From Personal to Professional Values: Conversations about Conflicts

Abstract

Americans are generally less than satisfied with the atmosphere of daily life. They bemoan lack of civility, failure to respect others, refusal to accept responsibility, and threats to their personal safety. They deal with these dissatisfactions in various ways: dream of a return to a past that never was; seek a better life through adherence to xenophobic beliefs; escape into the fantasy world of fundamentalist religious beliefs or of the pabulum of the media and hucksters of technology. Finally, those who are financially able seclude themselves in communities that Bellah and his colleagues (Bellah, Madsen, sullivan, Swidler, & Tipton, 1985) called life style enclaves. American society has consistently called for education, particularly public education, to I shoulder the burden of developing a better society. In his later years, Thomas Jefferson believed that the amelioration of man's condition on earth through education is the highest and noblest activity; to this end, he devoted much of his remaining life (Schachner, 1951). Yet, no institution in American society has endured closer scrutiny over time than the public school (Mathews, 1996). The nation is once again frequently holding schools and teachers accountable for many of society's ills. To counter attacks on their efforts, educators must explore values at the heart of conflicts between their ideals and society's assessment of the profession of teaching. Ironically, many educators have attempted to be value neutral--an oxymoronic phrase. Attempts to remain value neutral denigrate the profession. When educators submerge values in the hidden curriculum, they neglect their moral imperatives to serve students, transform schools, and improve society, thus achieving the vision of America's founders (Schachner, 1951). One of us, while working with policymakers at the state level, is pressing for structural change in K-12 education; the other prepares teachers who will serve students in these restructured schools. In this article, we discuss only the challenges to teacher educators, although we recognize that K-12 education must change if there is to be a place for the type of teacher we wish to help develop. We first provide a historical perspective on the roles of educators in American society and suggest that a synthesis 5f these roles is essential. We then argue that teacher educators must create places set apart for guiding the professional development of students. We provide insights and examples for engaging prospective teachers in dialogues about values, their identities, and conflicts. Finally, we challenge teacher educators to participate in efforts to move the profession forward by addressing the moral imperatives. Changing Roles of Educators in Society In the past, Americans used various means to promote ideas about the role of education in society. Jonathan Edwards used the sermon to emphasize the values-based responsibility of the individual (McMichael 1989). Thomas Jefferson, writing a philosophy for a new kind of government, promoted the role of education in creating a public that expressed its values through its institutions (Schachner, 1951). Thomas Paine, through political discourse, worked to persuade those engaged in public life that the value of courage lay at the heart of any effort to build a more just society (McMichael, 1989, p. 423). Catherine Beecher viewed the role of the teacher as essential in achieving the vision fashioned by the Nation's founders (Burstyn, 1974). Valiance (1983) points out that prior to the 1830s, schools were the means of creating a national and uniform culture. Educators were to inculcate standards of public morality because families and the church were no longer meeting their responsibilities of educating children. Later in the 19th century, the common school movement brought a concern for individual children and a commitment to the idea that free public education was the solution for the moral decay overtaking society. …