The implications of teachers’ implicit theories for moral education : A case study from Finland
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The implica ions o eache s’ implici heo ies o mo al educa ion : A case s udy om
Finland
Rissanen, Inke i; Kuusis o, Elina; Hanhimäki, Eija; Ti i, Ki si
Rissanen, I., Kuusis o, E., Hanhimäki, E., & Ti i, K. (2018). The implica ions o
eache s’ implici heo ies o mo al educa ion : A case s udy om Finland. Jou nal o
Mo al Educa ion, 47(1), 63-77. h ps://doi.o g/10.1080/03057240.2017.1374244
2018
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The implica ions o eache s’ implici heo ies o
mo al educa ion: A case s udy om Finland
Inke i Rissanen, Elina Kuusis o, Eija Hanhimäki & Ki si Ti i
To ci e his a icle: Inke i Rissanen, Elina Kuusis o, Eija Hanhimäki & Ki si Ti i (2018) The
implica ions o eache s’ implici heo ies o mo al educa ion: A case s udy om Finland, Jou nal o
Mo al Educa ion, 47:1, 63-77, DOI: 10.1080/03057240.2017.1374244
To link o his a icle: h ps://doi.o g/10.1080/03057240.2017.1374244
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The implica ions o eache s’ implici heo ies o mo al
educa ion: A case s udy om Finland
Inke iRissanena, ElinaKuusis ob, EijaHanhimäkic and Ki siTi ib
aSchool o Educa ion, uni e si y o ampe e, ampe e, inland; bdepa men o eache Educa ion, uni e si y
o Helsinki, Helsinki, inland; cdepa men o eache Educa ion, uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Jy äskylä, inland
ABSTRACT
Implici heo ies conce ning he malleabili y o human quali ies a e
known o ha e a powe ul impac on mo i a ion and lea ning, bu
hei ole in mo al educa ion is an unde - esea ched opic. In his
quali a i e case s udy, we examined he impac o implici heo ies
on ou Finnish eache s’ p ac ices o eaching mo ally and in eaching
mo ali y. The da a include p elimina y and s imula ed ecall in e iews
(STR) as well as class oom obse a ions. Ou esul s demons a e he
mul iple ways in which eache s’ implici belie s a e communica ed
o s uden s and in luence eache ’s in e p e a ions and endea o s
o educa e he e hical capabili ies o s uden s. The s udy p o ides
e idence o he claim ha implici heo ies a e an impo an
cons uc which has been missing om he mo al educa ion li e a u e.
Di ec ions o u u e esea ch a e sugges ed.
In oduc ion
Teache s’ mo al p o essionalism
Teaching is a mo al p o ession (see o example, Sange , 2008; Socke , 1993). I is a oca ion
ha demands bo h a deep pe sonal commi men and clea , a ional p inciples. In many
Eu opean coun ies, such as Finland, educa ion is in ended o suppo he de elopmen o
he whole pe son a he han me ely he human cogni i e domain. This ype o educa ion
acknowledges he impo ance o he social and a ec i e domains in s uden s’ de elopmen ,
including emo ional and mo al conce ns. S uden s bene i bo h socially and academically
when suppo ed in a ca ing class oom and school en i onmen (Noddings, 1992; Ti i &
Husu, 2006).
Mo al p o essionalism e e s o he quali y o educa o s’ p o essional p ac ices (Socke ,
1993), which a e judged by p o essional s anda ds and become e iden in he educa o s’
mo al p ac ices and oles in he e e yday li e o schools (Hanhimäki, 2011). The mo al
dimension o eaching has been discussed unde a ious hemes and ypologies o skill se s
o mo al p o essional eache s ha e been o mula ed. Typically, hese include o ien a ions
o mo al sensi i i y, mo al judgmen , mo al mo i a ion, mo al beha io , as well as eache s’
KEYWORDS
implici heo ies; mo al
educa ion; eache s;
s imula ed ecall in e iews
(S ); inland
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CONTACT inke i issanen [email p o ec ed]
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64 I. RISSANEN ET AL.
