This paper develops a moral approach to educational controversy, examining a collaborative research project that promotes reconciliation between diverse perspectives and laying out the foundations of a reconciliatory discourse. Section 1 discusses problems in education that contribute to unproductive discourse (conflict of educational purposes, poverty of public debate, lack of public access to the language of education and intellectual struggle, power of special interests, and desire for the quick fix and the dynamic of the swinging pendulum). Section 2 discusses a new vision for educational debate, explaining reconciliatory discourse and educational aims. It also discusses trust and struggle as the core of reconciliatory discourse and examines the distinctive character of reconciliatory discourse. Section 3 discusses: conditions for participation in reconciliatory discourse, noting requirements for reconciliatory discourse; participants' attitudes, beliefs, and competencies; principles of discourse (listening, expressing one's self effectively, personal interaction, and searching and learning through deliberation); and habits of mind and dispositions. Section 4 discusses the procedure for reconciliatory discourse, explaining 5 steps: (1) locating the issues; (2) working out similarities and differences; (3) ranking similarities in order of importance; (4) establishing inter-relationships; and (5) and formulating the problem. Section 5 discusses similar problems in the world of educational purpose. (Contains 11 references.) (SM)