Morality, Education, and Judgement

Abstract

To better understand the nature of teaching, educational research can focus on many issues. It can, for example, illuminate the challenges teachers face daily by studying the kind of emotional distress they typically experience. Research can also look into the types of relationships they have with their colleagues at school. A thorough investigation of the rapport between teachers can help us learn the extent to which teachers can rely on others for professional support. Another promising and interesting mode of investigation is to scrutinize what teachers actually do behind classroom doors. Research can study the kinds of tasks they set, the ways in which they praise students, and how they explain difficult concepts or themes. This paper will examine the moral evaluations teachers give in class, a practice that has not received much attention in studies in education. Teachers, as we shall see, commonly evaluate what students do and say from an ethical frame of reference, labelling and categorizing particular actions as morally right or wrong. A close study of moral evaluation can hopefully deepen our understanding of what teaching is