Pragmatic, ethical and moral : towards a refinement of the discourse approach

Abstract

In this article we will address the issue of obtaining insight into the way in which teachers deal with the normative side of their profession. We outline the problem that forms the context of our question (the difference in the meaning of good teaching in the process-product model and in ethical models) and we discuss Oser's discourse approach as a solution for that problem. His discourse approach appears to be a step forward, but at the same time leaves questions unanswered. As a contribution we introduce the concepts of pragmatic, ethical and moral. We show in what sense this conceptual framework provides a refinement of the discourse approach.