Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T04:17:30.693Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

15 - Why Educate?

Competing Ethical Frameworks in the Practice of Education

from Part II - Ethics and Education in Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2024

By
Liz Jackson
Edited by
Sheron Fraser-Burgess ,
Jessica Heybach  and
Dini Metro-Roland
Sheron Fraser-Burgess
Affiliation:
Ball State University, Indiana
Jessica Heybach
Affiliation:
Florida International University
Dini Metro-Roland
Affiliation:
Western Michigan University
Get access

Summary

Why educate? This question has been considered throughout history and around the world. Many reasons and rationales have been proposed. Some are overlapping, while others are competing. Considering why to educate is important for considering how to educate: that is, what policies, curriculum, and pedagogy to use, in relation to purposes. This chapter discusses some of the major frameworks underpinning various educational practices that have taken place historically and today. The aim is to elaborate ethical frameworks as they relate to justifications for educational practices, before giving some examples to clarify and demonstrate how choices among frameworks make a difference in relation to practice. Additionally, the chapter considers some of the noteworthy limitations of each.

Keywords

ethicseducationcommunitarianismliberalismjustice
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Ethics and Education , pp. 305 - 329
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Apple, Michael. Education and Power. London: Routledge, 1982.Google Scholar
Applebaum, Barbara. “Is Caring Inherently Good?” In Philosophy of Education 1998, edited by Tozer, Steve, 415–422. Urbana, IL: Philosophy of Education Society, 1998.Google Scholar
Applebaum, Barbara. “White Privilege/White Complicity: Connecting ‘Benefiting From’ to ‘Contributing To.’” In Philosophy of Education 2008, edited by Glass, Ronald David, 292–300. Urbana, IL: Philosophy of Education Society, 2009.Google Scholar
Arneson, Richard. “Equality of Opportunity.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2015 Edition), edited by Edward N. Zalta, 2015. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2015/entries/equal-opportunity/.Google Scholar
Barrow, Robin. “‘Or What’s a Heaven For?’ The Importance of Aims in Education.” In The Aims of Education, edited by Marples, Roger, 145–122. London: Routledge, 1999.Google Scholar
Bell, Daniel. “Communitarianism.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2020 Edition), edited by Edward N. Zalta, 2020. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2020/entries/communitarianism/.Google Scholar
Berlin, Isaiah. Four Essays on Liberty. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969.Google Scholar
Card, Claudia. “Caring and Evil.” Hypatia 5, no. 1 (1990): 101–108.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, Kimberle. On Intersectionality: Essential Writings. New York: New Press, 2013.Google Scholar
Crittenden, Paul. “Justice, Care, and Other Virtues: A Critique of Kohlberg‘s Theory of Moral Development.” In Virtue Ethics and Moral Education, edited by Carr, David and Steutel, Jan, 169–183. London: Routledge, 1999.Google Scholar
Davids, Nuraan, and Waghid, Yusef. Academic Activism in Higher Education: A Living Philosophy for Social Justice. Singapore: Springer, 2021.Google Scholar
Diorio, Joseph A. “Desire, Reason and Distributive Justice.” Educational Philosophy and Theory 13, no. 2 (1981): 17–29.Google Scholar
Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks. London: Grove Press, 1967.Google Scholar
Feinberg, Walter. Common Schools/Uncommon Identities: National Unity and Cultural Difference. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998.Google Scholar
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 1972.Google Scholar
Galston, William. “Equality of Opportunity and Liberal Theory.” In Justice and Equality Here and Now, edited by Lucash, Frank S., 89–107. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1986.Google Scholar
Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982.Google Scholar
Giroux, Henry. On Critical Pedagogy. New York: Continuum, 2011.Google Scholar
Green, Thomas Hill. Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation and Other Essays, edited by Harris, Paul and Morrow, John. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.Google Scholar
Griffiths, Morwenna. “Towards a Theoretical Framework for Understanding Social Justice in Educational Practice.” Educational Philosophy and Theory 30, no. 2 (1998): 175–192.Google Scholar
Guttierrez y Muz, Gabriella, Neimann, Yolanda Flores, Gonzalez, Carmen G., and Harris, Angela P.. Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2012.Google Scholar
Hand, Michael. “Against Autonomy as an Educational Aim.” Oxford Review of Education 32, no. 4 (2006): 535–550.Google Scholar
Hare, William. “Critical Thinking as an Aim of Education.” In The Aims of Education, edited by Marples, Roger, 85–99. London: Routledge, 1999.Google Scholar
Herr, Ranjoo Seodu. “Is Confucianism Compatible with Care Ethics? A Critique.” Philosophy East and West 53, no. 4 (2003): 471–489.Google Scholar
