The disclosure dilemma: committed impartiality when teaching in Higher Education?

Dhillon, S. (2026) The disclosure dilemma: committed impartiality when teaching in Higher Education? Educational Philosophy and Theory. ISSN 1469-5812 (In Press)

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Abstract

This article will argue for Thomas Kelly’s (1986) notion of ‘committed impartiality’ when teaching in the Social Sciences and Humanities in contemporary Philosophy of Education (PoE) settings in Higher Education (HE); namely, that of the academic disclosing aspects of their personal and professional perspectives when discussing challenging, and perhaps deemed ‘controversial’, topics. This will be done by presenting Kelly’s heuristic model of instruction, and comparing his preferred mode of committed impartiality with that of the commonly received wisdom of ‘neutral impartiality’. The article will critically explore this ‘disclosure dilemma’, presenting counterarguments, including Biesta’s (2024) critique of perspectival reason, before providing tentative rebuttals with some potential strategies for fellow educators to consider.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an author accepted manuscript of a paper accepted on 23rd September 2026 by Taylor & Francis for publication in Educational Philosophy and Theory. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.
Divisions:	School of Social Science
Depositing User:	Sunny Dhillon
Date Deposited:	06 Oct 2026 11:33
Last Modified:	06 Oct 2026 11:33
URI:	https://lbro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/1359

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