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 issues in K-12 and higher education • teaching practice and classroom dilemmas • trust, mentoring, and political disclosure • equity, access, and admissions • sex education and sexual assault • charter schools, strikes, punishment, prison education
This podcast examines ethical questions that arise in education, drawing on conversations with philosophers, education researchers, educators, and students. Across K–12 and higher education contexts, it considers how values shape everyday classroom decisions and larger institutional and policy choices. A recurring focus is how trust is built or undermined in educational relationships—between teachers and students, institutions and communities, and within democratic societies—alongside concerns about indoctrination, disclosure of political views, and the responsibilities educators have when navigating contested topics.
Many episodes center on higher education ethics, including what universities are for, whether access to college should be treated as a right, and how admissions practices, rankings, test-optional policies, and “enrollment management” influence fairness and opportunity. The podcast also explores inequality within and across institutions, including the racial consequences of underfunding, the experiences of disadvantaged students at elite colleges, the role and future of HBCUs, and the ethical costs associated with pursuing social mobility through education. Additional attention is given to the hidden burdens students face in college and to mentorship as part of teaching obligations.
In K–12 settings, the podcast addresses controversial issues such as charter schools, opting out of standardized testing, punishment and discipline, teacher strikes, and sex education. It also discusses teaching practice more broadly—how conversation supports learning, how curiosity and argument can be taught as skills, how humor and interactive methods can be used in instruction, and what it might mean to bring care or love into teaching. Throughout, episodes are often paired with teaching guides intended for use in education, sociology, and philosophy 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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