The Moral Dimension of Personal and Social Education

Throughout the 1990s there was considerable discussion of the moral dimension of teaching instigated largely by the Office for Standards in Education (1994) and School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (1995, 1996a, b) discussion papers. Although there was widespread acceptance among educationists, the inspectorate and the teaching profession that there was a moral dimension to teaching, differences were apparent in the perceptions of the significance of this dimension and the implications of it for schools. On the one hand, many teachers acknowledge the moral dimension of teaching, they recognize that teachers from time to time have to deal with controversial issues and have an obligation to respect the rights of children. However, they tend to see this dimension as peripheral to the main business of teaching and learning and not something which will influence how they are judged as professionals. Some recent perspectives on Personal and Social Education, such as the emphasis on personal competence or the self-esteem movement, have contributed to the marginalization of moral concerns in favour of a skills or therapeutic approach. This paper supports the view that teaching is inevitably a moral enterprise and that teachers need to be encouraged to see themselves as autonomous moral agents whose decisions have a fundamental impact on pupils' personal development.