p o essional e hics and alues (Bebeau, Res , & Na aez, 1999; Na aez, 2007; Res , 1983;
Ti i, Toom, & Husu, 2013). One way o making sense o he di e en sphe es o mo al
educa ion, as sugges ed by Fens e mache , Osgu ho pe, and Sange (2009), is o dis inguish
be ween eaching mo ally and eaching mo ali y. Teaching mo ally e e s o he mo ali y o
eache s’ conduc ; i pe ains o modeling mo ally aluable beha io o he s uden s and
esembles eache s’ mo al e hos (see o example, Gholami & Husu, 2010). Teaching mo al-
i y e e s o e o s o p o ide s uden s wi h he means o de eloping e hical capabili ies.
Despi e he pa ial o e lapping o hese ca ego ies, his dis inc ion is an analy ically use ul
de ice and is used in his s udy. The basic assump ion is ha mo ally p o essional eache s
need compe encies ela ed bo h o hei cha ac e and o hei conduc i hey a e o p omo e
hei s uden s’ holis ic de elopmen (Ti i, 2011; Ti i, Husu, & Kansanen, 1999).
The e ha e also been deba es o e whe he eache s’ mo al p o essionalism should be
analyzed and de eloped wi h a ocus on mo al p inciples and hei applica ion o whe he a
be e app oach would be o ocus on p ac ices o ‘good mo al easoning’ and pay a en ion
o he in ui i e p ocesses o mo al judgmen (Coombs, 1998). I is known ha quick and
in ui i e p ocessing o social in o ma ion in p ac ical se ings—such as he class oom—
in luences he p ocess o making mo al judgmen s (G eene & Haid , 2002). These in ui ions
a e o en cul u ally bound (Vauclai , Wilson, & Fische , 2014) and ha e oo s in pe sonal li e
his o ies (Van Manen, 1994); he e o e, hey also e lec he indi idual’s belie sys ems. We
ag ee wi h he no ions o Sange and Osgu ho pe (2005, 2011) on he cen ali y o eache
belie s in he de elopmen o eache s’ mo al p o essionalism—a iew based on cons uc-
i is unde s anding o eache lea ning. Sange and Osgu ho pe (2011) call o empi ical
esea ch o iden i y eache belie s ha a e pa icula ly ele an o he mo al ma e s o
eaching. In his a icle we p esen empi ical e idence o he implica ions o a pa icula
se o co e belie s which ha e p o ed o be highly in luen ial on lea ning, mo i a ion, and
well-being, bu ha e p e iously been discussed e y li le in he ield o mo al educa ion,
namely, implici belie s conce ning he malleabili y o human quali ies.
Teache s’ implici heo ies
Dweck’s (2000, 2006) idea o implici heo ies (also called mindse s) is conce ned wi h he
implici belie s indi iduals hold abou basic human quali ies. People wi h an inc emen al
heo y (a g ow h mindse ) belie e ha in elligence, pe sonali y and abili ies can be de el-
oped. People wi h an en i y heo y (a ixed mindse ) belie e ha hese basic quali ies a e
s a ic and unal e able. The powe ul impac o implici heo ies on lea ning and mo i a ion
a e well-known (see o example, Dweck, 2000). S udies ha e shown ha en i y heo is s
emphasize pe o mance goals (‘looking sma ,’ ‘p o ing hei abili ies’), whe eas inc emen-
al heo is s emphasize lea ning goals (‘becoming sma ,’ ‘imp o ing abili ies’) (Dweck,
2000; Dweck & Legge , 1988). Fu he mo e, an en i y heo y is associa ed wi h ha ing a
nega i e a i ude o e o , as g ea e o and ailu e a e in e p e ed as indica ing lack o
abili y, whe eas an inc emen al heo y is associa ed wi h an unde s anding o ailu e as
a lea ning oppo uni y. Acco dingly, an en i y heo y c ea es helpless beha io pa e ns,
since i leads o a oidance o challenges and low le els o pe sis ence. Thus, s uden s wi h
an inc emen al heo y ha e highe achie emen s du ing challenging school ansi ions and
hei comple ion a es in demanding school cou ses a e g ea e (Blackwell, T zesniewski,
& Dweck, 2007; Yeage & Dweck, 2012). Implici heo ies a e qui e s able, ye hey can be
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JOURNAL OF MORAL EDUCATION 65
al e ed by educa ional in e en ions (Blackwell e al., 2007; Dweck, 2012; Yeage & Dweck,
2012; Yeage , T zesniewski, Ti i, Nokelainen, & Dweck, 2011).
