Inclusion and homophily: an argument about participatory decision-making and democratic school management

Abstract

This paper reports findings from a study about school staff’s perceptions of the preferences for social interaction that young people have with similar and different others. This tension was explored empirically using scenarios of moral dilemmas to conduct in-depth semi-structured interviews with school staff from special and mainstream secondary schools. The issue was explored with reference to a tension between social inclusion, the principle of embracing difference, and homophily, the concept that similarity breeds connection. The data suggest that homophily and inclusion can come into a tension with an ethical dimension. In education, the homophily/inclusion tension is one between students’ preferences for being among similar others and the moral imperative of including everybody; or between individuality and commonality. Inclusion is often translated into a demand for full participation as the only way to respond ethically to difference. However, the recognition of students’ rights to negotiate their preferences, even when they come into tension with what is considered to be politically correct, is also an ethical position. The paper concludes that the homophily/inclusion tension is constructive as it challenges the moral necessity of inclusion for all, and opens a debate about participatory decision-making and democratic school management.     

Navigating a bumpy road. Developing sexuality education that supports young people’s sexual agency

The complexity of young people’s strategic negotiation of sexual agency constitutes a challenge for professionals working in the area of sexuality education. This paper explores how comprehensive sexuality education can support young people to develop sexual agency in all its forms: embodied, bonded, narrative and moral. A first step is to base sexuality education on the recognition of the connectedness of young people to different people and to different sexual cultures. This implies that comprehensive sexuality education should provide the tools that can help young people in the process of taking up a position, forming an identity and embodying a sexual self within their own social and cultural context. Moreover, comprehensive sexuality education should not only be aimed at empowering individuals, but should also address different sexual cultures, gender norms and other social norms, to stimulate critical consciousness and collective agency, and thereby create an environment that enables and supports young people’s agency and diminishes inequality and restrictive norms.     

What’s the use of ethical philosophy? The role of ethical theory in special educational needs

This article examines the relevance of modern moral philosophy to education, with particular reference to special educational needs. Where moral philosophers explore the tension between utilitarian and deontological reasoning, they often consider the balance between the rights of the individual and the benefits or costs for the majority. I argue that the debate is predicated on a false dichotomy between minority and majority which is best overcome by a return to virtue ethics. In exploring this ethical debate, I draw on a case study from Australia of a student excluded from mainstream education on the basis that inclusion will not serve the greater good of the majority of students. My intention here is not to offer practical guidance in the complex day-to-day deliberations of educators dealing with issues of inclusion, but to elaborate the structure of the present thinking about inclusion. It is hoped that an appreciation of the deeper basis of ethical reasoning will itself lead to a greater recognition of the need for exploring the ethical grounds of teaching and learning. I will argue that any dichotomy between the utilitarian happiness of the many and the deontological commitment to the rights of the individual is based on a misconception of human identity. The false choice between the many and the one rests upon the assumption that morality is fundamentally about restricting personal preferences in favour of the good of the majority, that there exists a fundamental conflict between what is good for the individual and what is good for society as a whole. This will lead me to argue that we need to reinterpret human identity as constituted by its social relations and that this reorientation is best achieved by reference to virtue ethics.     

Putting Nussbaum’s Capability Approach to work: re-visiting inclusion

The Capabilities Approach places dignity at its core, emphasising people as ends not means who should be enabled to achieve the plans and goals they have reason to value. Focussed on the entitlement of all people to flourish and to be treated with equal respect, we argue here that this approach lends itself to a consideration of ethical issues around the nature of inclusion in education. We consider the lives of children and young people unable to flourish because of a disability, impairment or a label that assigns them to a ‘special’ or ‘additional support needs’ category, framing our discussion around Nussbaum’s Capability Approach. We suggest this approach provides a useful addition to the theoretical repertoire required to progress inclusion and inclusive education with particular respect to issues such as justice, equality, respect and dignity and, critically, to what people are able to do and to be.     

