ABSTRACT
I begin this chapter in the place best known to teachers and where many of us feel most comfortable: the classroom. My claim in this book is that all aspects of teaching are value laden, and it seems to me that if what I say is to have any validity, I must first and foremost show how values and moral dilemmas are played out in the minute-to-minute business of classroom teaching, At this point I also wish to make two foundational points. First, I want to emphasize that, while there are better and worse courses of action that teachers can take in particular circumstances-that is, that their decisions matter-these decisions are always complex and polyvalent. Thus, as I consider the moral meanings inherent in the things teachers say and do in classrooms I wish to underline the fact that I am not standing in judgment over the teachers concerned but merely trying to understand the values underlying their actions and decisions. Second, one of the reasons for the moral complexity of classroom interaction is that it is not only the moral agency of the teacher that is at play but also the moral agency of each learner. In this chapter, as in the book as a whole, I focus primarily on the teacher, because this is my main topic of interest; however I acknowledge that in all contexts, the students are active and equally important participants in the teacher-student relation.
