The International Handbook of Teacher Ethos

Book excerpt: This volume is the first handbook that brings together cutting-edge international research on teacher ethos from a broad array of disciplines. The main focus will be on research that illustrates current conceptualizations of ethos and its importance for acting effectively and responsibly in and out of the classroom. Research will encompass updated empirical and philosophical work that points to the difference in learning when teaching is practised as a moral activity instead of a merely functional one. Authors are among the world’s foremost researchers whose work crosses over from moral education into psychology, neuroscience, sociology, philosophy, pedagogy, and curriculum, drawing on these various fields of research. Today, more than ever, we understand that teachers, like other professionals, need more than subject-matter expertise for acting responsibly and doing their best in their daily duties. Doing so requires possessing a guiding system of professional ethics, moral positioning, goals, norms, and values – in other words: a professional ethos. While the handbook concentrates on Western domains in the current era, the work will extend to other cultures and times as well. With this comprehensive range of perspectives, the book will be attractive and useful for researchers on teachers and teaching as well as for teacher educators, curriculum designers, educational officials, and, last-but-not-least, anyone who is interested in what makes a good teacher. This volume is also a tribute to Fritz Oser, a leading scholar in research on ethos, who sadly passed-away during the compilation of this handbook.