Integrating philosophy with qualitative studies with early childhood and elementary educators, this book offers a descriptive account of care as it informs, confines, and inspires the actions of current educators. It is widely understood that care is a central part of teaching but the word is common enough to have lost its meaning. Furman argues that despite a rising focus on socio-emotional learning, schools continue to be experienced as uncaring spaces. She highlights teachers' positive accounts of caring to reaffirm their voices and offer an account of care that teachers will find helpful and empowering. Each chapter opens with an accompanying image – a photograph taken by an early childhood teacher as part of a project and shared with their permission. The philosophers and educationalists discussed in the book include Nel Noddings, Vanessa Siddle Walker, David Hansen, Doris Santor, Michel Foucault, Sara Ahmed, and Eva Kittay.

Cara E. Furman is Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Hunter College, USA, and a former urban public elementary school teacher. She is author of Teaching from an Ethical Center: Practical Wisdom for Daily Instruction (2024) and co-hosts and produces the Thinking in the Midst podcast. Her work can be found at carafurman.com.