Magisterial dissident ethic in contemporary education

Abstract

This article presents partial results of the research carried out within the doctoral program of Educational Development of the National Pedagogical University in Morelia, Mexico. The object of the text is about the ethics of dissident teachers; however, magisterial ethics in general is also addressed. Through a hermeneutical approach, in the first section the current characteristics of education are developed to place the conventional conception of the teacher, his/her knowledge and his/her ethical notions in positions that are antagonistic (unrestricted compliance with educational policy and commitment for influencing social transformation). Ethics is also discussed within social movements, clarifying the genesis of ethical values in their constitution, the fluctuations that these values suffer and the possibilities of dissolution of the movement, in addition to elucidating the most outstanding values in social movements. The construction of the ethical profile of teachers and union activists is presented through proposals related to teacher training and ethical concepts in the alternative training of dissident teachers. The last section explains how alternative pedagogies influence the shaping of an ethic and its impact on social transformation projects. In conclusion, teaching ethics is debated between the teacher’s conception as a reproducer and the one who organizes to make claims together with social justice projects that turn him/her into a different ethical being.