‘Just don’t tell them what’s in it’: Ethics,edible insects and sustainable food choice in schools

Supporting young people with global crises mitigation strategies is essential, yet loaded with ethical dilemmas for the educator. This study explores whether young people will make ethical decisions regarding the sustainability of food choice in schools, and based on the processes identified, what educators’ needs are in supporting transformative learning. This study is the first of its kind, where young people under the age of 14 have been tasting edible insects and discussing their role in a more sustainable diet. The article draws on mixed-method research with over 180 young people and their teachers in three schools in Wales and examines responses to a possible introduction of edible insects into school canteens. Highlighted is the complexity of sustainable food choices—likely to be identifiable with other young people and educators in western countries. The article considers how educators and policy makers may need to frame routes to positive sustainable action and the associated impacts these may have on personal, social, political and environmental spheres.     

Changes in children’s reasoning about the social inclusion of aggressive children over the early years of elementary school

While there is growing understanding about children’s moral reasoning for social inclusion and exclusion, we know little about how children reason specifically about the inclusion of aggressive children in school settings. To investigate children’s decisions about such inclusion and how they justified those decisions, this study reports data from 172 children interviewed in Year 1 (female?=?85, male?=?87), between the ages of six and seven and 155 children (female?=?78, male?=?79) who were interviewed again in Year 2. The children’s responses to scenarios regarding inclusion or exclusion of an aggressive child (who is bossy and pushes others around) in their play at school demonstrated that they were more likely to include an aggressive child in their play in Year 2 than in Year 1 of elementary school. They were also more likely in Year 2 to provide justifications that demonstrated a deeper understanding of the reasons for children’s aggressive behaviour at school. These data suggest that children’s school experiences may contribute to their ability to access multiple perspectives when reasoning about inclusion of others. Findings suggest the need to consider more closely how contextual experiences influence young children’s moral reasoning.     

“留住乡愁”的伦理意蕴?

德性的教化和道德之民的诞生以伦理的精神家园为始点。缺乏伦理认同和伦理信念,丧失伦理的精神家园,以抽象的道德自由遮蔽甚至取代精神归宿,已成为当前我国社会伦理建设的重大难题和现实困境。故乡作为人们出生或长期居住的地方,本身就是伦理实体的一种现实样态;而在希腊语中被诠释为“返回家园”的乡愁（nostalgia）则是人们形成伦理信念与伦理认同的典型方式,是具有“精神”气质的伦理认同。“留住乡愁”为深陷伦理困境与道德危机的现代人开辟了一条回归伦理精神家园的康庄大道,为个体伦理造诣的提升提供无限可能。     

Education in the Anthropocene: Ethico-moral dimensions and critical realist openings

Human-induced changes in planetary bio-geo-chemical processes have tipped earth into a newly-proposed geological epoch: the Anthropocene, which places moral and ethical demands on people regarding who should take responsibility for the well-being of people and planet, how, and why. Drawing generally on critical realist ontology, and more particularly on Roy Bhaskar’s concept of the person as a ‘four-planar social being’ living in the world as a laminated ontological whole, the article examines the dimensions of people’s ethico-moral engagement with the Anthropocene and considers what types of learning processes might enable people to understand, live in, and co-create this period known as ‘the Anthropocene’ in just, care-filled and—where necessary—transformative ways. The article points to the need for a radical re-orientation of education systems in the light of ethico-moral challenges that come to prominence in the Anthropocene, and argues for learning processes that nurture individual and collective moral agency through transformative, even transgressive, learning processes that are relational, humble, interdisciplinary, multi-perspectival, systemic, reality-congruent and contextually responsive.     

论国家伦理意识与学校道德教育权威的重塑

丧失权威的道德教育无以使人信服,难以使道德和主体之间建立一种肯定性关系,更无法实现使＂在道德上受过教育的人＂名副其实地信奉并躬行其被教过的道德。道德教育权威的重构需要国家伦理意识的支撑。只有国家对自身的伦理本性加以觉悟和现实体现,才能保证社会伦理安全,才能赢得人们对道德权威的信任。只有正义不仅体现在个人的灵魂里,也表现在国家的意志中,个体、社会、国家才能在价值共识基础上建构道德意义的同一性,道德教育之整体精神才能得以确立和证明,教育亦将获得令人信服的力量。     

Educational assessment policy and practice: a matter of ethics

Long-standing concerns within the field of educational assessment consider the impact of assessment policy and practice as matters of equity, inequality and social justice. Yet educational assessment policy and practice continues to have powerful social consequences for key users such as children and young people. This paper re-positions these consequences as a matter of ethics. It uses the work of Messick to frame how ethical matters extend beyond test instruments into the realm of uses and impact. A case study of the 11+ school transfer system in Northern Ireland is presented to illustrate ethical dilemmas emerging as a consequence of actions and decisions of using assessment systems for particular purposes. In looking forward to how we might attend to ethical matters in assessment policy and practice, a consideration of a children’s rights approach is outlined that may provide a moral and legal framework for action.     

