Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Teaching and Teacher Education

Publication Date

2026

Keywords

teacher learning, ethical decision-making, professional judgment, teacher education, qualitative research, institutional constraint

Abstract

Ethical dilemmas are a routine feature of teaching in diverse and politically contested school contexts. Drawing on interpretative phenomenological analysis of interviews with seven experienced teachers, this study examines how ethical judgment is lived in practice. Participants rarely struggled to determine what was right; instead, they described tension between moral clarity and limited capacity to act amid institutional constraint, perceived risk, and prior consequences. These conditions shaped what actions felt professionally viable. Teachers responded by managing relationships, regulating emotion, and adapting to context while balancing care and risk. The findings specify how constraint operates within ethical judgment itself, shaping what teachers understand as possible in ethically consequential moments.

Funding Source

This article was published open access thanks to a transformative agreement between Milner Library and Elsevier.

Comments

First published in Teaching and Teacher Education (2026): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2026.105695

DOI

10.1016/j.tate.2026.105695

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