The moral nature of teaching: Teacher discovery and action

This study employs narrative inquiry (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990; 2000) to examine teachers' personal practical knowledge (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988), specifically as it relates to discovering, reflecting upon, and embracing the moral nature of teaching. Following Jackson, Boostrom, and Hansen (1993), Goodlad, Soder, and Sirotnik (1990), and Hansen (1993b, 1995, 1996), the researcher works from the assumption that teaching is an inherently moral act because the practice, by definition, works for the betterment of students through learning. The researcher presents personal narratives about his shift in teaching philosophy and practice from being a subject-oriented teacher to a student/person-oriented teacher. This shift demonstrates the researcher taking ownership of the moral dimensions of his teaching, rejecting the conduit metaphor of education (Clandinin & Connelly, 1995; Craig, 2002), and becoming a curriculum maker (Clandinin & Connelly, 1992). The themes of teaching as a vocation, teaching to empower, and teaching with an ethic of care are explored and connected to the stories of a social studies teacher in a large, urban middle school. Data from the participating teacher and his school context were collected over a two-year period. Data analysis reveals that the researcher's and the participating teacher's personal practical knowledge developed not only through personal experience and reflection but also within a knowledge community, where ideas and experiences were shared (Craig, 1995a, 1995b). With this study, the researcher seeks to add a voice to teacher education literature, encouraging current and future teachers to reflect upon those aspects of teaching that transcend a particular discipline where teachers and students act upon their position as role models. In addition, the researcher calls for teacher education programs that encourage their students, i.e. teacher candidates, to begin to develop a personal teaching philosophy in order to more explicitly acknowledge and embrace the moral nature of their pedagogical practices.