Education and Human Values

Reconciling Talent with an Ethics of Care

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Education & Teaching, Educational Theory, Philosophy & Social Aspects, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Ethics & Moral Philosophy
Cover of the book Education and Human Values by Michael Slote, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Michael Slote ISBN: 9781136299537
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: November 27, 2012
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Michael Slote
ISBN: 9781136299537
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: November 27, 2012
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Two of our greatest educational theorists, John Dewey and Nel Noddings, have been reluctant to admit that some students are simply more talented than others. This was no doubt due to their feeling that such an admission was inconsistent with democratic concern for everyone. But there really is such a thing as superior talent; and the present book explains how that admission is compatible with our ideals of caring (and democracy). Traditionalists confident that some disciplines are more important than others haven’t worried that that way of putting things threatens to make those who are excluded feel quite bad about themselves. But an ethics of care can show us how to make these differences much less hurtful and more morally acceptable than anything that has been proposed by traditionalists.

So the present book offers a middle way between the denial of the reality of superior talents and an insensitive insistence on that reality. It argues that care ethics gives us a way to do this, and it bases that claim largely on the promise of such an ethics for moral education in schools and in homes. It is argued on psychological grounds that caring can only take place on the basis of empathy for others, and the book shows in great detail how empathy can be encouraged or develop in school and home contexts. Other approaches to moral education—like Kantian cognitive-developmentalism and Aristotelian character education—can’t account for (increasing) moral motivation in the way that an emphasis on the development of empathy allows. And in the end, it is only students educated via care ethics who will be sensitive to one another in a way that largely undercuts the negative psychological impact of educational institutions and practices that acknowledge the greater talents or creativity that some students have.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Two of our greatest educational theorists, John Dewey and Nel Noddings, have been reluctant to admit that some students are simply more talented than others. This was no doubt due to their feeling that such an admission was inconsistent with democratic concern for everyone. But there really is such a thing as superior talent; and the present book explains how that admission is compatible with our ideals of caring (and democracy). Traditionalists confident that some disciplines are more important than others haven’t worried that that way of putting things threatens to make those who are excluded feel quite bad about themselves. But an ethics of care can show us how to make these differences much less hurtful and more morally acceptable than anything that has been proposed by traditionalists.

So the present book offers a middle way between the denial of the reality of superior talents and an insensitive insistence on that reality. It argues that care ethics gives us a way to do this, and it bases that claim largely on the promise of such an ethics for moral education in schools and in homes. It is argued on psychological grounds that caring can only take place on the basis of empathy for others, and the book shows in great detail how empathy can be encouraged or develop in school and home contexts. Other approaches to moral education—like Kantian cognitive-developmentalism and Aristotelian character education—can’t account for (increasing) moral motivation in the way that an emphasis on the development of empathy allows. And in the end, it is only students educated via care ethics who will be sensitive to one another in a way that largely undercuts the negative psychological impact of educational institutions and practices that acknowledge the greater talents or creativity that some students have.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Handbook of Traumatic Loss by Michael Slote
Cover of the book Weathering the Storms by Michael Slote
Cover of the book About Raymond Williams by Michael Slote
Cover of the book Things Merely Are by Michael Slote
Cover of the book Topics in French Syntax by Michael Slote
Cover of the book Experiencing Public Relations by Michael Slote
Cover of the book Educating for Well-Being in Law by Michael Slote
Cover of the book Violence by Michael Slote
Cover of the book The Case Against the Global Economy by Michael Slote
Cover of the book Stats To Go by Michael Slote
Cover of the book Physical Activity in Diverse Populations by Michael Slote
Cover of the book What is This Thing Called Love? by Michael Slote
Cover of the book Buying into the Environment by Michael Slote
Cover of the book Ambivalent Europeans by Michael Slote
Cover of the book The Hawkins' Voyages during the Reigns of Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth, and James I by Michael Slote
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy