The Moral Dimensions of Teaching: Implications for Ethical Competence in Kenya's Primary Teacher Education

Abstract

This conceptual paper examines the moral dimensions of classroom teaching and their implications for teacher education in Kenya. Drawing on Buzzelli and Johnston's six-dimension framework, Narvaez's classroom climate theory, Bernstein's theory of pedagogical discourse, and Campbell's account of teacher moral agency, the paper argues that classroom climate, language, power and authority, cultural representation, curriculum, and teacher moral agency constitute an essential professional knowledge domain that is absent from both Kenya's old Primary Teacher Education (PTE) programme and the new CBC-aligned Diploma in Education framework. Through critical literature review and document analysis of four key policy texts, the paper advances a theoretical argument that this structural absence is hypothesised to have significant consequences for the moral development of Kenyan primary school pupils, a hypothesis that requires empirical validation. A three-strand curriculum integration model is proposed as a structurally feasible conceptual blueprint for reform, and comparative analysis of South African, Ugandan, and Tanzanian teacher education confirms that such integration is achievable within African education systems. The paper further argues that Kenya's reform should be grounded in indigenous ethical frameworks, including utu, heshima, and harambee, to ensure cultural legitimacy and sustainability.