I “Kant” Wrap My Mind Around It: The Morals and Ethics of Education

I can vividly recall the first few days of the Klingenstein Center program. Orienting myself to the Teachers College campus and classrooms, the palpable excitement of being back in school and the hopes and aspirations for the journey ahead. What I was not prepared for was the depth of intellectual gymnastics that we would endeavor in the first few weeks. On the schedule was an Ethics and Education class. Embedded in this was a heavy dose of philosophy. I hadn’t picked up a philosophy book in decades. To say I was intimidated was an understatement.

As a mid-tier (at best) student in high school and an art student in college, having an opportunity to re-establish myself in the classroom was a welcomed challenge. I committed myself to full engagement and an unwavering focus towards the cause. It was my chance to be the best student I always had the potential to be.

This first class would be a test of grit, resilience, humility, and patience. This being said, it was perhaps my favorite class of the entire program. The high level of thinking, course work, and engagement was everything I had hoped a Master’s would be.

Dr. Sara E. Hardman is a bright and brilliant professor who’s pedagogy and approach was a model for many to follow. Her ability to bring her evident passions to the course work and draw us in while also being mindful and connected to where we were, was impressive.

One of the mot challenging concepts and readings involved Immanuel Kant. Utilizing the framework of morality and justice, his theories of deontology, and the school context provided a thought-provoking opportunity to dig deeply into ethical dilemmas so prevalent in our communities. Our second unit pushed our limits of understanding of these complex philosophies and challenged us to consider our day-to-day school lives and situations.

“What is an ethical dilemma? Why do we confront so many of them in education? How would you characterize the difference between normative ethics and moral judgments? What is your understanding of deontology? To qualify as moral, must a judgment be impersonal and universalizable? What is relational justice? Why might it be important to cultivate relational justice in schools? Do you see a relationship between relational justice and deontology?”

I cannot say that I walked out with a complete and full understanding of Kant and his philosophies, but I am struck by the relevance that this early class continue to have today. Through the social and political discourse that continues in our broader country and the impact on our school communities, I continue to grapple with these Unit 2 questions.

Much of our discussion and learning revolved around the pivot of morality and for whom it benefits. In a society where the individual often defines their own morality for themselves, we seem to be stuck in a cycle of oscillating between community and individualistic morals and ethics. Does one’s individual sense of justice inform an entire community? Can a school institutionally establish morals and ethics and truly expect not only compliance, but earnest buy-in ubiquitously across all members of the community?

The idea of a sense of shared values across all people is fractured in today’s society, and we are faced with a dilemma of how to institute values in our schools in a way that brings our community together beyond the idealistic and aspirational to the practical and lived experience. I see it daily and annually at my school. and in the schools that i have accredited over the years. I do wonder as evident in the arc of history and society, if what we need is an inflection event to re-establish our core humanistic values.

As a school leader, one of the most important roles we have is to set a vision and ethos for our learning community. Embedded in that are the core values of the school. Over time, mission statements, credos, honor principles, etc. help articulate these values, but considering how I might apply these in reality, I can’t help but think about ways in which we might establish intentional space and time to cultivate them in practice. We are often so busy.

Schedules are packed, students are over programmed, and teachers are overwhelmed. How can a learning community work on these shared values and ethics, when there is literally no time set aside to do it. I think about ways in which we can simplify our schools and to find focus on meaningful elements that have longer and sustaining impact on our students and families. Steeped in relationships and trust, our moral and ethics will defined by our actions, not our words. Let’s engage with our communities more intentionally and deeply to connect and build the foundations of a humanistic norm for society. Because, from what I am seeing in the world today, it is so needed.