This article presents a qualitative analysis of the ethical reasoning of 149 teachers working in a large city district. Through exploring how these experienced teachers reason through a ‘normative case study in educational ethics’ (NCS) that presents an ethical dilemma of how to support a student experiencing multiple injustices in and outside of school, this study offers an illustration of how individual teacher decision-making seeks to mitigate structural inequities. Findings show that, in contrast to the techno-rational decision-making assumed by the USA K-12 education system, teachers’ ethical reasoning in this case was individually-focused, holistic, and flexible. These findings suggest the need for professional development and systemic change that supports teachers’ complex individual ethical reasoning. Methodologically, this study demonstrates that qualitative philosophical inquiry using normative case studies is a promising approach to investigating teachers’ situated ethical and moral reasoning in real time.
AuW (2011) Teaching under the new Taylorism: High-stakes testing and the standardization of the 21st century curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies43(1): 25–45.
2.
BallDL (2018) Just dreams and imperatives: The power of teaching in the struggle for public education. In: Presidential address at 2018 American educational research association annual meeting, New York, 15 April. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGzQ7O_SIYY
3.
BarnhartGFurmanCGeronT, et al. (2025) Bridging qualitative research and philosophy: Methods in practice [Symposium].In: Philosophy of education society annual meeting, Baltimore, MD, 6–10 March.
4.
BatesR (2010) Developing capabilities and the management of trust. In: WalkerMUnterhalterE (eds) Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach and Social Justice in Education, pp. 137–156. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
ClarkCLampertM (1986) The study of teacher thinking: Implications for teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education37(5): 27–31.
9.
DeterdingNMWatersMC (2021) Flexible coding of in-depth interviews: A twenty-first-century approach. Sociological Methods & Research50(2): 708–739.
10.
EisnerEW (2002) From episteme to phronesis to artistry in the study and improvement of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education18(4): 375–385.
11.
EnowLO (2023) How efficiently are we using our understanding of the tacit dimension of teaching?Review of Education11(2): e3411.
12.
EwingEL (2018) Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
13.
FurmanCE (2024) Teaching from an Ethical Center: Practical Wisdom for Daily Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
14.
GeronT. (2025) ““Creating Justice in My Practice”: Supporting Teachers’ Values Through Professional Development in Educational Ethics.” Teachers College Record. 127(3), 40–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681251336676
15.
GeronT (2023) Ethical decision-making in the crowded classroom. Harvard Educational Review93(3): 342–265.
16.
GeronTLevinsonM (2024) The ethics of world-building in normative case studies. Educational Theory74(3): 293–300.
17.
GoldsteinD (2015) The Teacher Wars: A History of America’s Most Embattled Profession (First Anchor Books edition). New York: Anchor Books.
18.
HalversonR (2004) Accessing, documenting, and communicating practical wisdom: The phronesis of school leadership practice. American Journal of Education111(1): 90–121.
19.
IftachGShapira-LishchinskyO (2021) Ethical dilemmas among mid-level school leaders through role-play simulations: Developing a social-ecological approach. Educational Management Administration & Leadership. Epub ahead of print 24 March. DOI: 10.1177/17411432211002517.
20.
IngersollR (1993) Loosely coupled organizations revisited. Research in the Sociology of Organizations11: 81–112.
21.
JacksonPW (1990) Life in Classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press.
22.
KaestleCFFonerE (1983) Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860, 1st edn. New York: Hill and Wang.
23.
KahnemanD (2013) Thinking, Fast and Slow, 1st edn. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
24.
KellyM (1994) Theories of justice and street-level discretion. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory4(2): 119–140.
25.
KristjánssonK (2021) Twenty-two testable hypotheses about phronesis: Outlining an educational research programme. British Educational Research Journal47(5): 1303–1322.
26.
KristjánssonKFowersBDarnellC, et al. (2021) Phronesis (practical wisdom) as a type of contextual integrative thinking. Review of General Psychology25(3): 239–257.
27.
Lawrence-LightfootSDavisJH (1997) The Art and Science of Portraiture, 1st edn. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
28.
LevinsonM (2015) Moral injury and the ethics of educational injustice. Harvard Educational Review85(2): 203–228.
29.
LevinsonM (2016) Promotion or retention? In: LevinsonMFayJ (eds) Dilemmas of Educational Ethics: Cases and Commentaries. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
30.
LevinsonMFayJ (eds) (2016) Dilemmas of Educational Ethics: Cases and Commentaries. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
31.
LevinsonMGeronT (2024) “The ethics of world-building in normative case studies.” Special issue on normative case studies. Educational Theory74(3): 293–300.
32.
McCorkelJAMyersK (2003) What difference does difference make? Position and privilege in the field. Qualitative Sociology33: 199–231.
33.
MehtaJ (2013a) From bureaucracy to profession: Remaking the educational sector for the twenty-first century. Harvard Educational Review83(3): 463–488.
34.
MehtaJ (2013b) The Allure of Order: High Hopes, Dashed Expectations, and the Troubled Quest to Remake American Schooling. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
35.
MeyerJWRowanB (1977) Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology83(2): 340–363.
36.
PhelanAM (2005) A fall from (someone else’s) certainty: Recovering practical wisdom in teacher education. Canadian Journal of Education28(3): 339–358.
37.
RodriguezVFitzpatrickM (2014) The Teaching Brain: An Evolutionary Trait at the Heart of Education. New York: The New Press.
38.
SantoroDA (2015) Philosophizing about teacher dissatisfaction: A multidisciplinary hermeneutic approach. Studies in Philosophy and Education34(2): 171–180.
39.
SchönDA (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books.
40.
SchoutenGBrighouseH (2015) The relationship between philosophy and evidence in education. Theory and Research in Education13(1): 5–22.
41.
ShulmanLS (1986) Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher15(2): 4–14.
42.
TaTGeronTLevinsonM, et al. (2023) “The power of open dialogue”: Using normative case studies to facilitate ethical issues discussions among educators. Teaching and Teacher Education132: 104237.
43.
TyackDB (2001) The One Best System: A History of American Urban Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
WilsonTSSantoroDA (2015) Philosophy pursued through empirical research: Introduction to the special issue. Studies in Philosophy and Education34(2): 115–124.