Implici heo ies, howe e , do no ac alone; hey a e connec ed o a ne wo k o o he
speci iable belie s, which o m s uc u ed meaning sys ems ha di ec he way in which
people unde s and hemsel es and o he s and gi e meaning o hei social expe iences
(Molden & Dweck, 2006; Plaks, Le y, & Dweck, 2009). Fo example, inc emen al heo is s
a e ound o in e p e human beha io in e ms o con ex -sensi i e psychological p ocesses
and si ua ional ac o s, whe eas en i y heo is s ha e a endency owa d disposi ional a i-
bu ion and emphasize deep-sea ed, c oss-si ua ional ai s as he key causes o beha io
(Chiu, Hong, & Dweck, 1997; Dweck, Chiu, & Hong 1995; Molden & Dweck, 2006). These
endencies also ha e implica ions o mo al e hos and conduc . Since en i y heo is s end
o belie e in a ixed eali y wi h a igid mo al o de , hey ega d ul illing du ies and s i -
ing o jus ice as undamen al o mo ali y. By con as , inc emen al heo is s, who end
o belie e in a malleable social mo al eali y end o ocus on imp o ing he w ongdoe
a he han ca ying ou punishmen s in o de o achie e jus ice (Chiu, Dweck, Tong, & Fu,
1997; Plaks e al., 2009). Thus, he assump ion can be made ha , i a eache is inclined o
en i y heo y, his/he endea o s o each mo ally a e channeled by hese endencies, which
can also be desc ibed as ea u es o du y-based mo ali y (see Dwo kin, 1978) and by a
p o essional mo al e hos p ima ily conce ned wi h he conce n o p o essional esponsi-
bili ies (see Gholami & Husu, 2010). Likewise, he e hos o an inc emen al heo is eache
is p esumably inclined owa ds aking esponsibili y o s uden s’ pe sonal de elopmen ,
mee ing indi idual s uden needs and p ese ing indi idual igh s— endencies ela ed o
a igh s-based mo ali y (Dwo kin, 1978).
Fu he mo e, since we also know ha implici heo ies in luence how eache s in e p e
social in o ma ion in he class oom as well as he pedagogical choices hey make and ha
hey con inuously become communica ed o he s uden s (Ra an, Good, and Dweck, 2012;
Rissanen, Kuusis o, Hanhimäki, & Ti i, 2016), we also assume ha eache s’ implici heo-
ies in luence hei endea o s o each mo ali y. Sub le cues communica ed o s uden s can
a ec he de elopmen o s uden s’ implici heo ies, which hen a ec s he de elopmen
o hei e hical capabili ies. Fo example, di e en a ibu ion s yles connec ed o implici
heo ies de e mine whe he ange is di ec ed owa d a pe son (en i y heo is s) o a si ua ion
(inc emen al heo y); hus, inc emen al heo y os e s adap i e con lic esolu ion s a egies,
such as o gi eness and oicing conce ns and diminishes such hings as desi e o e enge
(Chiu e al., 1997; Kamm a h & Dweck, 2006; Loeb & Dweck, 1994). Implici heo ies also
a ec goal choice in mo ally challenging si ua ions; en i y heo y inc eases he endency
o ego-de ensi e ac ion choices, such as lying, and inc emen al heo y p omo es hones y
(Muelle & Dweck, 1998). Fu he mo e, since inc emen al heo ies a e known o p e en
helplessness esponses and p omo e pe sis ence a e academic ailu es, he e a e good ea-
sons o suspec ha he same applies o e hical ailu es and ha i is easie o child en wi h
inc emen al belie s abou pe sonali y o emain engaged wi h he mo al domain e en a e
e hical se backs (Yeage , 2008). In sho , i is o u mos impo ance o eaching mo ali y,
whe he o no he eache and he s uden s all ac ually belie e ha e hical capabili ies can
be changed.