Higgins-D’Alessandro, Ann. “Lawrence Kohlberg’s Legacy: Radicalizing the Educational Mainstream.” In Kohlberg Revisited: Moral Development and Citizenship Education, edited by Zizek, Boris, Garz, Detlef, and Nowak, Ewa, 27–49. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 2015.Google Scholar
Jackson, Liz. “Becoming Classy: In Search of Class Theory in Philosophy of Education.” In Philosophy of Education 2018, edited by Laverty, Megan, 315–328. Urbana, IL: Philosophy of Education Society, 2018.Google Scholar
Jackson, Liz. Beyond Virtue: The Politics of Educating Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.Google Scholar
Jackson, Liz. “The Individualist? The Autonomy of Reason in Kant’s Philosophy and Educational Views.” Studies in Philosophy of Education 26 (2007): 335–344.Google Scholar
Jackson, Liz. Muslims and Islam in US Education: Reconsidering Multiculturalism. London: Routledge, 2014.Google Scholar
Jackson, Liz. “The Purposes of Education.” In Philosophical Foundations of Education, edited by Thompson, Winston C.. London: Bloomsbury, 2022.Google Scholar
Jackson, Liz. Questioning Allegiance: Resituating Civic Education. London: Routledge, 2019.Google Scholar
Jackson, Liz. “Reevaluating White Privileged Ignorance and Its Implications for Antiracist Education.” In Philosophy of Education 2008, edited by Glass, Ronald David, 301–304. Urbana, IL: Philosophy of Education Society, 2009.Google Scholar
Jackson, Liz. “Rethinking Education for the New Normal: Formal versus Informal and Nonformal Education and Lifelong Learning.” In International Handbook of Educational Development in the Asia Pacific, edited by Lee, Wing On, Brown, Phillip, Goodwin, A. Lin, and Green, Andy. Singapore: Springer, 2022.Google Scholar
Jackson, Liz, and Peters, Michael A., eds. Marxism, Neoliberalism, and Intelligent Capitalism: An Educational Philosophy and Theory Reader. New York: Routledge, 2021.Google Scholar
Jackson, Liz, and Peters, Michael A., eds. Race and Racism in Educational Philosophy and Theory. Oxon: Routledge, 2023.Google Scholar
Kahembe, Joyce, and Jackson, Liz. Educational Assessment in Tanzania: A Sociocultural Perspective. Singapore: Springer, 2020.Google Scholar
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Practical Reason, translated and edited by Gregor, Mary J.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1788/1996.Google Scholar
Kant, Immanuel. Kant: Political Writings, edited by Reiss, Hans, translated by H. B. Nisbet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1784/1970.Google Scholar
Kincheloe, Joe L., and Steinberg, Shirley R.. Changing Multiculturalism. Buckingham: Open Court Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Kohlberg, L. The Psychology of Moral Development. New York: Harper & Row, 1981.Google Scholar
Kymlicka, William. “Liberalism and Communitarianism.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 18, no. 2 (1988): 181–203.Google Scholar
Ladson-Billings, Gloria. “Just What Is Critical Race Theory and What’s It Doing in a Nice Field like Education?” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 11 (1998): 7–24.Google Scholar
Le Grange, Lesley, and Mika, Carl. “What Is Indigenous Philosophy and What Are Its Implications for Education?” In International Handbook of Philosophy of Education, edited by Smeyers, Paul, 499–516. Cham: Springer, 2018.Google Scholar
Leonardo, Zeus. “After the Glow: Race Ambivalence and Other Educational Prognoses.” Educational Philosophy and Theory 43, no. 6 (2011): 675–698.Google Scholar
Leonardo, Zeus. “The Color of Supremacy: Beyond the Discourse of ‘White Privilege.’” Educational Philosophy and Theory 36 (2004): 137–152.Google Scholar
Levinson, Meira. The Demands of Liberal Education. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.Google Scholar
Levinson, Meira. No Citizen Left Behind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.Google Scholar
Levinson, Meira, and Fay, Jacob, eds. Democratic Discord in Schools: Cases and Commentaries in Educational Ethics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019.Google Scholar
Levinson, Meira, and Fay, Jacob, eds. Dilemmas of Educational Ethics: Cases and Commentaries. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Lynn, Marvin. “Inserting the ‘Race’ into Critical Pedagogy: An Analysis of ‘Race‐Based Epistemologies.’” Educational Philosophy and Theory 36, no. 2 (2004): 153–165.Google Scholar
Lyotard, Jean-Francois. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Manchester: University of Manchester Press, 1984.Google Scholar
Macaulay, Thomas B. “Minute on Indian Education.” In Bureau of Education: Selection from Educational Records, Part 1 (1781–1839), edited by Sharp, H.. Calcutta: Government Printing, 1835.Google Scholar
Maxwell, Bruce, and Reichenbach, Roland. “Educating Moral Emotion: A Praxiological Analysis.” Studies in Philosophy and Education 26 (2007): 147–163.Google Scholar
Mayo, Cris. LGBTQ Youth and Education: Policies and Practices. New York: Teachers College Press, 2014.Google Scholar
Merry, Michael. Equality, Citizenship, and Segregation. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.Google Scholar
Mills, Charles W. “White Ignorance.” In Race and Epistemologies of Ignorance,. edited by Sullivan, Shannon and Tuana, Nancy, 13–38. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2007.Google Scholar
