Ethics as the Essence of Education
*This post has been written as part of my journey as a Ph.D student through University of Regina
The systemic practice of education is, at its core, a conscious effort to move learners from one ethical subjectivity to another and, as such, ethics can be viewed as the essence of education (Bazzul, 2022). While an outside perspective may be clouded by the superficial emphasis of curricular content, subjects, programs, et cetera, education fundamentally focuses on ways of living and being that can be characterized as expansive. This paper will strive to provide an overview of Bazzul’s recent work, An intensive calling: How ethics is essential to education, and pull three significant aspects of ethics that have attracted personal interest for further examination: 1. ethics is ubiquitous, 2. ethics as a process of becoming different, and 3. ethics as a result of individual folds. These aspects will be explored in relation to previous work through the author’s learning journey as well as in regard to their impact on the field of educational technology in which future work will focus on.
Bazzul frames their work into two components functionally entitled, Part 1, and Part 2, which both consist of four chapters. The author, who advocates for personalized approaches to writing and the “abandonment of conventional styles” includes several hand-drawn visuals throughout their work, including a map of the book’s concepts as seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1
Map/Critical concepts of the book
Note: This image was shared by Bazzul on January 25, 2022 as part of a guest lecture for EDU 920 at University of Regina and differs from the original visual in the pre-publication of the book shared via URCourses.
Part 1 – Ethics, Subjectivity, and Education, which encompasses chapters one through four, is self-summarized by Bazzul (2022) as, ”The production of (ethical) subjectivity through modern institutions and (bio)power and resistance to this power through ethical reflexivity and politics (disruption in the name of equality)”. The concept of biopower was first coined by Foucault, who Bazzul pulls influence from throughout his work, and can be defined as the systems having power over bodies (humans). Smith (2022) further added to this concept by summarizing that, ”biopower is the result of colonial mentalities and ideologies and is now embedded in all aspects of our life”. The concept of power and politics aligns with the work of Rancier who sees politics as the involvement of acts of dissensus that redraws the established lines of community in the name of equality (Triggs, 2022). It is important to note that the use of the word equality is not that of sameness but rather equality as a, ”radical democratic principle, where democracy is inclusive and always unfinished” (Triggs, 2022). These acts of dissensus are enacted by first operating under a societal assumption of equality, followed by defining groups that are unequal. We then see a disruption of the oppressing power arrangements which includes a functional alternative being offered. The aftermath of dissensus would result in the previously established hierarchy no longer being viewed as the routine or obvious practice. Bazzul’s approach to ethical reflexivity and political disruption requires, ”imagination for ethical modes of living that do not yet exist” (Triggs, 2022).
Part 2 – Ethics and Education As Ontological Explorations, which encompasses chapters five through eight, is self-summarized by Bazzul (2022) as examining, “ethics as processes of becoming different – dropping majority or dominant concepts that hold us in place and seeking diverse ways of being and becoming.” This component of the work not only emphasizes the disruption of the status quo but also seeks to understand the role of ethics in non-human worlds. This relationship with non-human worlds centered on the environment and the human impact on the world we operate within, but this author could not help but think of the non-human world online that is being developed through the use of artificial intelligence (AI); this is an area that will be discussed later in this work. The chapters in Part 2 sees acts of dissensus and disruption of the status quo as an aesthetic question where humans grapple with their own insignificance as they connect cultural and political institutions with geological and biological phenomena out of their control (Bazzul, 2022). The process of becoming different is first focused on, “losing the self”, where participants work to shed the identity of the dominant majority and work to remaster discipline in a different form. One must then map their assemblages which is a transdisciplinary approach to examining the self-organizing systems operating on one’s communities. We can then establish zones of intensity which address the conditions of potential change before moving into a minor position (being different). Recognizing the subconscious influence of community assemblages, and major versus minor roles, can assist educators in seeking and facilitating different forms of life. Bazzul (2022) emphasizes this importance on page 155, “Educators cannot explain what happens in schools by only attending to the discourses and initiatives produced in government offices; but neither can they explain what is happening at a national or international level through the practice of one school or school system.” It is through these two parts that Bazzul allows his work to explore ethics bidirectionally.
