Dr David Moltow is researching the significance of cultivating ethical practice for potential graduate teachers. 

Dr Moltow is a Lecturer in Ethics and Professional Practice and conducts research across educational policy, curriculum and teaching practice. His current work focuses on how students can cultivate critical learning dispositions by combining educational experience with ethical commitments. 

“Given the crucial role education plays in the lives of individuals and societies, it has a distinctly moral dimension; as such, teaching is a definitively moral practice,” Dr Moltow said.

“There are ethical obligations on the teacher’s part to think carefully about how they negotiate relationships with their students, and the ethical manner in which they facilitate learning.”

Dr Moltow’s current research project specialises in facilitating ethical priorities that can be realised through curriculum areas such as mathematics, English and the humanities. 

“Policy makers, curriculum designers, school leaders, and teachers are deeply committed to learning outcomes that focus on the forms of knowledge and skill. But knowledge and skill alone are not enough: students need to know how to apply good habits of character in their lives. 

“Every year I encounter teachers who graduated two, five, eight, ten years ago, who share with me their ethically significant experiences and recall how they were able to draw from us to manage moral challenges in their students’ best interests.”  

Dr Moltow’s research passions stem from a deep, life-long commitment to ethical practice. He is fascinated by the impact his research can have in equipping students for rational and relational benefits. 

“Seeing the scholarly manner in which intelligent and committed education students engage with these ideas and apply them to concepts of practice is deeply inspiring.” 

Before arriving at the University of Tasmania, Dr Moltow worked as a consultant with Commonwealth, state, and local government agencies to help them develop ethical policies and decision protocols. 

“Designing Professional Learning programs for the government sector allowed me to see peoples’ lives change. They grew into their identities when they gave deep thought to their ethical beliefs and practices and took ownership of their values and responsibilities to others.” 

“When I was asked to take a unit on ethics and philosophy in the School of Education I saw the same change, but on a larger scale and with greater sensitivity to the ethical duties' teachers owe some of our society’s most vulnerable members. I have been here ever since.”

“Childhood is precious, and a teacher’s engagement with a child can have a profound impact on that child’s life and future.”

Dr Moltow’s team has received a $150,000 research development grant from Catholic Education South Australia to develop and evaluate a Critical Learning Disposition cultivation program in early primary settings.