Description (podcaster-provided):
How should we be thinking about ethical questions in education? Conversations and features with philosophers and education researchers. From classroom dilemmas to policy decisions, K-12 through higher ed.
We also make teaching guides to use in sociology, education, and philosophy classes. Available on our website.
Produced by the Center for Ethics and Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Funding from the Spencer Foundation.
Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ ethical dilemmas in K-12 and higher education • philosophy of education and teaching practices • trust, mentoring, classroom politics • equity, access, admissions, social mobility • sex education, punishment, strikes, charter schools, college-in-prison • teaching guides
This podcast explores ethical questions that arise in education, drawing on conversations with philosophers, education researchers, teachers, and students. Across K–12 and higher education, it uses real-world dilemmas to examine how values like fairness, trust, dignity, and autonomy shape classrooms, institutions, and policy.
A recurring focus is the moral purpose of higher education and how colleges influence students’ lives: what higher education is for, whether access should be treated as a right, and how admissions practices, rankings, and tuition interact with inequality. The discussions also consider the less visible burdens students face—financial, social, and psychological—and how higher education can affect trust in institutions and in one another. Several episodes take up equity and inclusion in higher ed through case-based inquiry, including questions about institutional missions, public discourse, and how faculty navigate public platforms.
Another major thread concerns teaching as an ethical practice. The podcast examines responsibilities and boundaries in educator–student relationships, including mentoring, classroom trust, and how instructors handle politically charged topics and potential perceptions of indoctrination. It also highlights teaching methods that cultivate skills such as curiosity, argumentation, and learning through dialogue, and considers how humor, interactive activities, and multimedia can support student engagement.
K–12 topics include punishment and discipline, standardized testing opt-outs, charter schools, teacher strikes, and approaches to sex education. The show also addresses sexuality and power in educational settings, including campus sexual culture and sexual assault prevention, connecting these to broader questions about what young people should be taught and what institutions owe them.
Many installments are paired with teaching guides intended for use in philosophy, education, and sociology courses.
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Episodes:
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Philosophy With (and for) Children | (K-12)
2026-Jan-07
32 minutes
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Political Disclosure in the Classroom | Harry Brighouse and Tony Laden (Higher Ed)
2025-Jul-29
22 minutes
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Building Trust in Higher Education | Tony Laden (Higher Ed)
2025-Jan-28
34 minutes
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Why Mentoring Matters | Harry Brighouse and Diamond Lannaman (Higher Ed)
2024-Jun-10
26 minutes
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Touchy Subject: Thinking Better About Sex Education | Lisa Andersen and Lauren Bialystok (Book Talk)
2023-Dec-12
31 minutes
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Can College Level the Playing Field? | Sandy Baum and Michael McPherson (Book Talk)
2023-Mar-07
26 minutes
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Faculty and Social Media | Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, TJ Stewart, Harry Brighouse, and Jacob Fay | (Ethics in Higher Education Book Series)
2022-Jun-28
36 minutes
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HBCUs Present and Future | John Torrey, Joyce E. King, Felecia Commodore, and Corey Reed | (Ethics in Higher Education Book Series)
2022-Jun-21
48 minutes
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"Divisive Concepts" | Sigal Ben-Porath and Laura Dinehart (Ethics in Higher Ed Book Series)
2022-Jun-14
37 minutes
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Trailer--Ethics in Higher Ed: Case-Based Conversations (Ethics in Higher Education Book Series)
2022-Jun-07
2 minutes
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The Ethics of College in Prison (Controversial Issues in Education)
2022-May-24
45 minutes
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The Plumber Episode | Harry Brighouse and Grace Gecewicz (Teaching Better)
2022-May-17
42 minutes
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The True Costs of College | Nancy Kendall, Matthew Wolfgram, and Natnael Shiferaw (Higher Ed)
2022-Feb-22
42 minutes
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The Ethics of College Admissions | Joe Boeckenstedt and Harry Brighouse (Higher Ed)
2022-Feb-08
52 minutes
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The Right to Higher Education | Christopher Martin and Harry Brighouse (Higher Ed)
2022-Jan-25
45 minutes
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What Should the Aims of Higher Education Be? (Higher Ed)
2022-Jan-18
10 minutes
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The Ethics of Teacher Strikes | Tony Laden and Eleni Schirmer (Controversial Issues in Education)
2022-Jan-11
42 minutes
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Love and Teaching | Meghan Sullivan and Maria Salazar (Teaching Better)
2022-Jan-04
53 minutes
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Educational Opportunity with Jencks's Principles of Justice | Jaime Ahlberg (Popular Papers)
2021-Nov-16
27 minutes
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The Ethics of Punishment | John Tillson and Winston C. Thompson (Controversial Issues in Education)
2021-Oct-05
26 minutes
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Learning Through Conversation | Agnes Callard (Teaching Better)
2021-Sep-08
30 minutes
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Trailer - Season 2
2021-Aug-24
3 minutes
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Humor, Movement, and Multimedia | Jen Kling (Teaching Better)
2021-Apr-27
21 minutes
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Being in Love with Knowledge | Bailey Szustak (Teaching Better)
2021-Apr-20
9 minutes
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Argument and Curiosity as Skills | W. John Koolage (Teaching Better)
2021-Apr-13
17 minutes
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Interactive Methods and Feminist Critiques | Susan Kennedy (Teaching Better)
2021-Apr-05
19 minutes
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Teaching, Indoctrination, and Trust | Tony Laden (Controversial Issues in Education)
2021-Mar-24
31 minutes
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Why Principles? | Jaime Ahlberg (Thinking Better)
2021-Mar-09
19 minutes
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The Racial Consequences of Underfunding Universities | Laura Hamilton and Kathryn Joyce (Book Talk)
2021-Feb-23
26 minutes
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Education for Liberation | Quentin Wheeler-Bell (Teaching Better)
2021-Feb-09
17 minutes
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The Ethics of Doctoral Admissions | Bryan Warnick (Controversial Issues in Education)
2021-Jan-26
17 minutes
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Sexual Citizenship | Jennifer Hirsch and Shamus Khan (Book Talk)
2021-Jan-07
37 minutes
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The Ethics of Opting Out | Terri Wilson (Controversial Issues in Education)
2020-Dec-15
10 minutes
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The Ethics of Charter Schools | Harry Brighouse, Erica Turner, Gina Schouten (Controversial Issues in Education)
2020-Dec-08
30 minutes
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Higher Education and Social Mobility | Jennifer Morton (Book Talk)
2020-Nov-24
15 minutes
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The Case of the Privileged Poor | Anthony Jack (Book Talk)
2020-Nov-10
13 minutes
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Research Me-Search | Kellen Sharp (Student Episode)
2020-Oct-27
13 minutes
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Good Sex Education for Good Sex | Grace Gecewicz (Student Episode)
2020-Oct-20
11 minutes
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Just Teacher | Paula McAvoy and Lauren Gatti (Book Talk)
2020-Oct-13
28 minutes
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Teaching in a Pandemic | Paula McAvoy and Lauren Gatti (Book Talk Bonus)
2020-Oct-13
3 minutes
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Welcome to Ethics & Education
2020-Oct-05
1 minute
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