The Ethical Dilemma of Learning Pods

• In Event: The Ethics of Pandemic Learning Pods

Abstract

This paper locates an ethical dilemma surrounding learning pods at the intersection between addressing immediate, short-term concerns about learning and long-term, systemic concerns about just educational systems. That is, learning pods are themselves a potentially legitimate response to continuation of education during a pandemic insofar as they seek to enable in-person learning with all its attendant benefits in a manner that aligns with public health requirements. Yet, the advent of such pods may have longer term consequences for the health of an education system wrestles with deep racial and socioeconomic inequalities, including the further erosion of support for public education and the exacerbation of racial and socioeconomic segregation. In his response, the author weighs these competing concerns, arguing that attending to injustice and the potential for injustice is a crucial lever for evaluating learning pods.

Author

• Jacob Fay, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University