Värden och villkor : pedagogers samtal om ett yrkesetiskt dokument

During the last decade, issues concerning ethics and values have been given much attention in debates on education as well as in society in general. The problems surrounding such issues are tied to current societal trends towards growing differentiation, individualisation, and increasingly fragmented value systems. Consequently, the core values of pre-schools and schools are currently stressed also as a basic ethical and democratic responsibility of teachers and other pedagogical personnel. The aim of this dissertation is to analytically reconstruct pedagogic discourses on issues related to core values and ethics. The research perspective includes a social-philosophical point of departure with a focus on Habermas’s theories of communicative action and discourse ethics. The methodology builds on critical discourse analysis. The results shed light on the ways in which teaching teams in pre-schools and schools at different levels discuss and attempt to reach agreement concerning a local document focussed on professional ethics. There are striking differences as to how ethically relevant concepts such as "starting from the childrens' / pupils' own capabilities," "sense of security," "responsibility," "respect," and "active participation" are talked about. In the theoretical reconstruction that follows, it is argued that the discussions can be understood as communication about and within particular types of contextual discourses. The five types of discourses formulated in the study are the following: "efficiency-oriented discourse," "normative tradition-oriented discourse," "care-oriented discourse," "communication-oriented discourse," and individual-oriented discourse," all of which are mutually related to each other. When the conversations are analysed from the perspective of critical discourse theory, a deeper understanding emerges of how childrens' learning about ethics and morals takes place in relation to the types of pedagogic discourse they encounter. Efficiency-oriented, normative tradition-oriented and individual-oriented discourse may lead to learning that counteracts the aims of schools as meeting-places for democracy. However, care-oriented discourse and communicative-oriented discourse both embody qualities that may increase the opportunities to work towards overarching educational goals such as democracy and solidarity. The results of the study show that the lofty ideals presented in educational directives and policy documents risk giving rise to exhaustion and feelings of guilt among pedagogues trying to live up to them when adequate resources are not available. The ability to make sound moral judgements may deteriorate due to increasingly stressful work situations where demands are not in line with the actual resources of everyday pedagogic contexts