The Importance of Rethinking Reflection and Ethics for Education

Abstract

In this introductory chapter, the authors express their unease about teaching in general and explain why the idea of reflection, in the context of education, needs to be rethought. It is identified that education is primarily a moral and political endeavour which aspires to enhance the quality of life both for individuals and for society in general. Consequently, it is emphasised that there is the necessity for increasing teachers’ awareness of ethical issues both in their work and in their lives as teachers. This chapter identifies that one of the main obstacles to the raising of such an awareness is that government departments of education actively work against allowing teachers to access ideas that may challenge their policies, claiming that teachers are too sensitive to be able to handle controversial ideas. Despite these obstacles, the authors argue that contributing towards raising such awareness better enables teachers to pursue their hopes, expectations, desires, commitment and indeed their sense of self.