A Defense of a Principle of Moralistic Justice in the Classroom

• In Event: 75.042 - MTCC Roundtable Session 34
  In Roundtable Session: 75.042-12 - Equal Educational Opportunity: Challenges and Possibilities

Abstract

I defend the use of a principle of moralistic justice in the classroom, suggesting that such a principle is not incompatible with a prioritarian principle of educational justice. I argue, first, that children can be held partially responsible for their effort and that teachers should therefore devote more resources to the more deserving students, provided that the estimation of a child’s “deservingness” takes into account the amount of effort that child might be expected to exert given the degree of advantage of which that child has been the recipient. Secondly, I suggest that, even if the first part of my argument fails, consequentialist considerations indicate that teachers still should guide their actions with attention to a moralistic principle of justice.

Author

• Kirsten Welch, Teachers College, Columbia University