When selecting aspects of ethics that have attracted personal interest, the first component that was identified was the fact that ethics is ubiquitous. Ethics involves some type of moral code and can be highly variable with different codes of ethics being seen across different fields: education, medicine, law, fight club. It is important to recognize that this degree of variability also applies to different social media platforms where each service also holds their own unique culture which guides the interactions and experiences users have within that reality. This code of ethics is evident in the type of posts that are shared, the accepted integration of multi-media elements such as filters, understood memes and trends. Crotty (1998) emphasizes the importance of recognizing that cultural practices not only highlight avenues of information but also dictate which topics and voices are absent from the narrative. For users that engage heavily within the reality of their chosen social media platform, it can be challenging to change their behaviour and associate with the ethical norms of offline reality. This divide mirrors the cultural challenges first identified by Gasset (1958, pp. 99-101) in which individuals feel conflicted from the multiple layers of interpretation placed on their experiences. This may contribute to the fact that social media users tend to fall into two categories: those who feel relieved and recharged after experiencing a break from online use and those who feel distressed and anxious.
As we utilize these platforms and attempt to bridge physical and artificial realities Crotty (1998) reminds us of the importance of recognizing that reality is constructed and that those around us occupy different worlds from our own; each being represented by a unique set of ethics that remains ubiquitous for all people. Social interaction is occurring with higher frequencies in the online realms and understanding that social media algorithms are specifically tailored for users to construct their own reality can assist us in understanding those around us. It is no longer sufficient to simply address digital literacy from a stance of decoding, one must also address the ethical reality in which information is found for unique users. As educators, we are tasked with not only recognizing the reality that we have constructed for ourselves but also acknowledging that those around us may also be coming to terms with the impact their ethical lens has on their understanding of the world.
A second component of ethics that attracted personal interest focuses on ethics as processes of becoming different. The previous summary of Part 2 of Bazzul’s work outlined steps one can take as they move from losing oneself through shedding majority influences to becoming minor. This act of reflexivity reminded me of components addressed by critical theory, the legacy of the theoretical work of the Frankfurt School. When examining the role critical theory can play in educational ethics, Giroux identified three central assumptions drawn from the positivist perspective (2009). The first looks at schools as a force to educate the oppressed about their situation and provide context as to where their group aligns within the hierarchy of oppressed versus oppressor, or minor versus major. Education on how to effectively articulate oppression, the second assumption, requires in-depth analysis of one’s situation so that the cultural distortions of the oppressors is removed from the conversation. Lastly, education needs to establish motivational connection where the desires and needs of the marginalized population are identified and a vision for the future is established. With these assumptions in mind, technology development needs to evaluate not only their product(s) but the teams behind the product. What are the demographics of their programming teams? What perspectives are absent from the development team? What bias or established ethical norm has been written into the code of the software and what potential affect could it have on end users? How easy is it for users to become minor and engage in acts of dissensus when the tools they operate with emphasize the majority influences?
