Drawing on research and methods developed in the Justice in Schools project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, this volume introduces a new interdisciplinary approach to achieving practical wisdom in education, one that honours the complexities inherent in educational decision making and encourages open discussion of the values and principles we should collectively be trying to realize.
Educators and policy makers confront challenging questions of ethics, justice, and equity on a regular basis, yet there are few opportunities and resources to help them think through the ethical issues at stake. Dilemmas of Educational Ethics introduces a new interdisciplinary approach to achieving practical wisdom in education, one that honors the complexities inherent in educational decision making and encourages open discussion of the values and principles we should collectively be trying to realize in educational policy and practice.
The book focuses on six ethical dilemmas that have arisen in education in recent years, paired with responses written by noted philosophers, policy makers, and practitioners, including Pedro Noguera, Howard Gardner, Mary Pattillo, Andres A. Alonso, Jaime Ahlberg, Toby N. Romer, and Michael J. Petrilli. The editors illustrate how readers can use these cases and commentaries in order to reach a difficult decision, deepen their own understanding, or to build teams around shared values.
"From teaching to running schools to system-wide design, educators face deep and difficult choices. This remarkable book shows the richness of the ethical answers that can be developed through practical reasoning. Its provocative case studies--and the widely varied responses--are models to be emulated as well as prompts for further reflection. A major contribution to the important, growing field of educational ethics."
--Noah Feldman, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard University
"Our field is long overdue for the grounded approach to problem solving proposed by Levinson and Fay. If we intend to develop innovative and transformative educators and systems of education, we would do well to treat this book as a beacon call to change the way we wrestle with the most pressing challenges that face our field."
--Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade, associate professor, Raza Studies and Education, San Francisco State University