The assump ions summa ized below in Table 1 a e p o ided on he basis o p e ious
li e a u e and conce n he implica ions o eache s’ implici heo ies o eaching mo ally
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66 I. RISSANEN ET AL.
and eaching mo ali y. These assump ions will guide he empi ical obse a ions in his
quali a i e case s udy.
Finnish con ex
In Finland, he e hical ole o eache s has changed om being eligious and mo al examples
o being p incipled p o essionals wi h academic uni e si y educa ion, beginning om he
1970s. Decen aliza ion o cu icula and he p inciples o e hics o eache s published in
1998 by he T ade Union o Educa ion ha e u he s eng hened he au onomous p o es-
sional ole o eache s in Finland. Finnish eache s ypically iew hemsel es as esponsible
p o essionals whose ask is o each he basic knowledge o hei subjec , bu hey also con-
side hemsel es esponsible o he holis ic educa ion o hei s uden s, including he social
and a ec i e domains (Ti i, 2014). P e ious esea ch on he ole o he p o essional eache
indica es ha eache s need mo e educa ion in he mo al domain (Hanhimäki & Ti i, 2009).
The Finnish school sys em is comp ised o p e-school educa ion (up o he age o six),
basic educa ion (nine yea s o comp ehensi e school, wi h an op ional en h yea ), uppe
seconda y-le el educa ion (uppe seconda y school and oca ional educa ion) and highe
educa ion. A he lowe le el o basic educa ion (g ades 1 o 6), eaching is gene ally gi en
by a class eache . Teache s a he highe le el (g ades 7 o 10) and uppe seconda y schools
a e specialized in hei espec i e subjec s. All eache s in basic educa ion in Finland ha e
a mas e ’s deg ee, which indica es he high le el o academic compe ence among Finnish
eache s. Teache s a e us ed and espec ed (Sahlbe g, 2011). High-quali y eache edu-
ca ion has been acknowledged as one o he ac o s behind he excellen esul s Finnish
s uden s ha e achie ed since 2000 on he P og amme o In e na ional S uden Assessmen
es s (PISA).
Ano he eason o Finland’s success in in e na ional compa isons is he Finnish go e n-
men ’s p inciple o ‘equal oppo uni y and high-quali y educa ion o all.’ Educa ion is ee
a all le els and he go e nmen ’s inancial suppo o public-sec o educa ional ins i u ions
is s ong: he as majo i y o schools a e public schools. Since he 1970s, he main p inciple
o Finnish educa ion has been o main ain equali y, which is mani es ed in aking ca e o
he weakes s uden s, such as child en wi h lea ning di icul ies (Ti i & Kuusis o, 2013;
Table 1.implica ions o eache s’ implici heo ies o eaching mo ally and eaching mo ali y: assump-
ions based on p e ious li e a u e.