Giroux (2009) highlights that students internalize the cultural messaging of the educational structure through every aspect of their experience, including elements that may be considered “insignificant practices of daily classroom life”. This echoes Smith’s (2022) explanation of biopower being a result of colonial mentalities and ideologies and how this approach is now embedded in all aspects of our life. The Microsoft Office 365 language suite boasts over 60 languages, none of which are Indigenous languages for the treaty territories of Manitoba. What messaging does this send to students? That Indigenous languages are not valued? That Indigenous peoples cannot be involved in technology development? Programmed oppression becomes more apparent with the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI). Many of the prominent programs that our students interact with, including search engines and social media, have been programmed by teams that overly represent Caucasian cis-men. Leavy (2018) argues that, ‘if that data is laden with stereotypical concepts of gender, the resulting application of the technology will perpetuate this bias”. The consequence of this bias results in search findings, photo inclusion, and ads that align with the perspective of the programmers and end users who feel that they are not represented in society. While digital equity and access to technology continues to be a central topic in the education world it cannot be assumed that the availability of these tools will bridge the gap between the “haves and have nots” of current society. The hierarchy approach to technology inclusion fails to address the systemic oppression that is written into the very code of the programs themselves; this acknowledgement of defining groups that are unequal can serve as the first steps towards dissensus. The inclusion of different (minority) voices within the field of programming could serve as disruption of the oppressing power arrangements that could help move one towards a new ethical subjectivity.
A third component of ethics that attracted personal interest focuses on ethics as a result of individual folds. Matebekwane (2022) summarizes the role of folds on one’s ethical subjectivity as, “among the folds the subject is given shape and instructed how to be, at the same time a subject has potential acts of resistance or innovation.” The impact of folds on one’s personal ethics draws parallels to interpretivism and this author’s ability to effectively provide coaching in the area of educational technology. Crotty (1998) shares that the interpretivism epistemology is one that, “looks for culturally derived and historically situated interpretations of the social life-world.” The role of an educational coach depends on one’s ability to operate within this context as our students’ [educators, administrators, and support positions] programming requires an understanding of symbolic interactionism. A primary indicator of sustainable educational coaching is the individual’s ability to understand who they are working with, their interests, their motives, and their starting point; their folds (Juarez & Goyette, 2020). In our quest to deepen participant understanding, coaches employ interactionist research techniques to find appropriate entry points for learning with the end goal to be student independence.
Symbolic interactionism holds three primary assumptions that hold true in the educational coaching relationship (Blumer, 1969, p. 2). The first of which states that participants interact with things based on the meaning those items have for them. The meaning that object holds, the second assumption, is crafted from the interactions the participant has with those around them. Lastly, the perspective the participant aligns with when engaging with the object evolves based on the interactions they experience. With these assumptions in mind, effective coaches need to evaluate not only their participant, but those around them. What is their perspective towards educational technology such as the Office 365 software suite? How is the program utilized within their building? What language is used when introducing or interacting with the program? From there, coaches can establish their participants unique folds and prepare appropriate experiences that are purposefully designed so that their perspective evolves in a way that allows them to see the value the program in question can bring to their practice. This shift in perception is then able to cause a shift in the meaning the participant assigns to the program and thus, changes the way in which they interact with the program; an individualized act of dissensus within their personalized fold of subjectivity.
This author’s current role in the field of educational technology is continually influenced by the ubiquitous and expansive realm of ethics. The introduction in Bazzul’s recent work, An intensive calling: How ethics is essential to education, has provided a foundation to look at ethics bidirectionally and allowed for personal focus on three significant aspects. The first, ethics is ubiquitous, looked at pervasive nature of ethics and the way it can be individualized across various digital social media platforms. The second, ethics as a process of becoming different, challenges the majority influences involved in the programming of digital tools and calls for dissensus. Finally, ethics as a result of individual folds, recognizes the significance of understanding individual folds as a tool for effective coaching.
References
Crotty, M. (1998). The foundations of social research: Meaning and perspective in the research process. SAGE.
Giroux, H.A. (2009). Critical theory and educational practice. In A. Darder, M.P. Baltodano, &R.D. Torres (Eds.), The critical pedagogy reader (pp. 27-51). Routledge.
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Leavy, S. (2018). Gender bias in artificial intelligence: the need for diversity and gender theory in machine learning. In Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Gender Equality in Software Engineering (GE ’18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 14–16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3195570.3195580
Matebekwane, K. (2022). Chapter 5: The subject of ethics and its many folds by Jesse Bazzul (in press). URCourses.
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