concepts can apply to any culture, as we are speaking of basic, universal needs and reactions of human beings. The perspective of this study is local, yet global, in that we study individual countries' situations, touching on their social, economic, and educational aspects, but keeping in mind the commonalities of human nature globally. The aim of this paper is to prove that kind and caring action, beginning with teachers and the education system will result in an upward cycle of more such actions throughout society. Methodological approach is mixed. Qualitative research draws on secondary data in the form of a literature review of two case studies: Singapore and Finland. Quantitative data from the educational systems of both case study countries informs the analysis. The significance of this study is the potential societal paradigm shift which could come about by moving the pivotal fulcrum of socioeconomic balance even slightly in favor of our teachers. [For the complete Volume 20 proceedings, see ED622631.]