ETHICAL DILEMMAS UNDER UNCERTAINTY: FAIRNESS OF DECISIONS, INCLUSION, AND RESOURCE PRIORITIES IN EDUCATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31110/LRDTinEdu-1.1Keywords:
ethical dilemmas in education, pedagogical ethics, uncertainty, inclusive education, resource allocation, moral distress, pedagogical wisdomAbstract
The study addresses ethical dilemmas in education under conditions of uncertainty, with a particular focus on justice, inclusion, and the allocation of limited resources. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining conceptual and comparative normative analysis, case analysis, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, observation, thematic analysis, and statistical processing of quantitative data. It was identified that educational uncertainty is not situational but ontological, manifesting through epistemic, normative, and ontological dimensions that structure the emergence of pedagogical dilemmas. It was established that ethical dilemmas constitute an everyday reality for educators rather than exceptional episodes, and that their specificity is determined primarily by the nature of pedagogical relationships and the forms of responsibility characteristic of different educational sectors. It was found that, in general, secondary education dilemmas of holistic responsibility for child development prevail; in professional pre-higher education, dilemmas arise at the boundary between educational and quasi-professional responsibility; and in higher education, dilemmas of dual loyalty between scholarly and pedagogical roles become more salient. The influence of institutional culture, ethics training, teaching experience, and support resources on the quality of dilemma processing, the level of moral distress, and confidence in decision-making was assessed. Regular patterns of decreasing moral distress and a complex dynamic in which such decreases may reflect both professional adaptation and, in some cases, a risk of reduced moral sensitivity (moral anesthesia) were characterized. It was established that institutional culture is the strongest predictor of morally responsible decision-making and that no individual preparation can compensate for a toxic organizational environment. It was clarified that inclusive education remains a normatively justified ideal, yet its implementation generates dilemmas related to competing rights, cultural diversity, and resource scarcity. The impact of wartime conditions, digitalization, and algorithmic risks on the intensification of ethical tensions in education was also evaluated. It was concluded that further research should focus on longitudinal, comparative, and cross-level studies of pedagogical wisdom, moral distress, and institutional conditions of ethical decision-making.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Nina Tverezovska, Daria Suprun, Iryna Demchenko, Tetiana Hryhorenko, Viktor Sydorko (Author)
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