Rethinking sexual agency: proposing a multicomponent model based on young people’s life stories

Sexual health policies explicitly aim to encourage young people to take responsibility for their sexuality to prevent adverse outcomes such as unintended pregnancies, STIs and sexual assault. In Europe and North America, ‘choice’ has become a central concept in sexual and reproductive health policy making. However, the concept of choice is not unproblematic, not least because the cultural emphasis on individual responsibility obscures structural limitations and inequalities, and mutual responsibility between partners. Moreover, studies on the life stories of young people show how agency is forged and expressed within a social context and is manifested through responsiveness to others. This raises the question of how we can conceptualise sexual agency in a way that includes this sociality. How can we rethink sexual agency beyond autonomy? This article explores these issues using data from four separate research projects that shared the aim of exploring young people’s sexual agency in different areas. Drawing on findings from these studies, it advances a multicomponent model of sexual agency that connects individual choice to the social, moral and narrative context which young people navigate.     

Young people,education and unlawful non‐citizenship: spectral sovereignty and governmentality in Australia

This paper considers Judith Butler’s discussion of the intersections between governmentality and sovereign power in Precarious life: the powers of mourning and violence. We consider this interrelationship with a view to considering how this might enable us to expand our understanding of contemporary discourses governing young people within and outside Australia. In particular we focus on the production of groups of young people, such as those classified as ‘illegal immigrants’ who may be situated outside the frame of ‘public good’ or the ‘private interest’. This enables for a theorisation of the lives of groups of young people who may ‘have no definitive prospect for a re‐entry into the political fabric of life, even as one’s situation is highly, if not fatally, politicized’. It is questionable whether the Foucauldian notion of governmentality gives sufficient account of the lives of these young people whose conduct is effectively considered irrelevant by the State. As educators, it is arguable that we have an ethical imperative to encourage our students to care for themselves, and for others, especially those others whose lives have been ‘fatally politicized’.     

基于质量提升目标的学前教育督导伦理审视

幼儿时期是一个人性格形成与人格发展的奠基期,学前教育质量会直接影响人的一生。教育督导是学前教育质量保障的重要手段。学前教育督导彰显了办学行为评价的公正性,关乎教育资源的公正分配,涉及学前教育关联主体的利益保障。以质量提升为目标的教育督导应以伦理和道德精神为底蕴,指向社会共同体的公平、正义范畴。通过对学前教育督导面临的功利性、正当性和公平性的道德考量,可以看出其在人们的伦理期待中应具有公平、正义、效率、平等的特征。学前教育质量督导的伦理建设应该包括:浸润伦理关怀,拓展伦理交往空间,增强伦理自觉,实现教育正义。     

Challenging the concept of ethical literacy within Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): storytelling as a method within sustainability didactics

Ethical literacy seems to be used, within Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), in various ways, some more general and others morally specific, emphasising individuals’ responsibility. The overarching aim of this paper is to present some prerequisites for the development of narrative methods that focus on the vision of a good society without compromising individual integrity. Is it possible to develop ESD in a ways that highlight global challenges with a focus on justice and equity without either, as within post-political romanticism, pretending that social sustainability is a non-controversial ethical goal, or, as within liberal individualistic approaches, claiming that no one may escape from the demands of action competence, which, it is claimed, paves the way for making social sustainability a reality? With reference to some threads in narrative theory and by an analysis of six children’s books, this paper critically and constructively examines storytelling as one method to inspire young people to reflect upon what a good society and a good world might be, to catch sight of visions of a sustainable world and of the differences between how things are and how things could be – a method that may also preserve respect for individuals’ integrity.     

