Making decisions is a crucial element of teaching, but what’s the best formula to make the right choice?
Cara Furman, associate professor of early childhood education at Hunter College of the City University of New York, discusses one with three elements.
Cara Furman is a former New York City progressive public elementary school teacher and Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Hunter College. She is author of Teaching from an Ethical Center: Practical Wisdom for Daily Instruction, co-author of Descriptive Inquiry in Teacher Practice: Cultivating Practical Wisdom to Create Democratic Schools, and co-editor of Teachers and Philosophy: Essays on the Contact Zone. She hoststhe podcast Teaching from an Ethical Center: An Inquiry Among Friends and co-hosts Thinking in the Midst. She writes about teacher-decision making, ethics, Descriptive Inquiry, inquiry, asset-based inclusive teaching, and progressive literacy practices. She has a doctorate in philosophy and education and a masters in Inclusive Elementary Education from Teachers College, Columbia.
Ethical Decision Making as a Teacher: Practical Wisdom
How do I call on next? What should I do when a child can’t understand the curriculum? What books should I assign in class? How can I re-engage a child who is angry? How do I partner better with families? These are just a small sample of the types of questions teachers must inquire into and act from every single day.
Teaching demands constant decision making and these decisions matter for the quality of the experience and education of children. The phrase practical wisdom, deriving from Aristotle, best describes how teachers know in action. Practical wisdom captures three key elements. One) Teachers act in context. Two) These actions are ethical. Three) ethical action must also be effective action requiring a teacher know both methods and content. While some decisions like adapting a new curriculum happen outside of the classroom, most teacher decisions are quotidian, constant throughout the day, and often imperceptible to the untrained eye.
For example, a preschool teacher in my recent study was required to read and conduct a series of lessons with a picture book about ducks looking for a home in a city. This teacher was committed to, in her words, “acting in the best interest of the child” and felt the premise of the book would be “vague” to her rural students. Knowing the message of the book, child development, and pedagogy well, she took the kids outside to walk the parking lot and do a sound map – an activity where you sit still and identify the range of sounds heard.
Teaching with practical wisdom is subtle and nuanced work demanding a teacher who can closely attend to context, has a host of methods to draw from, understands the purpose of lessons, and is clear on core values. When teacher development is rooted in cultivating these capacities, practically wise teachers develop and children benefit.
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