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This book considers teaching in modern institutional settings, among other things, as the ethical questioning and reversal of passively accepted prejudices, particularly in contexts of diversities and inequalities. Its thematic focus is the ethics of teacher-learner and learner-learner relationships within the democratic setup, and the possibilities of critique and transformation emerging out of such a relationship.
The first theme of the book is diversity and pluralism, the second is the question of inequality in such contexts of radical diversity. With respect to this question, an unavoidable phenomenon of our times is the capitalisation of education and the reductionist view of learners as customers and consumers of knowledge. The approach to education that sees students merely as skilled human resources to be readied for the job market militates against critical thinking and do not respond appropriately to the questions of diversity and inequality. Thus, a significant focus of the book is the impact of inherited inequalities of caste and race on classroom ambience and teachers' interventions in the modern institutional context. The pertinent question is the increasing unwillingness of teachers to recognise and challenge discriminatory views and play their role in social transformation. In this regard, the teaching and learning of the humanities is also investigated. Teaching and the traditional classroom, it is often said, may not be required in the future as machines and remotely located teachers/explicators might claim their place. Hence, another question of focus is whether such a future would be hospitable to the critical task of education to cultivate young citizens of democracies.
List of contents
The Ethics of Teaching: In Place of a Foreword
Krishna KumarIntroduction: The Unequal Classroom
John Russon,
Siby K. George and
P.G. JungPart I Education: Philosophy and Context1. The Importance of a Philosophical Education in Contemporary Society: Dewey and the University Curriculum
John Russon2. Waiting for a Socrates: Kant's Educational Vision and Macaulay's Civilising Mission
P.G. Jung and
Roshni Babu3. The 'Debased Native Mind' in Colonial Discourse: Education Policies in 19th-Century Gujarat
dhara k. chotaiPart II Ethics of Teaching: Principles and Cases4. Teaching Self-Respect: The Very Idea
Apaar Kumar5. On the Ethics of Teaching: The Lessons of Athenian Democracy
Patricia Fagan6. From Walls to Bridges: Education as Dialectic and the Educator as Curator of the Affective Conditions of Dialogue
Kym Maclaren7. Education for Democracy: Philosophical Reflections Inspired by Brazil's Movement of Landless Rural Workers
Bruce GilbertPart III Ethics of Teaching: Indian Perspectives8. Can Pedagogies Be Both Critical and Caring?
Kanchana Mahadevan 9. 'Why Johnny Can't Read': Seeking a Response through the Art of Teaching
Ranjan Kumar Panda 10. Reconstructing a Critical Ontology of Education through an Ethics of Care: Critical Pedagogy, the World View of the Ao Naga Tribe, and Care Ethics in Dialogue
Amrita Banerjee and
Karilemla11. Environmental Education in Schools: Perspective and Challenges
Rinzi Lama12. Caste in the Classroom: An Ethical Interrogation
P. Kesava Kumar13. Prejudice and the Pedagogue: Teaching in a Democratic Classroom
Siby K. GeorgeNotes on Contributors
About the author
John Russon, Siby K. George, P. G. Jung
