Gibbs's detailed description of decision-making around teaching war in a school that taught the children of active-duty soldiers provides an important glimpse into the numerous factors influencing their curricular and pedagogical choices. Gibbs rightly argued that the limited perspective of patriotism that resulted from the teachers' reluctance to…

This commentary discusses SSIs in relation to environmental ethics. In their article, Augusto Macalalag Jr., Joseph Johnson and Michelle Lai note tensions between SSIs and environmental education and investigate educational experiences that address some of these tensions. The discourse associated with SSIs generally does not consider…

In "A Theory of Moral Education," Michael Hand defends the importance of teaching children moral standards, even while taking seriously the fact that reasonable people disagree about morality. While I agree there are universal moral values based on the kind of beings humans are, I raise two issues with Hand's account. The first is an…

In the following interview, Meira Levinson (Harvard Graduate School) discusses the field of educational ethics and how it can enhance justifiable youth activism to enact citizenship education and recover democracy. She introduces readers to her philosophical approach for developing normative case studies that aim to be inclusive of divergent views…

College and university admissions officers are the gatekeepers who decide which individuals may join the "country club" of higher education. As such, the decisions they make have a significant impact on the lives of individuals, especially those who are willing to travel across the globe and risk living in an unfamiliar country in order…

Skills, jobs, and even self-enrichment were not historically regarded as the ultimate goals of the liberal arts; they were byproducts. The reason liberal arts education was called "liberal" in the first place was because it was supposed to cultivate a free human being. Education on the liberal model aimed to liberate. The goal of liberal…

In this appreciative response to Jennifer Hauver's article about elementary children's negotiation of analytic frames in deliberative dialogue during input into a school governance decision, Bickmore argues for the value of such agentic, citizenship-relevant learning opportunities in public schools. She points to their unfortunate infrequency (to…

This article represents comments on the original article, "Nonrational processes in ethical decision making" by M. D. Rogerson et al (EJ945176). The current authors suggest that Rogerson, Gottlieb, Handelsman, Knapp, and Younggren (October 2011) presumed that the only ethical theories available for grounding decision-making models are of the…

Responds to the comments by Pomerantz and Sisti and Baum-Baicker on the current authors' original article, "Nonrational processes in ethical decision making". Pomerantz (2012) further explicated one interpersonal and contextual factor--the perceived characteristics of the recipient of any act. He cited evidence that these characteristics affect…

Given the global escalation of gaps between rich and poor, contemporary work in critical literacy needs to overtly question the politics of poverty. How and where is poverty produced, by what means, by whom and for whom and how are educational systems stratified to provide different kinds of education to the rich and the poor? Yet rather than…

This response to the comments contains three main sections, each addressing a subset of the comments. In the first section, I will respond to the comments by Brennan, Haertel, and Moss. All of these comments suggest ways in which my presentation could be extended or improved; I generally agree with their suggestions, so my response to their…

Comments on the original article, "Nonrational processes in ethical decision making" by M. D. Rogerson et al (see record 2011-19198-001). Among the many insightful points made by Rogerson, Gottlieb, Handelsman, Knapp, and Younggren (October 2011) regarding nonrational processes in ethical decision making, one deserves further explication: Many of…

The author considers how to approach a request for a personal recommendation from someone whom the author does not wish to advocate. Ultimately, the author proposes that those asked to write recommendations have a right to say "no," should they feel hesitant to recommend the candidate, and a responsibility to suggest that someone else might be a…

Democratic leadership rests on sacred values, awareness, judgement, motivation and courage. Four turning points in a 38-year school administrator's career revealed decision-making in problematic moments stemmed from values in a personal and professional code of ethics. Reflection on practice and theory added vocabulary and understanding to make…

Providing commentary on this "Journal of School Leadership's" special issue, "Constructing a Bridge Between Law and Social Justice: An Ethical Journey," has been not only a daunting task because of the complex nature of this topic but also a humbling experience because of the superior quality of these articles. At the same time, it is most…