Building Ethical Judgment and Reasoning for Preservice Teachers

• In Event: Aims and Ethics in Education

Abstract

Students must be purposefully and expressly taught, among other things, two areas which teach ethics within the teaching profession. The legal component, which requires an understanding of the criminal and civil laws most relevant to education in the state, is critically important to inform preservice teachers of the statutory framework within which they must work. The ethical component, which is usually articulated in a state’s professional teachers’ code of conduct, is also critical to ethically navigate the day-to-day actions and interactions of pre-service teachers in schools. This paper offers some guiding theoretical principles for how teacher education programs may reasonably guide the preparation of pre-service teachers in the ethical component of their studies in the teacher education programs.

Authors

• Dianne Gereluk, University of Calgary

• James K. Donlevy, University of Calgary