Race Ing Moral Formation

In this volume the editors incorporate the experiences of African Americans into the discourse on moral-development theory and moral education. By citing historical developments from the days of slavery to the present, the authors provide a framework through which one can interpret the way morality has been cultivated amongst Black minorities. Presenting intriguing essays of well-known African American scholars, the editors discuss both the psychology of moral formation among African American children, adolescents, and adults, and the practical implications of this knowledge.

There is widespread agreement that schools should contribute to the moral development and character formation of their students. In fact, 80% of US states currently have mandates regarding character education. However, the pervasiveness of the support for moral and character education masks a high degree of controversy surrounding its meaning and methods. The purpose of this handbook is to supplant the prevalent ideological rhetoric of the field with a comprehensive, research-oriented volume that both describes the extensive changes that have occurred over the last fifteen years and points forward to the future. Now in its second edition, this book includes the latest applications of developmental and cognitive psychology to moral and character education from preschool to college settings, and much more.

Americans now face a caring deficit: there are simply too many demands on people’s time for us to care adequately for our children, elderly people, and ourselves.At the same time, political involvement in the United States is at an all-time low, and although political life should help us to care better, people see caring as unsupported by public life and deem the concerns of politics as remote from their lives. Caring Democracy argues that we need to rethink American democracy, as well as our fundamental values and commitments, from a caring perspective. The idea that production and economic life are the most important political and human concerns ignores the reality that caring, for ourselves and others, should be the highest value that shapes how we view the economy, politics, and institutions such as schools and the family. Care is at the center of our human lives, but Tronto argues it is currently too far removed from the concerns of politics. Caring Democracy traces the reasons for this disconnection and argues for the need to make care, not economics, the central concern of democratic political life. Joan C. Tronto is a Professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care (Routledge).

Educators, teacher practitioners, and social activists have successfully used critical pedagogy as a tool to help marginalized students develop awareness and seek alternative solutions to their poor educational and socioeconomic situations. However, this theory is often criticized as being mostly dominated by privileged white males, bringing issues of race and gender to the forefront. This volume provides insight on how critical pedagogy can be helpful to scholars and teachers alike in their analysis of racial, gender, linguistic and political problems. It features a wide range of respected scholars who examine the way and the degree to which critical pedagogy can be used to improve education for students of color, women and other marginalized groups.

This work delves into the topic of moral education in America's K-12 schools. Following an introductory historical chapter, it analyzes salient topics and notable leaders in the field of moral education. It treats the issues thoroughly and fairly, providing a heightened understanding of both the major and minor themes in moral education.

This Handbook received an honorable mention at the 2009 PROSE Awards. The PROSE Awards annually recognize the very best in professional and scholarly publishing by bringing attention to distinguished books, journals, and electronic content in over 40 categories. "This volume fills the tremendous void that currently exists in providing a much-needed lens for cultural leadership and proficiency. The approach provides a wide divergence of perspectives on African American forms of leadership in a variety of diverse leadership settings." —Len Foster, Washington State University The SAGE Handbook of African American Education is a unique, comprehensive collection of theoretical and empirical scholarship in six important areas: historical perspectives, teaching and learning, PK–12 school leadership, higher education, current issues, and education policy. The purpose of the Handbook is to articulate perspectives on issues affecting the participation and leadership of African Americans in PK–12 and postsecondary education. This volume also addresses historical and current issues affecting the education of African Americans and discusses current and future school reform efforts that directly affect this group. Key Features Promotes inquiry and development of questions, ideas, and dialogue about critical practice, theory, and research on African Americans in the United States educational system Makes significant contributions to the scholarship on African Americans in the broad context of U.S. education and society Addresses the central question—in what ways do African Americans in corporate, private, and public positions influence and shape educational policy that affects African Americans? "The SAGE Handbook of African American Education is a unique, comprehensive collection of theoretical and empirical scholarship in six important areas: historical perspectives, teaching and learning, Pre-K-12 school leadership, higher education, current issues, and education policy." —TEACHERS OF COLOR "A wise scientist once argued that to doubt everything or to believe everything often results in the same solution set; both eliminate the need for reflection. This handbook provides an intellectual space for those interested in true reflection on the human ecology of the African American experience in schools, communities, and society. The /Handbook of African American Education/ is a repository of information developed to advance the human service professional." —William F. Tate IV, Washington University in St. Louis "This handbook represents the most comprehensive collection of research on African Americans in education to date. Its breadth spans the historical, the political, institutional and community forces that have shaped educational opportunities and attainment among African Americans. The review of extant research on a range of topics from the role of culture and identity in learning, teacher preparation, educational leadership, to higher education and educational policy is far-reaching and cutting edge. This volume has historic significance and will become a classic collection on African American education for scholars and practitioners alike." —Carol D. Lee, Professor, Northwestern University Vice-President, Division G, American Educational Research Association "This handbook is needed as a basic reference for professors and graduate students conducting research on the education of Blacks in America." —Frank Brown, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

