Connecting the Ethics of Teaching and Moral Education to Society Paper delivered by Monte McMurchy at The Toronto School of Theology, University of Toronto September 2003 Increasing societal concern about the perceived decline of moral and ethical values in contemporary life is promoting renewed interest in moral education or character education. Some argue that the current educational climate has contributed to a culture in which many do not know what a genuinely moral standard is; they believe that by removing such words as right and wrong from the school vocabulary, schools have been “values-neutral for so long that our ability to engage students in conversations about moral issues had become rusty. We were not even sure what our role was in the moral education of our students.” Others, exploring the moral and ethical dimensions of schools, claim that education or schooling is a moral endeavour by its very nature. Society does acknowledge and recognize the growing public demand that schools more directly stand for, reflect, and impart valued principles. This recognition, accompanied by support for formal character education or not, has been fueled in part by “the greater acceptance of the belief that—regardless of our diversity—at root we share a basic morality that includes such virtues as responsibility, respect, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, and civic virtue.” Three areas have been identified in education to which ethics apply: deliberation and reflection on educational policy, moral education, and professional ethics. This last area has been described as the most neglected until recently, provides the focus for the following discussion. I connect conceptually the professional ethics of teaching and moral education by exploring the function of teacher education to prepare teachers to understand the moral and ethical complexities of their role and thus enable them to reflect ethical actions and decisions in their professional practice. Teachers’ practice inevitably has a strong influence on the moral lessons students directly and indirectly acquire in the classroom. To be guides for the young in morality and ethics, teachers must understand the complex moral role that they occupy as ethical professionals and appreciate the significance of their own actions and decisions on the students in their care. “Moral education” is a term applicable to the preparation of future teachers, as much as to children and adolescent students. The recognition that enhanced awareness of teachers of their own ethical practice can be a powerful force on moral education as it evolves in schools. Recent educational literature has focused on the teacher’s role as fundamentally concerned with the state of moral agency. Some argue that the components of teaching as a knowledge endeavour and as a moral enterprise are essentially inseparable and that recognition of this fusion must be central to the conception of the teacher’s role. One academic notes that this “renewed conviction that teaching itself has an inherent moral dimension” provides a rationale for the inclusion of ethics in pre-service teacher education programs. In an academic study of the moral life of classrooms and schools, reference is adduced to teachers as moral agents whose influence extends to what they “say and do without consciously intending to act as moral agents”. Moral agency does not pertain simply to the deliberate decisions of the self-conscious moral educator but characterizes many of the unintentional forces of teaching. Academics have written of the implicit dimensions of values education as “unavoidable and inevitable”, an extension of educators’ own morality, and a reflection of teachers’ behaviour and classroom processes. It should be made clear that the teaching of values is not a program add-on, but an ongoing process embedded in the ethos of the school that those within it sustain. Educators as moral agents transmit values both by formal instruction of the virtues or admonition “—do not cheat—do not hit—do not steal…” and by becoming “moral exemplars” and viewing moral education as a way of life that informs classroom behaviour. Educators possessing such qualities as “humility, courage, impartiality, empathy, open-mindedness, enthusiasm, judgment, and imagination” best achieve meaningful values in their classrooms. Other related virtues (honesty, sense of justice, care) also characterize the educator’s role as moral agent and exemplar and should be reflected in professional practice. Professional ethics are lived through practice and experienced in classrooms. Issues of teacher professionalism are fundamentally issues of moral and ethical significance. This is not a new concept. An academic equates the definition of the professional teacher with that of the moral teacher; others address the necessity for educators to regard their professional responsibilities as basic moral imperatives. Professional ethical practice in the classroom and school transmits powerful moral messages that redefine character education as an ongoing process of exposure to good values and clarify the teacher’s role as moral agent and exemplar. Much literature exploring the moral and ethical dimensions of professionalism and the teacher’s role as moral agent and exemplar also stresses the significance of pre-service teacher education in acquainting teachers with the values and complexities of their practice. In their discussion of the importance of ethics instruction in pre-service programs, two theorists acknowledge that such instruction will not imbue otherwise unethical individuals with the qualities desirable in teachers or rectify all unethical behaviour. Nonetheless, courses or programs in the ethics of teaching, which have been relatively scarce can highlight the teacher’s role as a moral one, not simply a technical one, and raise the awareness of pre-service teachers to a point where they can develop a reflective appreciation of the values underlying their actions. Most theorists agree that the teaching of formal ethical codes is neither a central component of teacher education nor, on its own, an adequate means of preparing moral professionals. Although becoming familiar with the principles inherent in such codes may have value, teachers do not become ethical professionals “simply by learning an ethical code.” Teacher education programs must develop alternative