This analysis will argue that university educators have an ethical obligation to advocate for admission policies that are not exclusively competitive in nature -- what will be referred to later as levelling and remedy approaches. This argument will be detailed in four stages. First, it will use an anecdote and an appeal to virtue to argue that…

A continued gap exists in student achievement between Indigenous and non- Indigenous students in the British Columbia school system. This article analyzes the balance of success and failure of the Accountability Framework, a provincial program designed to increase graduation rates in the province. In order to understand the successes and failures…

John Rawls (1985) famously argued that social justice ought not to concern itself with the metaphysical disputes that separate us as groups and individuals. Identity is supposed to be irrelevant to the deliberations of free and equal citizens. Since the recent turn toward right-wing populism, renewed attention has been devoted to the place of…

Robin Barrow has critiqued the use of the concept of "skill" for a wide range of human attributes that are not skills in the precise sense he articulated, namely: "a capacity that is discrete and can be perfected through practice and exercise." Skill talk has persisted, though today commonly under the guise of "competency…

Many symposia and special journal issues over the last several decades have been devoted to concerns about the decline of philosophy in teacher education programs. I pursued an answer for my doctoral project and found institutional explanations are rarely invoked in the "decline literature." I have sketched here the theory and have shown…

In Canada, several universities have recently implemented course requirements in Indigenous studies as a condition of graduation, while others are considering following suit. Policies making Indigenous course requirements (hereafter ICRs) compulsory have caused considerable controversy. According to proponents, a main purpose of ICRs is to address…

This paper examines the potential of the term "settler ally" to create productive discomfort alongside productive comfort, thereby creating space for positive social change. The setting in which the term is examined is Canada--Alberta in particular--following the release of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission…

This paper addresses educators' responsibility for the discourse (including their own and others') that circulates in educational settings. This issue tends to arise especially with hurtful language and other discursive acts that have negative effects, and that require an apology, correction, or some other kind of remedial discourse. The paper…

This paper argues that the way future teachers are being initiated into the ethical dimensions of their future profession is largely out of step with the movement to professionalize teaching. After recalling the role that codes of professional conduct play in the ecology of professional self-regulation, and arguing that familiarizing students with…

In this paper, I explore the possibility of social justice education as pedagogy of "attention" rather than simply pedagogy of "intention." Drawing on Gert Biesta's (2010) concept of "strong" education, I begin by explaining how the language of intention in social justice education relies on a discourse in which…

I argue that the crisis of identity Catholic schools are experiencing in the 21st century presents an opportunity for a rediscovery and expanded conversation, both within and beyond the confines of the institutional Church, of what it means to exist separately from the mainstream without restricting internal diversity. I begin by presenting…

Grade inflation is a global phenomenon that has garnered widespread condemnation among educators, researchers, and the public. Yet, few have deliberated over the ethics of grading, let alone the ethics of grade inflation. The purpose of this paper is to map out and examine the ethics of grade inflation. By way of beginning, we clarify why grade…

What is at stake in high school philosophy education, and why? Why is it a good idea to teach philosophy at this level? This essay seeks to address some issues that arose in revising the Ontario grade 12 philosophy curriculum documents, significant insights from philosophy teacher education, and some early results of recent research funded by the…