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Scapp, Ron. (2003). Teaching Values: Critical Perspectives
on Education, Politics, and Culture.
New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
198 pp.
$23.95 ISBN: 041593107X
Reviewed by Melanie Shoffner
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
October 25, 2004
The place of values in education is a topic well
discussed in the literature (Delpit, 1995; Hansen, 2001;
McClellan, 1999; Noddings, 1992; Ryan & Bohlin, 1999; and
Simon, 2003 offer some diverse perspectives on the issue). Ron
Scapp’s contribution to this discussion is Teaching
Values: Critical Perspectives on Education, Politics, and
Culture. In the introduction, Scapp presents his personal
approach toward a discussion of values in education:
This book is meant to be both modest and bold in its scope.
It is modest to the degree that it simply offers some
‘critical perspectives’ on the topics I consider of
value. It does not presume to exhaust the issues discussed or to
posit any absolute and final claims about the things under
consideration. The book is bold, as I see it, to the degree that
it reflects an honest struggle with the issues it does address
and the manner in which they are discussed. (pp. 8-9)
This slight contradiction concisely illustrates the nature of
the book. Scapp addresses a very complex subject with values in
education; he boldly tackles the subject by incorporating such
issues as standard English, the teacher’s position of
privilege and multiculturalism into the values debate. His
approach to these disputed issues, however, is more modest in
scope. While Scapp engages the reader with his personal
experiences in education and his individual perspectives on the
issues, he offers no definitive answers to the subjects he
addresses.
Scapp opens the introduction of Teaching Values with an
explanation. While he includes the requisite overview of the
coming chapters, he also discusses his purposes in writing the
book. Teaching Values is first offered as a text to
encourage discussion and present new perspectives “about
some aspects of the struggle to come to terms with…the
values that educators employ in the name of teaching, and the
teaching that educators advocate in the name of values” (pp.
3-4). Further into his introduction, Scapp narrows his focus of
discussion when he explains his purpose as an attempt to
re-establish the place of postmodernism in education by offering
critical perspectives that “incorporate the sophistication
and rigor that contemporary cultural criticism has developed over
the years with a rather straightforward presentation of a few
themes and issues that are worth our attention” (p.
6).
In general, Scapp’s treatment of postmodernism provides
a thematic approach to the book. His first chapter, for example,
addresses the societal concern that postmodernism’s
deconstruction of truth eliminates “the possibility of
moral action and the teaching of values” in education today
(p. 22). Scapp’s assertion that postmodernism allows
educators to acknowledge the complexity of the modern world,
challenging established truth and creating new truths through
questioning, establishes a foundation for the remainder of the
book, providing a central point during his discussion of
different issues in the remaining chapters.
On occasion, however, the issue of postmodernism detracts from
the general discussion, most noticeably by its absence.
Scapp’s stated intention to re-establish
postmodernism’s place in education indicates a commitment
to discuss postmodernism throughout the book. Although Scapp
examines issues relevant to a discussion of postmodernism, he
does not automatically tie the issues and the philosophy
together. The theme of values in education is also presented
implicitly, supported more by the connection between his choice
of subject and the values debate than by an explicitly stated
position on the subject. Scapp’s discussion of standard
versus nonstandard English in Chapter 3, for example, does not
reference postmodernism, although the implicit link between his
discussion of truth and values and his exploration of
postmodernism in Chapter 1 could be established. This lack of
explicitness may be an intentional approach to the book, a
technique to encourage discussion on complex issues. Making the
connections explicit, however, would better serve Scapp’s
previously stated purpose to incorporate sophisticated thinking
with straightforward presentation.
Scapp divides his presentation into six chapters, which read
more like a collection of scholarly reflections than a structured
argumentation. The reflective quality of the chapters, however,
does not diminish the critical commentary. Scapp provides a
great deal of context for each chapter, drawing heavily upon
background information and specific references from multiple
perspectives to support his discussion of the issues. The
clarity of his writing is also a strong point of
TeachingValues. Scapp presents his perspective on
difficult issues, such as the enduring need for multiculturalism
in Chapter 6 and the “complexities of teaching in a
racially charged context” (p. 42) in Chapter 2, in clear,
concise language; his prose is coherent and his presentation is
engaging.
Three chapters address different aspects of teaching. In
Chapter 1, Scapp addresses the importance of teaching in this
modern era of uncertainty. The teacher as questioner is a key
reason for the teacher’s importance, in Scapp’s
opinion, as the exploration of truth is necessary in the
postmodern era. Scapp certainly holds teachers in high esteem,
as evidenced by the following quote: “When the truth is
gone, it is the love, courage, and integrity of those who teach
that shine and are certain” (p. 39). His esteem for
teachers does not preclude his belief that teachers interact with
students from a position of privilege, however. Speaking from
personal experience in Chapter 5, Scapp examines the necessity to
understand that privilege when he states, “How I spoke, how
I dressed – in short, how I acted – informed and
influenced the context of the course in important and necessary
ways…the demand that teachers must begin to consider their
actions in and out of the classroom is as much an ethical demand
as it is a political or a pedagogical demand” (p. 131).