Tendencies ela ed o eache s’
en i y heo y
Tendencies ela ed o eache s’
inc emen al heo y
P o essional mo al e hos o eache s • ul illing p o essional esponsibili-
ies and no ms
• S i ing o jus ice
• du y-based mo ali y
• aking esponsibili y o s uden s’
pe sonal de elopmen
• Mee ing indi idual needs and
p ese ing indi idual igh s
• igh s-based mo ali y
(‘ eaching mo ally’)
Educa ing s uden s’ e hical capabili ies os e ing s uden s’ os e ing s uden s’
(‘ eaching mo ali y’) • en i y belie s abou mo ali y
• disposi ional a ibu ions o mo al
o enses
• maladap i e and ego-de ensi e
cou ses o ac ion when acing
mo al o enses and challenges
• helplessness esponses o mo al
g ow h
• inc emen al belie s abou mo ali y
• si ua ional a ibu ions o mo al
o enses
• adap i e cou ses o ac ion when
acing mo al con lic s and chal-
lenges
• mo i a ion o mo al g ow h
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JOURNAL OF MORAL EDUCATION 67
Uljens & Nyman, 2013). Ano he p inciple is ha eaching me hods should be chosen in a
way ha conside s s uden s’ indi idual cha ac e is ics, needs and in e es s. These p inciples
e lec a p omo ional sphe e o educa ion based on a malleable iew o s uden s’ quali ies and
indi idual assessmen . Ne e heless, he p edominan sphe e in he Finnish school sys em
is s ill es ic i e, wi h in elligence and compe encies pe cei ed o be ai ly s able quali ies
ha can be measu ed objec i ely by means o g ades and es s (Rä y, Kasanen, Kiiskinen,
Nykky, & A jonen, 2004). In day- o-day wo k, he p omo ional and he es ic i e seem o
be egula ly in e wined (Kä kkäinen, 2011). S udies o Finnish eache s’ implici heo ies
show ha eache s mainly ha e an inc emen al heo y o gi edness (Laine, Kuusis o, & Ti i,
2016). Fu he mo e, Finnish eache s seem o ega d he academic compe ence o poo ly
achie ing s uden s as malleable, bu ha e mo e ixed iews o he s abili y o high-achie e s’
compe ence (Kä kkäinen, 2011; Kä kkäinen & Rä y, 2010).
Me hod
Pa icipan s
The pa icipan s in his case s udy we e ou Finnish subjec eache s whose s uden s came
om di e se socio-economic, cul u al and academic backg ounds. An impo an c i e ion
o he selec ion o hese pa icula eache s was he oppo uni y o he esea che s o lea n
om hem (S ake, 2000): he eache s we e all expe ienced and eage o sha e hei ideas.
They we e also mo i a ed in hei wo k and had be ween nine and 19yea s o eaching
expe ience.
Sally (each o he eache s was assigned a pseudonym) was o iginally a language eache ,
bu had also quali ied as a special educa ion eache . She was eaching all subjec s o a small
g oup o low-achie ing s uden s in he nin h g ade. He s uden s had p e iously s udied
in no mal classes, bu in hei las yea o comp ehensi e school, hey we e assigned o his
smalle g oup. Ka e was a language eache o English and F ench in an uppe seconda y
school. In he p elimina y in e iew bo h Ka e and Sally exp essed s ong ideas abou ‘edu-
ca ional op imism,’ which e lec ed hei dominan inc emen al heo y. Jack was a subjec
eache o ma hema ics and ICT, and we mainly obse ed him eaching ma hema ics o
nin h g ade s. In he p elimina y in e iew, Jack’s gene al endency owa d a dominan en i y
heo y became appa en . Pa sy was eaching ‘Finnish as a second language’ o s uden s in
g ades 1–9. The classes she augh we e small, usually ha ing h ee o 15 s uden s. Pa sy’s
mindse showed conside able si ua ional a ia ion in he p elimina y in e iew and du ing
he obse a ions.
Measu es and p ocedu e
These ou eache s we e chosen om a su ey measu ing Finnish eache s’ (N=463)
implici heo ies using Ca ol Dweck’s mindse in en o y (Dweck, 2000, 2006; Laine e al.,
2016). The sample i em o he scale was ‘You gi edness is some hing e y basic abou you
ha you can’ change e y much.’ The scale was dicho omous; a e e e sing wo scales,
means close o 0 indica ed an en i y iew o gi edness, while 1 indica ed an inc emen al
iew. The means o he eache s we e: Sally (M=1), Ka e (M=.75), Jack (M=.25) and
Pa sy (M=.25).
