Letting Go: A Departure from Liberal Moral Education, Embracing Teacher Transformation, & Evolving Pedagogies of Resistance

Abstract

Contemporary, mainstream moral education in North America teaches students to be compliant rather than skilled in moral consciousness. The Myths of Moral Education, illustrated as ‘Necessity,’ ‘Neutrality,’ ‘Liberal Subjectivity,’ ‘The Good,’ and ‘Dissent,’ maintain a system of control. Through a Foucaudian lens, I address, within common teaching practices, the presence of productive power and oppression, possibilities for subversive action, and propose an abandonment of liberal moral education. Counter-arguments are explored in a discussion on the control/chaos dichotomy and a dismantling of dissent as a tool of a liberal paradigm. Using a pedagogical framework influenced by bell hooks and Paulo Freire, I argue that what must occur, before taking on pedagogical change, is a teacher transformation through a Praxis of ‘Letting Go’. Finally, I present an alternative to education’s preoccupation with compliance through Pedagogies of Resistance; a three-part approach that assesses power, promotes compassion, and creates space for empowerment.