A unique theory of trust building in engagement journalism that proposes journalists move to an ethic of care as they prioritize listening and learning within communities instead of propping up problematic institutions. In How Journalists Engage, Sue Robinson explores how journalists of different identities, especially racial, enact trusting relationships with their audiences. Drawing from case studies, community-work, interviews, and focus groups, she documents a growing built environment around trust building and engagement journalism that represents the first major paradigm shift of the press's core values in more than a century. As Robinson shows, journalists are being trained to take on new roles and skillsets around listening and learning, in addition to normative routines related to being a watchdog and storyteller. She demonstrates how this movement mobilizes the nurturing of personal, organizational, and institutional relationships that people have with information, sources, news brands, journalists, and each other. Developing a new theory of trust building, Robinson calls for journalists to grapple actively with their own identities--especially the privileges, biases, and marginalization attached to them--and those of their communities, resulting in a more intentional and effective moral voice focused on justice and equity through the news practice of an ethic of care.

Teaching for Moral Imagination: An Interdisciplinary Exploration examines the multifaceted nature of morality and ethics, moral development, and moral education so to provide educators with a clear yet complex understanding of theories, issues, practices, and curricular content. This text is intended to be an accessible work of academic significance that inspires educators’ deliberation about personal and societal values as well as approaches for fostering children’s and adolescents’ moral development, cultivating ethical classrooms and schools, and creating transformative moral education curricula. Teaching for Moral Imagination will be a pertinent text for teacher preparation courses that specifically focus on the moral dimensions of education as well as more comprehensive classes about teaching, teachers, and classroom culture. Such classes are offered in undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation programs, professional studies for experienced teachers, educational studies classes in the liberal arts, and doctoral seminars for students becoming teacher educators and educational leaders. This book also is intended as a source for teachers’ professional development in schools and for reading groups. Finally, in our contemporary societies emphasizing extreme individualism, competition, conformity, and prejudice as well as unexamined beliefs leading to violence in words and actions, it is crucial to consider how schools can encourage ethical reasoning, compassion, and transformative alternatives for moral education. ENDORSEMENTS: "Teaching for Moral Imagination is a remarkable book and a wonderful contribution to the field. It is a must read for anyone trying to make sense of the multi-faceted moral nature of schooling. Everyone who pursues a career in teaching is fundamentally drawn to the moral dimensions of their work, but there is little, if any, emphasis given to those fundamental moral features in teacher preparation programs and teacher professional development. In this book, Dr. Joseph does the difficult work of both conceptualizing the moral domain and illustrating these dimensions in way that will uniquely help teachers and school leaders develop elegant moral language and fully understand their role as moral educators and moral agents. It is an outstanding contribution from a scholar who brings the philosophy of morality and the psychology of moral development to bear on life in classrooms." — Rich Osguthorpe, Brigham Young University "In her book, Teaching for Moral Imagination, Pamela Joseph shows profoundly how moral values are embedded in education and in the pedagogical role of teachers. Joseph brings together many different perspectives on moral education, including philosophical and psychological foundations, and develops her interesting own position with a focus on moral imagination. She argues for “widening ethical perspectives, encouraging critical reflection on values, stimulating new perspectives about how to be moral human beings, and creating just and caring classroom and school communities”. Joseph’s book can inspire teachers and researchers in their work on preparing young people for future society." — Wiel Veugelers, University of Humanistic Studies "This is an incredibly complex and wonderful book. When you read Teaching for Moral Imagination, what will become clear is what educators need to learn and do to transform the wider ethical environment all around us. This is invaluable reading for all teachers, school and district leaders and teacher educators who realise the significance of ethics in education and who seek to critically engage with the potential of human and social moral development. Joseph offers a rich vision of interdisciplinary scholarship and on her horizon is nonviolence for all forms of life on the planet. The book conceptualises how moral imagination generates powerful insights into individual, social and cultural normative diversity and explores a range of transformative moral curricula to grow future generations’ capacities for tackling complex relations and global challenges." — Daniella J. Forster, University of Newcastle, Australia

Young Children’s Civic Mindedness provides a well-grounded understanding of children’s civic thought and action by inviting readers to look and listen carefully to the voices of young children themselves. Grounded in research on children’s evolving civic identities and drawn from extended case studies and rich narrative vignettes, this book shows the many ways even the youngest children can be civic-minded and political. The book engages readers in thinking about the many ways children reason about and approach civic problems; how children’s experience in various local and larger contexts shapes their thinking and action; and the environmental factors that delimit what children see as possible in civic spaces. Written for early childhood, elementary and civic educators, this book encourages readers to go beyond mere rhetoric on the importance of civic education, to develop improved ways of teaching for children’s civic development.