Moral-Epistemic Duties Amid Political Contestation

• In Event: 66.074 - Polarization and Epistemic Divides

Abstract

Teachers can have a responsibility to teach politically contested content. However, there are serious benefits to introducing such content in the context of social science deliberation instead; insofar as a primary aim of the social science classroom is the development of civic virtue and part of what this means is that students are taught to think for themselves about political issues, introducing contested content in this context is less likely to invite the political/parental backlash. Nonetheless, I submit that educators who take the deliberation approach must first ensure that certain moral-epistemic standards are met - standards which, if they are indeed met, amount de facto to moral education. This is because moral-epistemic competence cannot be disentangled from civic virtue.

Author

• Shannon Michelle Brick