Moral issues in educational praxis: a perspective frompedagogiekanddidactiekas human sciences in continental Europe

Why ‘What Works’ Still Won’t Work: From Evidence-Based Education to Value-Based Education

“…Given that evidence can at most provide us with information about possible connections between actions and consequences and therefore is entirely located at the level of the means of education, the idea of evidence-based practice is problematic, because if evidence were the only base for educational practice, educational practice would be entirely without direction. This is one reason why, in education, values come first (see also Ax and Ponte 2010). …”

How do teachers legitimize their classroom interactions in terms of educational values and ideals?

“…Biesta, 2010b). One might add that scholars such as Goodlad, Soder, andSirotnik (1990), Van Manen (1991), Buzzelli and Johnston (2002), Campbell (2003), Kemmis andSmith (2008), Gewirtz, Mahony, Hextall, andCribb, (2009), and Ax and Ponte (2010), incorporate teachers' educational values and ideals in their overall framework of the nature of teaching. However, in reviewing this literature, it seems safe to say that the greater part is theoretical and philosophical, rather than empirical.…”

Developing a descriptive framework for comprehending the inherent moral significance of teaching

“…Ponte and Ax (2009, 253) described continental European pedagogiek as follows: 'This science seeks answers to questions about what kind of human beings children should become and how they can be raised toward becoming such human beings, taking into account the context in which this process of upbringing takes place'. At the heart of pedagogiek as a human science lies the relationship between the educator and his or her pupils (van Manen 1994;Oelkers 2001;Ax and Ponte 2010). This pedagogische relationship and, consequently, the interactions between teachers and pupils are always concerned with both the empirical question 'what is the case?'…”