Educators of Principle: Excellence through Diversity and Educational Justice

• In Event: Authenticity & Accountability in the Work of Educational Justice

Abstract

Educators of Principle (EoP) is a faculty- and student-led initiative that reimagines teacher education as a moral and democratic endeavor. Grounded in virtue ethics, critical pedagogy, and Deweyan democracy, EoP supports the recruitment, retention, and development of underrepresented future educators through financial scholarships, mentorship, and culturally sustaining professional learning.

This session explores how EoP cultivates teachers as moral agents who embody virtues such as courage, humility, and integrity to lead justice-oriented, inclusive classrooms. Presenters will outline the program’s conceptual foundations, share its evolving structure, and highlight key outcomes. Rather than offering diversity as a static label, EoP frames it as a strength that fuels educational justice.

Attendees will be invited to reflect on how virtue ethics and principled practice appear in their own work and consider how EoP’s framework can inform the development of morally grounded, justice-driven educators amid today’s social and political challenges.

Authors

• Daniel Stanford Moore, Metropolitan State University of Denver

• Dennis L. Rudnick, Metropolitan State University of Denver