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University of Southampton Faculty of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences Southampton Education School How can a teacher of students with SEMHD unhide moral value? (A Wittgenstein-influenced perspective) by Bernard Andrews Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2018 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF SOCIAL, HUMAN AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES SOUTHAMPTON EDUCATION SCHOOL Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy HOW CAN A TEACHER OF STUDENTS WITH SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL HEALTH DIFFICULTIES UNHIDE MORAL VALUE? (A WITTGENSTEIN- INFLUENCED PERSPECTIVE) Bernard Andrews This thesis proposes and exemplifies a philosophical method for untangling moral confusions faced by teachers, specifically of students with social, emotional and mental health difficulties [SEMHD]. D. Z. Phillips (1979), following the philosophical approach of Ludwig Wittgenstein, believed that teachers generally command a clear view of moral value in education; that is, in any given situation, it is normally clear, or obvious to us what we ought to do. He, again following the lead of Wittgenstein, suggests that what we consider to be ethical or philosophical problems are just confusions caused by our inability to see the situation clearly. This thesis contends that such confusions arise because moral value has become hidden by a misplaced desire for foundational facts, or certainty. This desire is misplaced because moral value is absolute value, and this can only be shown and not said. Any belief that there are moral facts (in an absolute sense) is based on a philosophical illusion and results in various forms of dogmatism. Therefore, the recognition, or unhiding of moral value is a methodological issue, in that it requires us to develop a way of looking at problems that necessarily involves the virtues of being tentative, of recognising the incompleteness of our utterances, of humility. This methodological approach is best described by Simone Weil’s (1951, 2005) notion of paying attention, and it is work that needs to be undergone on one’s self. To respond to a situation correctly is to recognise (and accept) its contingency, and thus ascribe absolute (i.e. moral) value to all aspects of it. However, when we hide this contingency behind a veil of one’s own expectations, of one’s own dogma, we can only ascribe relative value to it. Thus, ethical confusions are like visual illusions that are solved by looking at them from different aspects. In the first half of the thesis, this philosophical method is developed referencing relevant literature. In the second half, that method is demonstrated in an ethnographic study of one teacher- researcher’s experiences teaching students with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. i CONTENTS Contents ........................................................................................................................................... i List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iv Declaration of authorship ............................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Orientation ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Concerning methodology ............................................................................................... 8 1.3 A justification of the research ....................................................................................... 13 1.4 Where this work fits in to theoretical research concerning the ethics of education .... 16 2. The philosophical investigation and review of the literature ............................................... 19 2.1 To respond to a situation correctly (to pay attention) is to recognise its contingency; and thus, ascribe absolute value to all aspects of it. .......................................................................... 19 2.2 …But when we hide this contingency behind a veil of our own expectations, we can only ascribe relative value to it. ......................................................................................................... 38 2.3 Education is learning to pay attention: an ethics of responding .................................. 62 3. Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 76 3.1 Theoretical assumptions and observations from Chapter Two that are relevant to the methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 77 3.2 The research design and techniques ............................................................................ 80 3.3 Ethical and Practical Issues .......................................................................................... 84 3.4 How my research can be extrapolated to different contexts ........................................ 87 4. Ethnography ......................................................................................................................... 91 4.1 Me ................................................................................................................................ 92 4.2 Matt .............................................................................................................................. 99 4.3 Marky ......................................................................................................................... 105 4.4 Lucia ........................................................................................................................... 112 4.5 Joan ............................................................................................................................. 120 5. Philosophical Analysis of the Ethnography ........................................................................ 135 5.1 To respond to a situation correctly (to pay attention) is to recognise its contingency; and thus, ascribe absolute value to all aspects of it. ........................................................................ 135 5.2 …But when we hide this contingency behind a veil of our own expectations, we can only ascribe relative value to it. ....................................................................................................... 145 ii 5.3 Education is learning to pay attention: an ethics of responding ................................ 163 6. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 168 6.1 The Myth of Sisyphus ................................................................................................ 168 6.2 Further questions ....................................................................................................... 170 6.3 A final observation ..................................................................................................... 172 References ................................................................................................................................... 175 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Concerning the difference between ‘a relative sense’ and ‘an absolute sense’. ..................... 32 Table 2: A truth-table concerning the logical relationship between the following propositions: ‘the child is dyslexic’ and ‘their work should be printed on yellow paper’. ........................................ 40 Table 3: A truth-table concerning the logical relationship between the following propositions: ‘the child is dyslexic’ and ‘their work should be printed on yellow paper’ and ‘the yellow paper might embarrass the child’. ..................................................................................................................... 41 Table 4: Applying the moral virtues to teaching (Fallona 2000) .......................................................... 62 Table 5: A truth-table concerning the following propositions: ‘A student is in the IC’; and ‘they are naughty’. .....................................................................................................................................