Teachers’ critical incidents: Ethical dilemmas in teaching practice

The aim of this study is to explore ethical dilemmas in critical incidents and the emerged responses that these incidents elicit. Most teachers try to suppress these incidences because of the unpleasant feelings they evoke. Fifty teachers participated in the study. A three-stage coding process derived from grounded theory was utilized. A taxonomy of critical incidents by means of the ATLAS.ti 5.0 revealed a multifaceted model of ethical dilemmas, among them clashing with rules, standards, or norms in school, as well as a multitude of derived responses. The results encourage the development of educational programmes based on teachers’ critical incidents.     

Non-traditional students and critical pedagogy: transformative practice and the teaching of criminal law

This article explores the practical implication of adopting critical pedagogy, and more specifically critical legal pedagogy, in the teaching of non-traditional students in higher education context. It is based on the teaching of criminal law at Birkbeck School of Law, addressing learning tasks which have been designed to enhance students’ learning experience. The proposition put forward in this article suggests that exactly because many of the non-traditional, mature students do not intend to pursue an ad hoc legal profession, the teaching approach should be geared towards widening the social context of learning and the acquisition of transferable skills, but mainly towards fostering students’ social ‘transformation’.     

Achieving social justice within and through higher education: the challenge for critical pedagogy

While the term critical pedagogy embraces a range of writers and literature, a common feature of all is a belief that education and society are intrinsically inter-related and that the fundamental purpose of education is to improve social justice. However there are perceptions that critical pedagogy has been more successful in critiquing educational and social practices than in achieving actual change. In this paper I explore two areas that critical pedagogy can address to move beyond critique: the importance of a movement formed by diverse elements, in which difference and disagreement are harnessed to help drive change; and the use of this diversity to direct change at a range of levels. My analysis draws specifically on literature that challenges managerialist assumptions about change as a simple, technical process, focusing instead on the complexities of the social world and the attendant complexities of achieving educational and social change.     

The limits of critical pedagogy: teaching about structural obstacles to students who overcame them

This article focuses on efforts to critically analyze the social reproductive functions of schooling with a group of pre-service teachers in the US–Mexico border region, and on students’ reactions to these efforts. The students – all female, predominantly Mexican-American – had experienced both educational discrimination and academic success, and heavily invested in the dominant view of schooling as a meritocracy where individual talent and motivation regularly overcome structural obstacles. We argue that the students’ ideologies and experiences of class, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and language predisposed them to resist analysis of systemic inequalities in schools; we also examine the implications of this resistance for their future success as teachers. We conclude with recommendations for balancing structural pessimism and strategic optimism in the classroom, and for bringing students’ personal and social histories to bear on the contradictions between schooling’s promise of social mobility and its tendency to reproduce social inequality.     

A critical pedagogy of place: from gridlock to parallax 1

Differences of perspective, standpoint and subjectivity can help to enlarge the conceptual landscape of environmental education theory. Rejections of difference, on the other hand, can become an intolerance that narrows the scope of inquiry. This rejoinder argues that Bowers’ repeated rejections of critical pedagogy are based on a partial reading of the critical tradition, and that these critiques, including his current call to ‘avoid embracing’ a critical pedagogy of place, are unnecessarily dismissive and therefore counterproductive. Environmental education has benefited and will continue to benefit from the critical tradition of which critical pedagogy is a part. Relationships and/or antagonisms are constructed through human responses and interactions. Sameshima’s pedagogical theory of parallax is introduced as a way of seeing relationships between ideas that have been thought to be opposed. Moving toward relationship rather than rivalry, the rejoinder concludes by suggesting that Bowers’ and Freire’s criticality is actually more alike than different.     

A critical pedagogy of empathy: making a better world achievable

Based on the results of a large-scale study regarding the role of secondary education teachers, we tried to develop an emancipatory teaching programme within the framework of a critical pedagogy of empathy. This teaching strategy is a three-stage process, during which a constant teacher–student interaction, attentive listening and interchange of roles are emphasised, so as to foster empathy. The first stage includes understanding the students’ perspectives and giving value to their experiences. When the channels of communication are open and teachers get into their students’ shoes, material relevant to the students’ experiences is presented at the second stage, while students are encouraged to question the prevailing status quo and to raise their voices in institutional contexts in which they have traditionally been silenced. Finally, during the third stage, students disseminate self-gained knowledge and thoughts with a view to creating a better future and a different society, as part of the broader mission of informed, democratic, critical, empathetic and active citizens.     

Inclusivity and moral technology: ethical dilemmas in English

This paper explores the issues of inclusive education and moral technology in the curriculum domain of English. In particular, the paper problematizes issues of cultural diversity, culturally critical orientations totext in the postmodern classroom, and the ethical decisions English teachers face in developing an inclusive curriculum. Reference is made toresponses of adolescents to short fiction collected in a recent research study.     

Care and Responsibility in 'The Best Interest of the Child': Relational voices of ethical dilemmas in teaching

This paper discusses ethical dilemmas in early childhood education as identified by kindergarten and elementary school teachers ( n = 26). Ethical dilemmas are investigated in the theoretical framework of virtue epistemology. The moral stances of care and responsibility are identified as basic elements in teachers' professional morality. The empirical findings present conflicts between teachers and parents, collegial conflicts between teachers, and inter-institutional conflicts in the community. The method used in the study is a relational reading of teachers' narratives. Interpretative accounts are created to give room for both care and responsibility voices in teachers' written reports. The analysis of the data reveals that the ethical dilemmas in early childhood education are very relational and deal with competing interpretations of 'the best interest of the child'. Teachers have taken the moral stance of care by identifying the ethical conflict. However, the responsible professional action has been more difficult for them to accomplish. Most of the time, discussions have not produced the desired results. Ethical conflicts in teaching invite teachers to consider the moral relevance of each dilemma by taking the perspectives of the involved parties.     

