Classroom Management as a Moral Activity

What could be closer to the moral in the classroom than activities and teaching that are directed at or function to affect present and future student conduct? We use the term conduct, here, because it combines behavior and the intentions and rationale for acting in a certainway. Student conduct in relation to other students, the teacher, formal knowledge, the community, democratic ideals, and the human conversation all hold moral implications. Recognizing the moral import of teachers’ work and therefore of classroom management, the goal of this chapter is to provide an analysis that helps make evident the nature of classroom management as a moral activity.