ways to enable student teachers to understand their future role and anticipate the moral and ethical significance of their practice. Moral agency is not simply an inevitable state resulting from being a teacher but instead a professional quality exemplifying ethically good practice. This should not be left to chance but developed in a deliberate way through teaching of ethics to pre-service teachers. Theorists have argued that the ethical instruction of teachers must move beyond abstract courses in philosophy to the examination of the realities of daily work and organizational life. I propose that efforts to enhance student teacher’s awareness of the moral and ethical dimensions of teaching (applied ethics) should permeate the preservice curriculum and integrate disparate aspects of it. The practicalities of teaching to which theoretical principles would be applied are the starting point for examining ethics. Curriculum and methods courses and program components should address philosophical areas related to ethics reflected in practice. Prospective teachers should consider seemingly routine choices, often associated with subject expertise, pedagogical techniques, and evaluation strategies, at least in part in ethical terms so that they could unravel and explore their underlying value dimensions; they could assess purposes and goals for teaching certain things certain ways. Examples of course components lending themselves to such inquiry include designing of lesson plans and units of study involving curricular choices among materials and texts embodying and transmitting value messages in the classroom; developing proficiency in using pedagogical methods promoting fair treatment of students and ethical classroom management and discipline; and selecting evaluation strategies with the virtues of honesty, fairness, and equal treatment in mind. Theoretical and philosophical concepts can provide the dominant focus framing the study of examples from practice. Academics should reconceptualize traditional foundations courses in educational philosophy and policy to link more closely concepts related to ethical inquiry to the practicalities of teaching. Foundations courses are not and add-on to methods, curriculum components of the pre-service program but are integral and complimentary parts blending theoretical analysis and experiential application. Although not concerned centrally with the “how-to-do” details of teaching, foundations components should provide the “how-to-interpret-what-is-and-should-be-done” focus to assist teachers make informed professional decisions about what is good practice and ethical behaviour and enable them to anticipate the value laden dilemmas that they will inevitably confront in schools. To understand the moral and ethical complexities of the value dimensions of teaching, teachers should and ought to address and explore significant educational issues and experiences not simply from their own subjective perspectives and opinions but from an enlightened grounding in philosophical principles, theoretical positions, and conceptual frames comprising the foundations of educational thought. Self-awareness and understanding are important to the examination of the ethical implications of teaching. It is easy to agree that within education the unexamined value is not worth holding or that professionals should strive to be reflective practitioners. However, larger philosophical principles must be central to raise self-awareness. Academic rigor and ensuing wisdom demand that personal opinions, subjective value judgments, and intuition not form the dominant basis of an acceptable theory of professional ethics. Educators/teachers must know if they base their actions and decisions, their responses to moral dilemmas, and their treatment of students and others on, utilitarian principles, liberal democratic principles, or feminist principles advancing an ethic of care. They should know if they are deontologists concerned with fundamental principles of virtue; teleologists concerned with consequences or ends of actions; or both at various times. Are they critical theorists or classical idealists? Are they moral relativists or absolutists? Are their beliefs about the good teacher like their beliefs about the good life, derived from religious tenets, other forms of spiritual faith, secular humanism, or from a mixture of philosophies and convictions. One academic argues that “socializing teachers to a single view of the ethics of teaching is morally and intellectually problematic, since there are many plausible alternative views.” Educators/Teachers should and ought to be exposed to these views to develop an understanding of such theoretical frames not simply as abstract and disconnected principles but as real ways to interpret and assess their own and others’ professional practice. The case study approach to the teaching of applied ethics is one way to do this. The case study approach to the teaching of applied professional ethics is an effective means of acquainting teachers with the moral and ethical complexities of teaching within the context of daily, often routine practice. The case study approach generates realistic scenarios and engages the teacher/educator in a level of reflection that forces them to connect practical dilemmas with theoretical moral and ethical principles. The process of reflection should increase the teacher/educators’ awareness of the ethical dimensions of their future roles, prepare them to assess possible avenues for decision making, and encourage them to anticipate situations and dilemmas so as to be better equipped to deal with them. The process should combine the development of student self-consciousness with a solid understanding of conceptual principles. It is erroneous and misleading to refer to those teachers/educators who preach morals per se or impart value tenets in deliberate and direct ways as the only moral educators. Moral educators are all teachers who understand the moral and ethical complexities of their role, who possess a level of expertise in interpreting their own behaviour and discerning the influence that this behaviour has on students, and who, as a consequence, strive to act ethically within the context of their professional responsibilities. Monte R. McMurchy
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 13:40:44 +0000
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