- help students learn what they need to pass the Biology 1 state test so that they can graduate and the school can raise scores enough to be a school to which parents go out of their way to send their children, or
- help a large group of young adults learn and apply the concept of virtue and morality, as described by Barry Schwartz in his TED talk entitled, "Our Loss of Wisdom."
Now, of course, these are not mutually exclusive, and I do feel responsible for completing both throughout the year. Not doing the first could get me fired. Not doing the second would be a detriment to those individuals in my school, the community, and to society at large.
I wholeheartedly agree with Schwartz when he says that a wise person is made, not born, and that a person does not need to be brilliant to be wise. He uses the word wise and the concept of wisdom as another way of referring to a person that has empathy and acts on what they know to be right as a way of continuously serving others. The behaviors and moral skills Schwartz describes can, and should, be used by any person in every profession. Before people can use their moral skills in the workplace, they need to first be taught how to be moral during their childhood. Although it would seem that parents and guardians hold the majority of the responsibility for the task of modeling and teaching morality, every person involved in a child's life also shares in that responsibility. Children and young adults spend so much time at school and involved in school-related activities during their development into adult human beings, much of that extra responsibility falls into the hands of teachers and school staff members.
I accept this, that I have a responsibility to model and encourage empathy and morality in every second of every day with students. I do believe that this virtue must be cultivated, over a long period of time. This virtue is not in and of itself unnatural, for virtuous acts are seen in the natural world. It is the repeated modeling and praising that, little by little, builds up a moral skill.
What I just need now is more guidance on how in the world to do that effectively.
Anyone have any ideas?
I wholeheartedly agree with Schwartz when he says that a wise person is made, not born, and that a person does not need to be brilliant to be wise. He uses the word wise and the concept of wisdom as another way of referring to a person that has empathy and acts on what they know to be right as a way of continuously serving others. The behaviors and moral skills Schwartz describes can, and should, be used by any person in every profession. Before people can use their moral skills in the workplace, they need to first be taught how to be moral during their childhood. Although it would seem that parents and guardians hold the majority of the responsibility for the task of modeling and teaching morality, every person involved in a child's life also shares in that responsibility. Children and young adults spend so much time at school and involved in school-related activities during their development into adult human beings, much of that extra responsibility falls into the hands of teachers and school staff members.
I accept this, that I have a responsibility to model and encourage empathy and morality in every second of every day with students. I do believe that this virtue must be cultivated, over a long period of time. This virtue is not in and of itself unnatural, for virtuous acts are seen in the natural world. It is the repeated modeling and praising that, little by little, builds up a moral skill.
What I just need now is more guidance on how in the world to do that effectively.
Anyone have any ideas?
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