Developing the developers: Some ethical dilemmas in changing times

Abstract

Universities in Australia, like those in many Western countries, currently are being pushed to find for themselves an increasing share of their own budgets and to consider themselves as service providers to students, their ‘customers’. These students, having paid fees, may well expect to get what they have paid for and, in current labour market conditions, that may amount to a degree rather than an education. That is, universities are now under‐funded and, frequently, far from being seen as educational institutions, are seen as businesses whose role is to provide adequate service at optimum price. By and large, educational development staff do not teach students so they do not contribute directly to the income of the enterprise. The position of such staff and the units in which they are located is thus increasingly coming under threat as ‘economies’ are sought by academic ‘managers’. One poignantly pointed issue, then, is the extent to which educational developers might appropriately change the style and substance of their activities to assist in the evolution of universities to embrace and perhaps to thrive in the new environment. Would this amount to collusion or to co‐operation? Developers have, in the past, often attempted to develop themselves by embracing the model of reflective practice and implementing it both while carrying out their work (a kind of action learning) and at conferences and in journals and books of various kinds. However developers, and their clients (actual and potential), are under increasing pressure and for many survival, not thriving, may be the main issue. The issue for developers may well be the identity of their clients ‐ the university; its management; its teaching staff; its students (the university's supposed ‘customers'). In this paper I focus on the ethical dilemmas which may arise when educational developers try to develop themselves to serve various possible clients.     

The politics of similarity within difference: A pedagogy for the other

The cultural political struggles of five female teachers in a heavily populated minority urban school in Southern California depicts bothsimilarity anddifference. Similarly, each teacher struggles to help overcome her own and students' oppression, subordination, and alienation. Through understandingsimilarity, different teacher and student voices make understanding the other easier. It is argued that understanding similarity within difference opens space for a democratic imaginary, that, while not clearly articulated at any one moment, acts to variously challenge the oppressive forces existing within and outside of schools.     

A model for making decisions about ethical dilemmas in student assessment

In this mixed-methods study we investigated the development of a generalized ethics decision-making model that can be applied in considering ethical dilemmas related to student assessment. For the study, we developed five scenarios that describe ethical dilemmas associated with student assessment. Survey participants (i.e., educators) completed an online survey to express their decision-making process when faced with ethical dilemmas relating to student assessment. Based on the literature and the educators’ written responses to the scenarios, elements to consider in an ethics decision-making model related to student assessment include the following: (1) the critical incident giving rise to the ethical dilemma; (2) identification of the conflict elements; (3) decisions about the ethicality of the elements; (4) justification of the decisions; (5) implications; and (6) alternative suggestions. This model offers guidance to educators in considering the dimensions of an ethical dilemma in assessment prior to making a decision.     

Silences of ethical practice: dilemmas for researchers using social media

Social media, such as social network sites and blogs, are increasingly being used as core or ancillary components of educational research, from recruitment to observation and interaction with researchers. However, this article reveals complex ethical dilemmas surrounding consent, traceability, working with children, and illicit activity that we have faced as education researchers for which there is little specific guidance in the literature. We believe that ethical research committees cannot, and should not, be relied upon as our ethical compass as they also struggle to deal with emerging technologies and their implications. Consequently, we call for researchers to report on the ethical dilemmas in their practice to serve as a guide for those who follow. We also recommend considering research ethics as an ongoing dialogical process in which the researcher, participants, and ethics committee work together in identifying potential problems as well as finding ways forward.     

Ethical dilemmas of youth participatory action research in a democratic setting

ABSTRACT

This article discusses ethical issues involved in facilitating the research of young people on controversial issues. This article considers the potential ethical dilemmas of teachers facilitating a particular form of activism – youth participatory action research (YPAR). We consider how teachers foster school-wide conversations on difficult issues and support students who wish to take a critical stand on issues of race, class and gender. The article also discusses how to scaffold the exploration of topics that require emotional maturity and might lead to shifts in beliefs that run counter to the values of one’s family.     

Discomforting pedagogies: Emotional tensions,ethical dilemmas and transformative possibilities

This article examines the potential and limitations of pedagogy of discomfort in a classroom of 10‐ and 11‐year‐old students of an integrated school in Northern Ireland. At the centre of the analysis are the students’ and the teacher's emotional experiences and the resulting consequences when a discomforting pedagogical activity (an adaptation of the classic ‘Blue‐Eyed, Brown‐Eyed’ exercise) is implemented to teach students about social injustice. The theoretical framework that informs this investigation is grounded in the notion of ‘pedagogy of discomfort’. A qualitative, ethnographic perspective forms the basis for the data collection and analysis. The findings show that the pedagogical exercise does not have the same impact on all participants, yet it contains several risks, most notably those of differential power and privilege between teacher and students and the ethical implications of putting some children (even temporarily) in a disadvantaged place. The implications are discussed in terms of teaching and learning through discomfort.