Asks whether public schools can and should help students discuss moral disagreements, even when religion is involved.2007 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Weaving together history, philosophy, and curriculum, Grappling with the Good offers a vision of public education in which students learn to engage respectfully with the diversity of beliefs about how to live together in society. Robert Kunzman argues that we can and should help students learn how to talk about religion and morality, and bring together our differing visions of life. He describes how such an approach might work in the K–12 setting, explores central philosophical principles, and shares his ongoing experiences and insights in helping students to "grapple with the good."
Robert Kunzman is Associate Professor of Education at Indiana University at Bloomington and a public high school teacher.
Foreword Acknowledgments 1. Introduction A Definition of "Ethical Education": More Than MoralsThe Focus of This BookThe Structure of This Book A Learning Process 2. Evading the Ethical: How We Got Here Tracing the Path to Ambivalence Colonial Origins and Ethical Assumptions Common Schools in Search of Common Ethics The Gradual Shift toward Civic Religion The Emerging Wall of Separation Ethical Education on the Secular Side of the Wall From Entanglement to Engagement 3. Why Religion Belongs in Ethical Dialogue Moral Respect As a Foundation for Ethical Dialogue Understanding As Vital for Respect Understanding Projects Involves Evaluating Them Respectful Understanding As a Moral, Not Instrumental, Claim The Link between Project Pursuit and Broader Ethical Frameworks The Implications for Curricula and Pedagogy Religious Frameworks and Secular Worldviews: Is There a Difference?America’s Religious Landscape Ethical Dialogue and Rooted Religious Identity 4. Imaginative Engagement with Ethical Difference A Deeper Sense of Appreciation Our Capacity for Empathic Understanding Stirring the Ethical Imagination Combining Head and Heart Imaginative Engagement: The Groundwork of Deliberation 5. Grappling in the Classroom I: Civic Deliberation The Big(ger) Tent of the Civic Sphere Qualities of Deliberative Reason Alternatives to Deliberative Reasoning Deliberative Reasoning in the Classroom A Portrait of Ethical Dialogue 6. Grappling in the Classroom II: The Role of Religion Religion in the Civic Realm Can Religion Be Reasonable? Fallibilism and Ethical Adherence Civic Virtue: Beyond Proceduralism A Final Portrait of Classroom Deliberation 7. Preparing Teachers for Ethical Dialogue Teacher Capacity for Ethical Dialogue Professional Commitment to Ethical Dialogue Collaboration As Central to Professional Development 8. Conclusion Notes Index