Welcoming the Other Amidst Ethno-Cultural Difference

This work brings the thought of Emmanuel Levinas into§play in attempting to understand the responsibility§of a group of educators of Aboriginal and§non-Aboriginal heritage who work amidst the tensions§of ethno-cultural difference in an inner city public§high school. The concept of welcoming that is born§in the words of Levinas, and that is further§fashioned into an interpretation framework, while§relying on the writings of Jacque Derrida and Sharon§Todd, is employed in this philosophical hermeneutic.§I suggest that Levinas philosophy refashioned as§welcoming, can be helpful in prompting educators (and§others) to think differently about responsibility and§therefore to position themselves to better enact§their responsibility. This work is potentially§helpful, not as a 'how to guide' relating a code of§ethics, but in assuring people, that what is ethical§is not necessarily defined within the confines of§convention, legal or social codes and rules, or§cultural norms, but rather in one's attentiveness to§others and attentiveness to one's attentiveness,§where a person realizes the welcoming nature of§responsibility and what is actually demanded of a§person in being responsible.