Scapp’s awareness of the difficulty of teaching in a
pluralistic society is reiterated in Chapter 2 when he explores
the controversy over a white teacher using the children’s
book Nappy Hair in her classroom. As Scapp articulates,
“The difficulties of this story are worth wading through,
however, because they offer insight into the complexities of
teaching in a racially charged context and highlight a real
problem of cross-cultural interactions – namely,
trust” (p. 42). He loses focus in this chapter, however,
when he moves away from the theme of values in education and
enters into an analysis of the actual book. While Scapp succeeds
in making the point that texts must be closely evaluated for what
they bring to the classroom, the literary analysis detracts from
his main theme of teaching in a pluralistic society.
Closely aligned to the second chapter’s emphasis on
racially sensitive books are those chapters that address culture
in the classroom. Chapter 3 explores the issues of language
diversity in the United States and, by extension, American
education. Scapp advocates for fluency and understanding of
standard English but recognizes the importance of acknowledging
other forms of English, specifically Black English. This
recognition is very much a moral issue, Scapp argues, as the
argument over standard and nonstandard English “has little
to do with the language itself and everything to do with the
morality of speaking right” (p. 87). Scapp continues his
exploration of morals in education with a discussion of the need
for multiculturalism in Chapter 6. Correctly naming
multiculturalism a volatile issue and exploring the reasons for
its volatility, Scapp nonetheless supports the teaching of
multiculturalism as a means to teach values:
[M]ulticultural education could be understood as an
educational strategy that attempts to confront and challenge the
obstacles and impasses that have historically presented
themselves in the classroom (and outside of it) due to the
unethical biases that racism, class elitism, sexism, homophobia,
and other modes of prejudice impose on students and teachers. It
is therefore an educational strategy that attempts to facilitate
learning and teaching beyond the traditional constraints that
remain in the curriculum and school structure that wrongly
detract from the goal of education in a democratic and just
society…meaningfully combining the work of all those
theoretically and pragmatically exploring and challenging
traditional values and structures that function against
justice… (pp. 156-157).
Chapter 4 is perhaps the least effective chapter
in the book. In this chapter, Scapp addresses the political
relevance of a specific college program through his personal
experiences with that program. His discussion of the program
touches on the main issues of the book but does not integrate
well with the other chapters. This vignette stands in opposition
to the Epilogue, one of the stronger sections of the book, in
which Scapp addresses the importance of justice, the search for
values and the extra-moral element of teaching. While he does
not neatly resolve the issues discussed in the previous chapters,
Scapp presents his final thoughts on elements of these issues in
the Epilogue in the context of teaching, concluding with the
belief that, “Teaching in an extra-moral sense is teaching
within the context of multiculturalism and postmodernism, but it
is also teaching within the context of the history of learning
itself” (p. 176).
Scapp provides a cursory examination of the values
debate through the exploration of several important issues in
education. His topics are relevant and his presentation is
even-handed; although his stance on the issues is clear, he takes
the time to situate his argument in scholarly research, current
events and personal experience. While his book reads unevenly at
times – due to the disjointed nature of the chapters and
the questionable inclusion of the fourth chapter – the
strengths of his writing recommend it: clarity of writing, depth
of research and personal appeal to the reader.
References
Delpit, L. (1995). Other people's children: Cultural
conflict in the classroom. New York:
Norton.
Hansen, D. T. (2001). Exploring the moral heart of
teaching: Toward a teacher's creed. New
York: Teachers College Press.
McClellan, B. E. (1999). Moral education in America:
Schools and the shaping of character
from colonial times to the present. New
York: Teachers College Press.
Noddings, N. (1992). The challenge to care in schools: An
alternative approach to education.
New York: Teachers College Press.
Ryan, K., & Bohlin, K. E. (1999). Building character in
schools: Practical ways to bring moral
instruction to life. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Simon, K. G. (2001). Moral questions in the classroom: How
to get kids to think deeply about
real life and their schoolwork. New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press.
About the Reviewer
Melanie Shoffner is currently pursuing a PhD in
Education (Culture, Curriculum and Change strand) at the
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Before entering
graduate school, she taught secondary English in North Carolina
and Arizona. Interests include the examination of issues in
quality teacher preparation (societal, historical, moral); the
development of reflective practice in pre-service teachers; and
the use of instructional technology in teacher education
programs.
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