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68 I. RISSANEN ET AL.
The da a include p elimina y in e iews wi h he eache s in which hey we e asked
ques ions ela ed o hei backg ounds, cu en job and p o essional aims. We obse ed
each eache du ing app oxima ely 15 lessons, o which we ideo aped 10 wi h Sally, 10 wi h
Ka e, six wi h Jack and nine wi h Pa sy. We endea o ed o ge as much om each eache as
was possible du ing he esea ch pe iod, bu had o espec indi idual eache s’ schedules
and wishes: his is why he numbe o ideo apes and in e iews conduc ed among he
eache s a ies. The e we e also s imula ed ecall in e iews (STR) ollowing he days on
which we ideo aped he lessons ( i e STR in e iews wi h Sally and h ee wi h each o he
o he eache s). The obse a ions we e also e bally eco ded by means o in ensi e ield
no es. STRs a e di ec ed o he pas : when in e iewees iew pas ac ions wi h he ideo
eco dings used o s imula e hei memo y, hey a e able o emembe hei pas hough s
wi h g ea e alidi y (Tochon, 2009). A e e e y ideo aped lesson, we wa ched he ape
and, wi h he help o w i en no es, iden i ied c i ical inciden s. Acco ding o Flanagan
(1953), his echnique is essen ial when he aim is o collec ce ain impo an ac s ela ed
o well-de ined si ua ions: i has al eady p o ed o be a aluable ool in s udies analyzing
e hical ensions in educa ion (Shapi a-Lishchinsky, 2011). In his s udy, he c i ical inci-
den s we e momen s in which eache s appea ed o be in e p e ing hei s uden s’ beha io ,
lea ning, o achie emen , and ac ing acco ding o hese in e p e a ions. In he STR in e -
iew, we wa ched he c i ical inciden s wi h he eache s (28 c i ical inciden s wi h Sally,
52 wi h Ka e, 22 wi h Jack and 21 wi h Pa sy) and asked hem abou hei hough s and
eelings du ing hese momen s and he easons o hei ac ions. In addi ion, he eache s
we e gi en an oppo uni y o e lec eely on he obse ed lessons. We iden i ied a g ea e
numbe o c i ical inciden s in he lessons o inc emen al heo is eache s; his indica es
hey in e p e ed s uden beha io and eac ed o i in a mo e explici manne .
The p elimina y in e iews and STRs we e ansc ibed. Fi s , we induc i ely coded and
ca ego ized eache s’ unde s andings o he eaching-s udying-lea ning p ocesses by using
he p elimina y in e iews as p ima y da a. A e ha , a mo e deduc i e analysis p ocess was
conduc ed, h ough which we iden i ied he implica ions o eache s’ implici heo ies o
hei pedagogical hinking and p ac ice. Ou pu pose was no only o de e mine whe he he
endencies desc ibed in he p e ious li e a u e would appea in ou da a, bu also o examine
he a ie ies and si ua ional di e ences in he eache s’ meaning making and hinking. The
eliabili y o he analysis is enhanced by he ac ha he da a we e e iewed and in e p e ed
by mul iple esea che s, as well as by he use o mul iple da a sou ces.
Resea ch design
This s udy was conduc ed a wo Finnish comp ehensi e schools and one uppe seconda y
school du ing he sp ing o 2014. The s udy is pa o a mixed-me hods p ojec in es i-
ga ing eache s’ implici belie s conce ning he malleabili y o academic abili ies. In he
quali a i e phase o he p ojec , he implica ions o eache ’s implici heo ies o mo al
educa ion became appa en , and a sub-s udy ocusing on hem was planned. In he p es-
en sub-s udy, ou esea ch ques ions we e: Wha a e he implica ions o eache s’ implici
heo ies o mo al educa ion? In pa icula , wha a e he implica ions o eaching mo ally
and eaching mo ali y?
