Teachers’ Professional Ethics

Winner of the 2025 Moral Development and Education AERA SIG 67 Outstanding Book Award! Now available in Open Access thanks to the support of the University of Helsinki.

Teachers’ Professional Ethics: Theoretical Frameworks and Empirical Research from Finland is intended for international readers in education who want to learn the theoretical frameworks that guide teachers’ ethics and that help them address concrete challenges in their everyday work. Scholars and teachers from different countries can use this book to widen their understanding of the Finnish educational system and teacher ethics. The authors provide examples of concrete moral dilemmas in teaching that can be more effectively navigated with the rational principles and guidelines that philosophies of different ethical frameworks can provide. They argue that teachers require ethical skills, especially ethical sensitivity, in order to select the most beneficial course of action concerning diverse students in inclusive education. They should be purposeful in their profession to develop the motivation and resilience to continue their demanding but fulfilling work with long-term goals. Moreover, they should acknowledge their implicit beliefs and possible stereotypes to be able to provide equal learning opportunities to their students and to build democratic moral communities in their schools.

In this book, ethical sensitivity, purposeful teaching, and incremental beliefs concerning learning are seen as important prerequisites for teachers’ professional ethics. We discuss these aspects with examples from our empirical studies in Finnish schools.

Kirsi Tirri, PhD (1994), University of Helsinki, is a Professor of Education at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She has published widely on teacher education, moral education and gifted education in international journals and book chapters. She has also authored 14 monographs including Measuring Multiple Intelligences and Moral Sensitivities in Education (Sense, 2011).

Elina Kuusisto, DTh (2011), University of Helsinki, works as a University Lecturer (diversity and inclusive education) at the Tampere University, Finland. She has published on teacher ethics, school pedagogy and talent development, particularly on civic purpose, ethical sensitivity and growth mindset. She has co-edited Good Teachers for Tomorrow’s Schools: Purpose, Values and Talents in Education (Brill, 2021).