Assessment: essay (4000 words)
Every decision relating to education is made by reference to values and value judgments. Many of these are little more than intuitive and frequently fail to stand up to criticism. The aim of this module is to explore the extent to which certain value judgments are more rationally defensible than others. Are value judgments subjective (a matter of opinion) or are they objective (factually correct/incorrect)? A number of traditional ethical theories are explored, such as the possible dependency of morality on religion, the utilitarian theory whereby the all value rests on the extent to which more people are made happy (or suffer less), the views that 'duty/obligation' or the promotion of 'virtuous' people is what matters, as well as views stemming from contemporary feminist moral theory whereby 'caring' for one another should be our overriding moral concern. Having placed value judgments on a secure foundation, the module will then relate the ways in which different approaches to moral reasoning may be applied in an educational context. Issues include, but are not limited to: sex education, education and rights of parents, moral education, multiculturalism, the 'marketization' of education.

*Course content subject to change