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The integration of moral literacy content and process in teaching
Edited by Paul Begley
Our purpose in this article is to explore what developing moral literacy means in intercultural school contexts. To do this we will first outline our understanding of moral literacy and intercultural schools. Moral literacy involves leaders in learning, in context, a complex set of skills, abilities and habits that can be cultivated and enriched in schools in line with the needs, desires and aspirations of their communities ([41] Tuana, 2003). Our discussion of intercultural schools will focus on those comprising of different, usually minority (in terms of the broader population), ethnic groups. We will then attempt to bring together some of the intricacies of moral literacy in intercultural schools using Tuana's components of moral literacy - becoming knowledgeable, cultivating moral virtues, developing moral reasoning skills, and nurturing moral imagination. Each component is defined and illustrated to explain what it might mean in intercultural schools.
We then argue that developing moral literacy requires an articulated dedication to open and ongoing learning throughout the school community. Communal learning may be best pursued through participatory moral dialogue. To promote this dialogue leaders act to stimulate and facilitate learning, and design strategies and actions which aim to make a difference in their school. Stimulating learning may involve multiple leadership actions, one of which is sharing moral purpose. Taking action that is based on learning may involve experimenting with culturally-responsible teaching methods.
Moral literacy
Leadership must be ethical. It carries a responsibility not just to be personally moral, but to be a cause of "civic moral education" which leads to both self-knowledge and community awareness ([11] Foster, 1989, p. 284).
Current literature is replete with calls to recognise the place of ethics in schools and for leaders to align school improvement agendas within a values-based moral purpose ([2] Begley, 2004, [3] 2006; [17] Greenfield, 2004; [12] Fullan, 2003; [33] Sergiovanni, 1992). The basic argument views schools as powerful agents of enculturation that are unavoidably and continuously engaged with moral and ethical issues ([4] Begley, 1999; [19] Hodgkinson, 1978, [20] 1983; [25] Leonard, 1999). [12] Fullan (2003) emphasises moral purpose as a key ingredient in building and leading learning communities. He links moral purpose as both the...