Teaching Responsibility: Practical Reasoning and Moral Understanding in a Pedagogical “Wonderland”

• In Event: The Moral Work of Teaching: Preparing and Supporting Practitioners

Abstract

In this paper, I alternate between articulating theoretical assumptions about “teaching responsibility,” describing my own teaching practice, and musing about what both might mean for broader conceptions of professional judgment, practical reasoning, the moral nature of teaching and learning, and our understanding of the relation between liberal arts and professional preparation in teaching. I begin by addressing the concept of responsibility, examining its relation to practical reasoning and moral action, and explaining why I find this to be a useful tool in shaping students’ experience in my Foundations of Modern Education course. I then move to an extended exploration of the course, first spelling out its purposes and its place in students’ overall preparation, and then rendering a representation of the interactions, assignments, and events that intentionally create a layered experience that students must take in and sort out. After that, I look back to questions about the nature and importance of professional judgment, the sense of pedagogical responsibility as a form of moral action, the possibilities for practical reasoning, and the places in the undergraduate course of study where judgment, responsibility, and reasoning ought to emerge in the preparation of educational professionals. At the end, I return to the meaning of “teaching responsibility.”

Author

• Barbara S. Stengel, Vanderbilt University