In a time and society where social justice and equity are becoming increasingly important, the moral dimension of teaching comes to the forefront even more clearly, making it essential for teachers to be able to navigate this aspect. Although teaching is inherently moral in nature, many teachers and teacher educators find it quite challenging to incorporate this dimension into their actions. They feel they lack the moral vocabulary and moral skills to adequately address moral dilemmas related to social justice that arise from their practice (Van Stekelenburg et. al., 2024; Sanderse & Cooke, 2019). This lack of moral agency is the main incentive for this paper. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to offer teachers a practical review of the literature on the conceptualization of teacher moral agency.

A combination of a developmental subject-centered socio-cultural framework of teacher agency and an integrated model of moral literacy guided the search process and analysis of the data in our scoping review on teacher moral agency (Eteläpelto et. al., 2013; Tuana, 2007).

This approach proved valuable in illuminating both the explicit and implicit expressions of teacher moral agency. The combination of frameworks could help teachers gain a clearer understanding of the moral aspects of their practice and encourage them to integrate moral qualities into their professional identity as teachers.

The results indicated that explicit references to the conceptualization and theorization of 'teacher moral agency' were significantly fewer than the implicit, more underlying terms. However, combining both frameworks allowed the concept of Teacher Moral Agency to be better understood when viewed and approached in a professional context from a developmental or learning perspective. This way, teachers can see that they can grow professionally by viewing their own practice and actions in terms of teacher moral agency.

Research aim

This presentation enhances conflict-resolution teaching for Muslim students in diaspora by infusing intercultural pedagogies peculiar to Islamic thought. It draws on Averroes’ philosophical thought to identify instructional strategies to improve Islamic school curricula in diaspora. Born in 12th-century Andalusia (modern Spain), Ibn Rushd, known in Latin as Averroes, was a philosopher, chief judge, and court physician. This presentation proposes Averroism as an intercultural pedagogical model, marked by Rawiyya (intermediacy) and Tadabbur (deliberation). Within the Averroesian context, I posit a deliberative pedagogy, which contributes to conceptualizing a new social contract in education marked by conflict resolution.

Theoretical framework

This presentation introduces the Averroesian curriculum, marked by a deliberative pedagogy. Drawing on Averroes’s philosophical thought, this presentation contributes to deliberative pedagogy, a dialogical form of reasoning whose aim is to find pragmatic alternatives that serve the collective and individual good with attention to the question of utility. Averroism emphasizes intercultural, conflict-resolution competencies through the intermediacy model Rawiyya as a tool of intercultural deliberative pedagogy, and the Islamic notion of Tadabbur, Arabic for ‘to deliberate’ and ‘carefully consider’ the outcomes.

Findings

From an Averroesian point of view, conflict-resolution teaching is measured by its readiness to incorporate intermediacy and deliberation as intercultural pedagogies. For example, addressing tensions entails successfully reconciling the Aristotelian tradition with the Islamic worldview. This act of reconciliation, if achieved, would have significant educational implications.

Relevance to the Conference theme and specific strand:

This presentation resonates with reconciling tensions as it considers how students’ intellectual heritage can be part of the learning process. It provides an opportunity for students to engage with different backgrounds and educational views, which mitigates tension. It also diversifies the dissemination of knowledge and pedagogical practices, paving the way for a socially equitable and diversified classroom.

Research aims

There is very limited research on the impact of poverty on students in further and higher education in the UK. This research addresses the poverty experienced by students in Higher Education, focusing on an undergraduate initial teacher education (ITE) degree programme in a Scottish university.

Methods

Drawing on literature from America, key themes of poverty in higher education emerged: the cost of higher education; housing insecurity; the demands of part time work and food insecurity. In regard to the researched ITE programme the key themes that emerged were clothing poverty, transport poverty, food poverty and fuel poverty. This was revealed by mixed methods research. First, survey responses from 218 students (41%) on an ITE undergraduate programme (total n= 532). Second, follow-up interviews with ten student volunteers.

Findings

Findings demonstrated (1) that the students had a clear understanding of the effects of poverty, (2) the increased cost of living featured heavily in all the interviews and students mentioned how much the cost of everyday essentials had increased and they did not believe that this would improve soon and (3) the distinctive professional nature of the ITE degree programme makes specific demands on students, particularly in relation to clothing and transport.

Relevance

This research has revealed highly original findings that are being disseminated to the ITE community in Scotland and the wider UK, in order to raise awareness and attempt to improve equity and inclusion in teacher education.