Educating Ethical Judgement in a Pluriverse – Pluriversal Ethical Reflection as a Framework for Formation

Abstract

This article addresses a core concern in contemporary philosophy and theology of education: how education can cultivate moral judgement and ethical responsibility in contexts marked by epistemological pluriversality. Decolonising perspectives reveal that dominant educational paradigms often continue to rely on universalist assumptions. Instrumental and competence-based approaches tend to marginalise issues of normativity, meaning and moral formation. This raises foundational questions about educational purpose, ethical orientation and responsibility in plural educational contexts.

The article presents the ‘Pluriversal Ethical Reflection Framework’ as a conceptual and reflective framework, rather than as a methodology or intervention. The framework draws on Dooyeweerd’s philosophy of the fifteen modal aspects, recent Dooyeweerdian scholarship, decolonial thought on epistemic justice (Moncrieffe), virtue ethics and meaning-oriented reflection. Together, these sources form an integrative architecture. It interrelates three educational levels: macro-level normativity (Dooyeweerd), meso-level contextual interpretation (‘Political, Economic, Social-cultural, Technological, Environmental and Legal’ analysis as a normative layer), and micro-level ethical self-development (Meaning-Oriented Reflection). The architecture acts within a Bildung-oriented pedagogical horizon. Two educational cases illustrate how the framework supports ethical judgement in higher education and intercultural leadership education.

Conceptually, the article contributes to theology and philosophy of education by articulating educational normativity as hopeful, relational and practice-oriented. Normativity is understood as disclosed within lived educational reality, rather than imposed through procedural control or abstract prescription.