ON FRASER UNIVERSITY
0
Spring Semester 2003
?
U-1
27
-
-
A
Ann Chinnery
Ethical Issues in Education ?
Office: EDB 9501A
Phone: 205-9066
E01.00
?
E-mail: ahchinne@sfu.ca
Mondays 16:30-20:20
PREREQUISITE:
Educ 230 or Educ 401/2
DESCRIPTION
Living in a pluralist democracy, teachers are often faced with complex ethical situations calling for informed
decision-making. Some of the ethical issues currently being debated in schools are: bullying, the increasing
corporatization of schools, marginal ization, the erosion of social and personal responsibilities, character
education, parents' and students' rights, mainstreaming, the general lack of moral guidance, questions of social
justice and equity (based on race, gender, sexuality, ability), environmental issues, and so on. Nonetheless, there is
relative lack of opportunity for educators to participate in reflective inquiry and critical dialogue around these
issues. This course aims to further the goal of cultivating teachers as reflective practitioners and agents of
change, and will therefore emphasize ethical action as well as ethical reflection.
OBJECTIVES
The course will aim to foster:
• the capacity for (written and oral) reflexive inquiry into our theoretical frameworks and practices
• the ability to read philosophical texts accurately and critically, and to employ philosophical
vocabulary
• the ability to participate in productive large and small group dialogues in a community of inquiry
• the ability to identify and articulate a personally meaningful ethical issue; develop a strategy for
personal and/or social transformation; engage in ethical action; and reflect on the experience in a way that
brings together ethical theory and practice
REQUIREMENTS
• short reflective essay 10%
• project proposal 15%
• interim report 20%
• final essay 40%
• participation 15%
REQUIRED TEXTS
Hooks, Bell. (1994). Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge.
ISBN: 0-4159-0808-6.
Custom courseware package of additional readings