Mohamed, Yasien. “Critical Reflections on Faruqi’s Islamization of Knowledge.” In International Handbook of Philosophy of Education, edited by Smeyers, Paul, 47–162. Cham: Springer, 2018.Google Scholar
Mulhall, Stephen, and Swift, Adam. Liberals and Communitarians. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.Google Scholar
Nesterova, Yulia, and Jackson, Liz, “Educating Indigenous People: Historical Analysis and Contemporary Practices.” In Quality Education: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, edited by Filho, Walter Leal, Azul, Anabela Marisa, Brandli, Luciana, Özuyar, Pinar Gökçin, and Wall, Tony. Cham: Springer, 2020.Google Scholar
Noaparast, Khosrow Bagheri. “Islam and the Philosophy of Education: The Three Approaches.” In Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy, edited by Peters, Michael A., 1170–1175. Singapore: Springer, 2017.Google Scholar
Noddings, Nel. Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.Google Scholar
Noddings, Nel. “Two Concepts of Caring.” In Philosophy of Education 1999, edited by Curren, Randall. Urbana, IL: Philosophy of Education Society, 1999.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, Martha. “Women and Law of Peoples.” Politics, Philosophy and Economics 1 (2002): 283–306.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, Martha. “Women’s Education: A Global Challenge.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 29, no. 2 (2004): 325–355.Google Scholar
Oakeshott, Michael. The Voice of Liberal Learning: Michael Oakeshott on Education, edited by Fuller, Timothy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Okin, Susan M. Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women? Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Parker, Laurence, and Stovall, David O.. “Actions Following Words: Critical Race Theory Connects to Critical Pedagogy.” Educational Philosophy and Theory 36, no. 2 (2004): 167–182.Google Scholar
Peters, Michael A. “Interview with George Yancy, African-American Philosopher of Critical Philosophy of Race.” Educational Philosophy and Theory 51, no. 7 (2019): 663–669.Google Scholar
Peters, Richard S. Ethics and Education. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1966.Google Scholar
Plato. The Republic. New York: Basic Books, 1943.Google Scholar
Rawls, John. Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Rawls, John. Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Reagan, Timothy G. Non-Western Educational Traditions: Alterative Approaches to Educational Thought and Practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2000.Google Scholar
Robeyns, Ingrid. “Three Models of Education: Rights, Capabilities and Human Capital.” Theory and Research in Education 4, no. 1 (2006): 69–84.Google Scholar
Sandel, Michael. Liberalism and the Limits of Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.Google Scholar
Sarkissian, Hagop. “Is Self-Regulation a Burden or a Virtue? A Comparative Perspective.” In The Philosophy and Psychology of Character and Happiness, edited by Snow, Nancy and Trivigno, Franco V., 181–196. London: Routledge, 2014.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya. Development as Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya. Inequality Reexamined. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992.Google Scholar
Siegel, Harvey. Education’s Epistemology: Rationality, Diversity, and Critical Thinking. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Singer, Peter. “Famine, Affluence, and Morality.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 1, no. 1 (1972): 229–243.Google Scholar
Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. New York: Zed Books, 1999.Google Scholar
Tan, Charlene, “Confucius.” In International Handbook of Philosophy of Education, edited by Smeyers, Paul, 91–102. Cham: Springer, 2018.Google Scholar
Taylor, Charles. Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Taylor, Charles, and Gutmann, Amy. Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994.Google Scholar
Tillson, John. “Rival Conceptions of Religious Education.” In International Handbook of Philosophy of Education, edited by Smeyers, Paul, 1059–1082. Cham: Springer, 2018.Google Scholar
Tozer, Steven. E., Senese, Guy, and Violas, Paul. School and Society: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.Google Scholar
Walker, James. “Self-Determination as an Educational Aim.” In The Aims of Education, edited by Marples, Roger, 112–123. London: Routledge, 1999.Google Scholar
Willis, Paul. Learning to Labor: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.Google Scholar
Wun, Connie. “The Anti-Black Order of No Child Left Behind: Using Lacanian Psychoanalysis and Critical Race Theory to Examine NCLB.” Educational Philosophy and Theory 46, no. 5 (2014): 462–474.Google Scholar
Young, Iris Marion. Responsibility for Justice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.Google Scholar
Zavala, Miguel. “Decolonial Methodologies in Education.” In Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory, edited by Peters, Michael A., 1–6. Cham: Springer, 2016.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×