In many areas of human existence people generally do not hold that they may behave in just any way they want toward other people. (This same limit may well be argued for other groups than people as well. It may be held about our relationships to animals, to nature in general, even to gods or other transcendental beings. But, here I limit my remarks to our relationships with other people.)
At the political level every government makes certain acts illegal and punishes those who transgress. At the social level we often show disapproval of people when they act in certain ways and by that disapproval we try to shape behavior away from the offending behaviors. At the religious level certain acts are often held by the religion to be unacceptable, or sinful or some sort of disapproval. Even at the personal level (perhaps influenced by religion, society and government) we often will feel that certain acts toward other people are just not something we should do. This entire realm is the area of moral concern.
Moral philosophy is a discipline of philosophy which uses the tools of human reason to inquire into these questions of what should and shouldn't be done with and to other persons. (Government uses reason as a tool, but also uses the machinations of politics and interests as tools. Society uses reason as a tool, but also the power and value of tradition and social values as tools. Religion uses reason as a tool, but also uses divine revelation, and faith as tools.)
When I talk of moral dimensions of education I am thinking of moral obligations in a philosophical perspective, where reason is the dominant tool.
Within the formal educational establishment at the elementary and secondary level one category of relationships are those of adults to those we call "children." Mainly these are humans who are under the age of 19, and who, in most cultures, are legally regarded as minors.
Within these relationships when we as adults are in relation with children as students, we are in relation with them in various roles. The key roles (but not the only ones) that interest me are:
Given that in almost every nation on earth school attendance is mandatory by law and required to at least the age of 16, we as citizens participate in this force applied to the young. As parents we often use the power and force of our roles to be sure children are in school and more or less fulfill the wishes of the school. And so on with the more stringent powers of teachers and administrators.
Within recent decades there has been some minor attention paid to the "rights" of students in the face of all this power. It has been held (and behavior enforced) in at least some nations such as the United States, that there are limits on how adults may relate with minor students in school. Some limits are:
I maintain that there is a significant moral dimension to philosophy of education. As adults, whether in the roles of teachers, administrators, parents or citizens, have power and authority over students. As in other moral situations we need good reasons to interfere in the personal behavior of children (even MAKING them students is a moral choice) and we should have good and adequate reasons for our relationships with them.
To explore those reasons and those areas of interchange is the moral dimension of philosophy of education.
There will not be a specific place or time where we will carry on this investigation in this course. Rather, it will pervade the entirety of the course. I will try to make us face these issues at every turn.
There is a tendency toward what I will call traditional behavior. That is, if a certain behavior pattern is widespread and common in a culture it tends to become regarded as "RIGHT," even "NATURAL." Often when this is the case it is very difficult to get the questions on to the floor of serious moral inquiry. We have seen this within the past 1/2 century with the questions of the relationships between blacks and whites and between men and women. There were traditional behavioral patterns in place and attitudes toward blacks, whites, men and woman which told us the place of each in society, even the "nature" of each. In the past 1/2 century the traditional views of these relationships have been severely challenged and in some significant and historical degree dramatically overturned.
Thus, as we move into the 21st century we see very different views of the nature of race and gender relations and little by little behaviors toward those moral dimensions of human behavior are changing. It is often the case that intellectual attitudes change much earlier than the dominant behavior patterns of a culture.
It is a central thrust of this course that our attitudes toward adults and minor students need to be dramatically (radically) reassessed and that some of our previous attitudes will be seen to not measure up to reasoned inquiry. If this is so, then it would follow that there would need to be behavioral changes which would likely follow upon these changes in attitudes. These behavior changes, if needed, would likely impact our view of what education is all about.
I will take the responsibility of raising these moral issues as often as time permits, and I urge and encourage you to do the same.
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Bob Corbett corbetre@webster.edu