Moral Questions in the Classroom: How to Get Kids to Think Deeply about Real Life and their School Work

by Katherine G. Simon, Nancy Faust Sizer, Theodore R. Sizer

What constitutes a just war? How does race matter in America? Are the interests of corporations the same as those of the public when it comes to the environment or public health? Middle and high school history, literature, and science classes abound with important moral, social, and political questions. But under pressure to cover required materials and out of fear of raising controversy, teachers often avoid classroom discussions of questions of profound importance to students and to society.

This book investigates how schools can responsibly take an active role in moral education while honoring their academic mission. Using extensive observations in public, Catholic, and Jewish high schools, Katherine Simon analyzes the ways in which teachers avoid or address moral questions raised by students and implicit in course materials. She examines how morally charged issues may be taught responsibly in a diverse democracy. And in an afterword that teachers and teacher educators will find particularly useful, Simon provides practical tools and strategies for structuring discussion and designing units to help teachers explore moral issues more deeply with their middle and high school students.

Genres: Education, Teaching

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2001

Reviews

[Tandava Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very interesting, though I do wish it covered middle school as well as high school ages, since I can’t always tell how to recalibrate things on my own yet. A bit slow getting going, but if you’re a teacher just looking for the practical examples and discussions, then I think it’s safe to just start at Chapter 4. The afterword did have some useful implementation ideas, and I appreciated that.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise is that all teachers are not delving deeply enough into moral questions in the classroom. This could have been a great book suggesting numerous moral questions and ways to discuss them. She mentioned a few things, but didn't take it as far as I thought she would for all of her complaining. In the introduction, she said the book was her dissertation. I think she could have gone much futher than she did. The book just fell a bit flat. However, there were some good ideas for discussions that I will use in my classroom.