On the Grounding of Teacher Education in the Human Condition

Abstract

Teaching is and should be conceptualized as a moral enterprise. However, in order to derive a view of teaching practice from such conceptualization, our understanding of the moral dimensions of teaching needs to be embedded in the framework of a theory of morality. Hence, teacher education that wants to prepare teacher candidates for such teaching practice needs to be grounded in a theory of morality. Discussing three different approaches to morality, I not only argue that they each have different implications for teaching practice - and, thus, teacher education - but that central to their differences are their different assumptions about "the human condition". The article concludes with a discussion of what this means for teacher education that strives to prepare teacher candidates for teaching as a moral enterprise.