GMIT 660--Week Nine--Morals and Ethics

This week brought some lively discussion in talking about morals and ethics; there is a difference between the two, as our very astute leader pointed out. Ethics are considered "written codes," while morals are considered "unwritten."

Study of ethics in education has, for some obvious reasons, been kept at a minimum for a long time. There are lots of divisive issues, many which are more related to morals than ethics. I think the main reason ethics are not put more to the forefront is that we humans, much like electricity, tend to take the path of least resistance.

A really good example of this is that even though this week's topic contains the word "morals" in it, when I brought up the moral issue of homosexuality hardly anyone wanted to get involved. I really don't blame them; we've heard so much about the issue over the years that we don't want to go there at all.

The focus stayed pretty much on ethical issues in the classroom, which is just fine; that is plenty to chew on for now. The talked focused more on the lack of teaching of ethics more than anything; many of the participants in the seminar wanted to see more of it in our curriculum.

Greg Burroughs, our seminar leader, provided us with some excellent material to ponder over and share our thoughts. One piece that comes to mind focused on the need to rethink the goals of education. Jonathan Cohen, the author of the article, Social, Emotional, Ethical, and Academic Education: Creating a Climate for Learning, Participation in Democracy, and Well-Being, argues that "the goals of education need to be reframed to prioritize not only academic learning, but also social, emotional, and ethical competencies."

Cohen goes on to say that, "parents and teachers want schooling to support children's ability to become lifelong learners who are able to love, work, and act as responsible members of the community." He also says that, "social, emotional, academic, and ethical education can help children reach the goals their parents and teachers have for them: learning to 'read' themselves and others, and learning to solve social, emotional, and ethical problems."

So you see, it is not just an adult issue; it has to start in the earlier years. We have many times heard the phrase, "it has to start in the home with parents." This is so true; but not only does it have to start in the home, it has to carry on to our schools. It can't be just about academics, with young students learning reading, writing, and arithmetic; we have to first learn how to incorporate good social, emotional, and ethical skills into our teaching/learning curriculum, and then implement it in the classroom early and often.

We have the theories: "there are two core processes that promote children's school success and healthy development: (a) promoting children's social-emotional competencies and ethical dispositions throughout their preK-12 school experience, and (b) creating safe, caring, participatory, and responsive school systems and homes."

We have the want: "parents and teachers want schooling to support children's ability to become lifelong learners who are able to love, work, and act as responsible members of the community."

We have the tools to get it done; millions of good people want to live and work in peace and prosperity. Out of those millions there are many good teachers and administrators who have to come together to put these theories into practice. We have to work together to get there.