Matousek, Mark. Ethical Wisdom: What Makes Us Good. New York: Doubleday, 2011.
A great deal of attention is given to the skills that educators need to be competent teachers and administrators. Beyond this technical view of practice, however, lies an ethical dimension. By law, children are required to attend school where some receive affirmation of their worth as individuals and others learn they are “failures.” The power to affirm or undermine individuals imparts an ethical duty of care for educators. Yet often, we receive little explicit preparation for this dimension of pratice. Mark Matousek’s book is a resource for teachers and administrators who want to cultivate their understanding of and sensibilities for ethical wisdom.
This book is no abstract, philosophical treatise on ethics. Rather, it offers insight into the evolutionary roots of the human capacity for harm/care, justice/fairness, loyalty, respect/authority. and purity/sacredness. Through down-to-earth examples, Matousek illustrates how these values play out in many areas of our lives. He suggests that a defining moment in human development occurred when neurons that allowed us to look out at the world took an inward turn, allowing us to become uniquely self-aware. This capacity for self-awareness allows us to examine how we live our lives; how we make meaning of them; and how we relate to those who are close to us and those who are “other.”
Pedagogical wisdom involves knowing the right thing to do, at the right time, with a particular person, within specific circumstances. Ethical wisdom can help us develop the sensibilities needed to make these judgments.