Being a Teacher: Section Six - Teachers, values and society

Nothing in teaching is free of social dimensions and value questions. Teaching can therefore not be ‘neutral’, and teachers cannot sidestep the issue of their role in relation to sets of values. This section explores the role of the teacher in exercising and encouraging particular values.

Compulsory schooling means placing vast numbers of learners behind desks approximately 170 mornings a year. We know that the content that we teach is a selection from many things that could be taught. Under such circumstances, this selection has economic, social and even moral consequences for the learners and for society.