NAPCE Newsletter

It is Jeremy Henzell-Thomas's conviction that the contemporary preoccupation with the so-called ‘clash of civilizations’ is as ill-founded as it is unhelpful. The assumption of an adversarial stance to which it leads is fuelled by, and affirms, a polarized thinking which does disservice to fundamental truths about unity and diversity. Drawing on theology and philosophy, he examines the etymology of key words –‘identity’, ‘authenticity’, ‘originality’, ‘fitra’ (nature) – to argue for the need to transcend difference in order to achieve (universal) identity. ‘We share a common identity as human beings, and, beyond that, a common origin within the source of Creation.’ If we are to honour the spiritual needs of young people and provide an education which is genuinely holistic, we need teachers who are prepared to listen to what young people are saying and to enter into a relationship with them that goes beyond the personal, the social and the moral.     

Interacting with People who have Severe Communication Problems: Ethical considerations

People who have severe speech and communication problems have difficulties making themselves heard both in everyday communications and society at large. In spite of the positive results which have followed the development of non-vocal intervention strategies, this group of people is at risk for being left out of the social common and being alienated. It is important to realise that one cannot do in the technical what one cannot do in the ethical. Unless both social interaction and intervention with people who have severe communication impairments are based on ethical reflection, the moral standards that are applied to this group may be lower than for other people. True communicative interaction depends on the acceptance that the other partner has something of value to communicate, even if the means for expressive communication are limited and the messages are vague and difficult to understand. A moral requirement for autonomy, that is, an equal footing or right to expression, places an ethical imperative on the more competent communication partner to strive to overcome the asymmetrical relationship and help the disabled person create authentic messages. Ethics is awareness based on the reflection on moral phenomena, grounded in the norms and values of the society and typically the result of discourse and co-constructive reflection, in the form of everyday discussions as well as of public philosophical scrutiny. Communication is a vehicle of reflection and discourse may be regarded as joined reflection. Thus, time for discourse in professional work may be a prerequisite for ethical practice.     

“What sort of person ought I to be?” – Repositioning EPs in light of the Children and Families Bill (2013)

The changes brought by the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) code of practice: 0 to 25 years, 2014, is an opportunity for educational psychologists (EPs) to reposition ourselves so that we can improve our contribution to the services for children and young people with special educational needs (SENs) or a disability. Underpinning such a repositioning is a reaffirmation of our core moral principles of promoting autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and social justice. Taking up a new position is difficult. However one way of thinking about it is reminding ourselves of our values. Values underpin our morality and interact with a person’s character (virtue). Socrates’ famous rhetorical questions remains unanswered for EPs “what sort of person ought I to be?” The purposes of this article is to draw attention to the moral principles that could underpin our work with the new code and lead us to build our practice around advocacy, practice based evidence and a social model of disability     

礼以养欲：荀子对孟子心性道德观的重构

孟子以＂天＂或＂天道＂作为人至善的价值根源,但同时又认为善内在于人的世俗生活,＂内求＂就可实现善。荀子强调天人之分,天、天道完全是纯粹自然的观念,人所得自天的,也完全是一种自然的生命,而没有先天的道德规定性。礼义等道德内容完全是人得自后天的认知和实践创造。情欲是人性的重要组成部分,与生俱来。欲不可去,欲不可尽,欲望本身无所谓善恶。善恶是社会治理的结果。荀子建构了以＂礼以养欲＂为核心的不同于孟子心性道德观的礼学思想体系,通过礼义原则对财富的合理分施,在人类欲望的满足与社会的和谐有序之间寻找一个平衡点。     

道德的存在方式与道德教育的价值目标

道德以实践精神的方式把握现实世界,是形而上与形而下的统一,规范、德性和善行实际上构成了作为社会现象的道德的具体存在方式。道德教育要完整地体现其实践意义,必须全面把握道德的存在方式,将受教育者持守规范、提升德性、追求善行作为自身的价值目标。只有从道德存在的三个层面入手开展道德教育,才能使道德的主体性与规范性、实然与应然、他律与自律在价值中获得统一。道德教育的三个价值向度组成一个有机和谐的道德系统,不断促进道德实践的发展和人的全面发展。