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JOURNAL OF MORAL EDUCATION 69
Resul s
Implica ions o eache s’ implici heo ies o eaching mo ally
In some espec s, each o he eache s in ou s udy exempli ied he holis ic o ien a ion
ypical o Finnish eache s (Ti i, 2014) in ha hey belie ed ha , besides eaching he
subjec ma e , i is also he eache ’s job o nu u e he s uden s and help hem ace he
u u e. Howe e , hei di e en implici heo ies seemed o be e lec ed in hei p o essional
mo al e hos. Sally and Ka e, he eache s who exhibi ed a dominan inc emen al heo y,
ook a g ea deal o esponsibili y o hei s uden s’ pe sonal de elopmen . In gene al, hei
inc emen al in e p e a ion o social-mo al eali y as dynamic and malleable allowed o an
o ien a ion owa d suppo ing changes (see Chiu, Dweck, Tong, & Fu, 1997). Thei s ong
belie s in hei own abili y o p omo e he mo al p og ess o hei s uden s and e en he
whole o socie y seemed o be he mos impo an mo i a o s o hei wo k:
I hink wha ac ually mo i a es me he mos in eaching languages is ha , in he end, he
aim o lea ning languages is ha he e would be no wa s, no ha ed, because language helps
you o come close o o he human beings who do no sha e you cul u e. (Ka e, p elimina y
in e iew)
Bo h eache s belie ed ha , when s uden s come om di icul backg ounds, he school
and he eache should ake e en mo e esponsibili y o hem. Thei mo al e hos seemed
o low om he ideals o ea ing indi idual s uden s in a way ha espec s hei igh s
and p omo es hei mo al g ow h, e lec ing mo al concep ions connec ed o igh s-based
mo ali y (Chiu e al., 1997). This e hos is enabled by belie s in he signi icance o indi id-
ual and g oup-psychological p ocesses as ene s o lea ning and de elopmen , ypical o
inc emen al heo is s (see o example, Molden, Plaks, & Dweck, 2006). In he ollowing
quo e, Sally e lec s on a si ua ion whe e a s uden has e used o pa icipa e in g oup wo k
du ing one lesson:
I was hinking like … he way you a e allowed o be a pa o a g oup. Tha do you always
ha e o be ha social and in a good mood in o de o eel ha you a e a pa o a g oup? As a
eache , oo o en I hink ha e e ybody has o pa icipa e ac i ely. … I somebody is in a bad
mood and no eeling social enough o ha e he ene gy o do hose hings, I guess hey should
ha e he igh o be a pa o ha g oup e en while no pa icipa ing ha much. O cou se, i
is p oblema ic i a s uden e uses o do wha he is supposed o do, bu maybe as a eache I
should igu e ou ano he way o him o pa icipa e. … I you hink how i would eel i you
we e in a eally bad mood and you should play and sing and hings like ha , you would eally
no wan o do ha . (Sally, STR in e iew, c i ical inciden 26)
Whe eas in he STR in e iews Sally and Ka e e alua ed hei p ac ices o eaching mo ally
in e ms o being able o s ee hese p ocesses and mee he s uden s’ indi idual needs in
he class oom, Jack concen a ed on analyzing his p ac ices o eaching mo ally in e ms o
ul illing his du ies— ollowing he cu iculum, implemen ing he ules o he school in his
class oom, achie ing jus ice h ough punishmen s and assessing he s uden s co ec ly. Fo
example, when Jack was asked ‘Wha kind o eache a e you?’ in he p elimina y in e iew,
he answe ed by explaining how he ne e le he s uden s pass he cou ses ‘ h ough me cy’—
o him, s ic ness o assessmen was among he mos impo an p o essional mo al i ues.
While he ac ions and e lec ions o Sally, Ka e and Jack in many ways p o ed he ele-
ance o he assump ions conce ning he implica ions o implici heo ies o eache s’ mo al
e hos (Table1), Pa sy seemed o ha e mo e a uns able and ambiguous mo al e hos. She had
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