Dewey - Part 2

John Dewey's Article Two in "My Pedagogic Creed", raises some interesting points about the social nature of the school. He views the school as an extension of the social community in which the child exists. I agree with this in principle but there are a few limitations of this theory. Dewey assumes that home is a place of moral training and it is the job of the school to strengthen the values of the home. In most situations this is the case but every year I run into students that have not had the privilege of having a positive adult role model to teach them right and wrong. Some of my students are more or less raising themselves and are not coming to school with appropriate social values. Is it my duty as an educator to teach them what I think is ethical? What if education is not overtly valued in my community? I can not in good conscience, as a teacher, endorse this belief. I try to the best of my ability to endorse the values of my community but I still bring my preconceived ideas to my profession.