ABSTRACT
Within COlUemporary strands of r.ldical educational theory a parJdox surrounds the relationship among ethics, politics, and schooling. On the Olle hand, r:adical educational theory has exhibited a profound critique of, and mor:;]l indignatio n toward , the social and polit· ieal injustices that are reproduced in American public schools. On the other hand, it has failed to develop a moral and ethical d iscourse upon which to ground its own vision of society and schooling. I Moreover, it has failed to develop a theory of ethics that could legitimate and provide refleaive mediation on emancipatory forms of classroom pedagogy. caught in the paradox of exhibiting moral indignation without the benefit of a well-defined theory of ethics and morality, radical educational theory has been unable to move from criticism to substantive vision. In Olher words, radical educators have been unable to develop an ethical grounding and set of interests upon which to construct a public philosophy that takes seriously the relationship between schooling and a democratic public life? In effect, moral indignatio n has often been expressed in a language paralyzed by skepticism and unable to move beyond the limited task of charting and registering the failure of American schooling.~ Lost from this perspective is any attempt at recovering and building upon those forms of subjectivity and of collective struggle rooted in a creative, self-transforming, life-enhancing morality which the dominant culture so actively conceals and precludes whenever possible.4 Bereft of a language of moral purpose, radical educational theory has been unable to posit a theoretical discourse and set of categories as a basis for constructing fo rms of knowledge, classroom social rela-
tions, and visions of the future that give substance to the meaning of critical pedagogy.
