This presentation by Ruth Heilbronn and Janet Orchard was part of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) symposium at BERA Annual Conference in London, September 2014. The project, co-funded by the HEA with PESGB, offered groups of student teachers and their tutors opportunities to engage in ethical reflection. The approach based on Philosophy for Children (P4C), so this became P4T - Philosophy for Teachers. To find out more, read the project report at http://bit.ly/Z9z2dw

1. Developing ethical reflection on
behaviour in the classroom
Janet Orchard, University of Bristol
Ruth Heilbronn, IOE, University of
London

2. Philosophy and ITE?
• Capacity for critical reflection- contributes to development
professional judgement which distinguishes the best teachers from
others (e.g. Winch et. al 2013, Heilbronn, 2008).
• Reflected upon experience
• Standards - Part Two requires teachers, for example, to be able to
‘respect the rights of others ...not undermining fundamental British
values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty’.
• Weighty ideals, complex and deeply contested
• Lack of time and formal opportunity for sustained reflection on
them, or other ethical aspects (Maxwell et al., 2014).
• Teachers and teacher-educators appreciate space for discussion
and debate what these actually mean in the classroom (Shortt et al
2014),

3. Critical reflection? Judgement?
See S7
‘…maintain good relationships with pupils,
exercise appropriate authority and act decisively
when necessary’ (DfE, 2011, 7).
requires technical competence and capacity for
ethical deliberation.
Context specific - judge in the moment what to
do in respect of multiple student needs and
demands.

4. Literature – ethical deliberation
• The need - (e.g. Carr 2000, Hansen 1995 and
2001, Carr 2006, Papastephanou, M. 2006;
Campbell 2003 and 2008).
• In other professions (Davis 1999, Russell
2006).
• From our earlier work with teacher educators
(Shortt et al. 2014) we identified as useful the
‘community of enquiry’ (Lipman 2003, Dewey
1902)

5. Developing ethical reasoning
• Teaching fundamentally normative- classroom
a moral domain
• Model for developing ethical reasoning
• For teachers to draw on – coping with
unavoidable dilemmas and tensions in
working life (Campbell 2003, pp.138-9)
• In a community of enquiry P4T (P4C)

6. Project aimed to:
• Create space and time for critical reflection – 24
hour residential.
• Support STs managing ethically complex
situations – particularly coping with challenging
behaviour (Their capacity to sustain motivation
and confidence in sense of ‘moral purpose’)
• Offer teacher educators professional
development in a form of dialogic teaching
Places for STs and 1 TE from HEI – equal participants

7. .

8. The Programme
6 sessions over 24 hours with meals and breaks
Builds – has a dynamic (community of enquiry - trust)
Key role of facilitator
Starting from own shared experience of ethical
dilemmas in classrooms/workplace
Exploring and sharing with others - clarifying
meanings; making connections
Gradually building on previous sessions
Coming to Identify key values that underpin the
experiences – and the ‘big concepts’.

9. ‘Philosophy for Teachers’ (P4T)
Identify and ‘stretch’
concepts e.g. fairness,
respect, trust, equity,
Model democratic
values - equal respect to
all participants; about
their rights and therefore
their responsibilities
• .

10. Significantly over the forum …
Specific moments of
experienced difficulties and
challenges were reflected
on in their ethical
dimension
Valuable, given an often
reductive and technicist
ITT discourse and
opportunities for reflection
• .

11. Evaluating…
• Last session, active, pairs,
groups.
• Time, space and quality of
experience valued by
participants
• Discussions revealed depth of
thinking about complex
classroom matters
• Student teachers and tutors
enthusiastic about dialogical
pedagogical practice and
wanting to develop this
further
• Projects – finding ‘leaky
spaces’

12. And …specific takeaway….
• Role of the facilitator in dialogical enquiry.
• Questions for facilitating dialogue
• Links to websites for stimulating dialogue
• A chapter with follow-up activities on values education and
ethical deliberation
• Links to articles and further reading
http://blogs.heacademy.ac.uk/social-sciences/2013/07/22/developing-the-ethical-
dimensions-of-teacher-education/
(N.B. some links in follow up to previously funded HEA PESGB seminar on
Developing the Ethical Dimensions of Teacher Education, at the IoE July 2013).

13. .