Assignment 4 2026
Unique number:
Due date: August 2026
Self, Agency and Ethics in Education: A Critical Discussion of Learners’ and Teachers’
Convictions
1. Introduction
Education is not only about teaching subjects, passing tests, or following school rules,
because it also shapes how learners and teachers understand themselves as moral,
cultural, religious, and thinking human beings. In a classroom, the learner is not an empty
person who only receives information, since each learner brings family values, language,
faith, culture, personal struggles, and hopes for the future into learning (Biesta, 2010).
Teachers also enter the classroom with their own professional histories, personal beliefs,
cultural identities, and ethical responsibilities, which means that teaching always involves
choices about what is right, fair, respectful, and meaningful (Priestley et al., 2015). This
essay argues that self, agency, and ethics are closely connected in education because both
teachers and learners act from particular identities, but their actions are always shaped by
school rules, social expectations, available resources, and relationships with others. The
, Self, Agency and Ethics in Education: A Critical Discussion of Learners’ and
Teachers’ Convictions
1. Introduction
Education is not only about teaching subjects, passing tests, or following school
rules, because it also shapes how learners and teachers understand themselves as
moral, cultural, religious, and thinking human beings. In a classroom, the learner is
not an empty person who only receives information, since each learner brings family
values, language, faith, culture, personal struggles, and hopes for the future into
learning (Biesta, 2010). Teachers also enter the classroom with their own
professional histories, personal beliefs, cultural identities, and ethical responsibilities,
which means that teaching always involves choices about what is right, fair,
respectful, and meaningful (Priestley et al., 2015). This essay argues that self,
agency, and ethics are closely connected in education because both teachers and
learners act from particular identities, but their actions are always shaped by school
rules, social expectations, available resources, and relationships with others. The
discussion uses Foucault’s idea of self-care and African ubuntu philosophy to show
that agency is not simply personal freedom, but a careful practice of acting
responsibly within a shared educational space.
2. Self, agency, and ethics within educational contexts
2.1 Self
The idea of the self in education refers to how a person understands who they are,
what they value, and how they should live with other people. The self is not formed in
isolation, because learners develop their identity through family life, community
expectations, religion, language, culture, school experiences, and the way teachers
treat them in class (Noddings, 2013). A learner who comes from a religious home, for
example, may understand respect, discipline, dress, food, and gender relations
through that background, while another learner may build their identity through
cultural pride, philosophical questioning, or moral independence. In this sense, the
self is personal, but it is also socially made because people learn who they are
through relationships, stories, rules, and daily practices (Taylor, 1989).