Caring and Control: The Importance of Detachment

Abstract

Should we be finding ways to detach ourselves from our students, when they so clearly need guidance and direction? Should we be placing ourselves at a distance when students are so desperately trying to find someone to lead them to the right path? “Caring and Control: The Importance of Detachment” uses psychological definitions of the term detachment to help prove that the action is absolutely necessary for a healthy professional relationship to take place, both inside and outside of the classroom; and, that we (as teachers/instructors/professors) should have complete control over our “internal working models,” which the students have hardly any control over.