Charles Burford PhDDirector of Educational LeadershipFaculty of Education and EducationAustralian Catholic University

Moral ethical and virtuous literacy: The role of discernment and education

. “Educating for Moral Literacy”2014 Moral Literacy Colloquium .

Friday 24th April, 2014. Nittany Lion Inn, Pennsylvania State University

A History of Discernment

Education as moral, ethical and virtuous literacy:Emergence of the presentation from the question “What are schools really trying to do?”

The Presentation

The presentation will present a taxonomy that proposes and attempts to explain how discernment of moral, ethical and virtuous purposes within differing dimensions of our life will give educators better understanding of the pedagogical and curricular experiences that will further the moral literacy of their students. The six purposes of the taxonomy will be described and analysed as a basis for moral literacy and education.The presentation will also give examples of current research and practice in moral literacy at the primary, secondary and tertiary level in four different countries; the US; Australia; Tonga and Italy; that highlights the application of the various dimensions of the taxonomy.

The Journey

Over a period of forty years I experienced a growing awareness of the moral core of learning and education. This awareness had its roots in the early 80’s in the work of Donald Willower at Pennsylvania State University and has developed though association and research over subsequent years with scholars associated with the Values and Leadership Conferences and now The Centre for The Study Of Ethical Education Leadership. These scholars include Paul Begley, Jerry Starratt, Chris Branson, Jackie Stefkovich, Joan Shapiro, Steve Gross and Nancy Tuana. The common theme in their work is the centrality of values, ethics and morality in education and in particular; educational leadership. It is fitting that this presentation which has taken much of it’s stimulation from the work of these scholars is given here at the Moral Literacy Conference that some of them initiated and indeed are here tonight.

The Journey

Penn State Experience

The journey started here at Penn State thirty years ago with a question. Why were some people better to work with, easier to live with and wiser than others. Could this have leadership potential? A sense of humor seemed like a good idea! The panacea of life may have been humor literacy, but a Humor Literacy Dissertation suggested it was interesting and preferable, but not essential.What seemed more likely was the development of authentic relationships and care for others in a professional responsible environment. This led to a journey of discovery about the morality, ethics and virtues of leadership.

Values and Educational Leadership

Willower (1985)The start of a journey with Willower who; like Dewey and Habermas, was searching through the lens of leadership for the meaning of education (and maybe life).

Observe Willower about what a program in educational leadership should provide regarding values:

“A conception of values that would abet advancement in educational administration should have two main characteristics. First, it should furnish broad visions of what human beings and schools might become at their best. Second , it should speak realistically to the problem of concrete moral choice that is such a salient feature of administrative life.”And one can add with hindsight: all life!

Moral Literacy

Maybe some definitions will help!Literacy first:The United Nations (UNESCO, 2004) defines literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society (13)”. The significance of this definition for the study of moral literacy; the focus of this colloquium, is its support for the view that the ultimate purpose of education at any age search is the fulfillment of human potential.

Ethics, Morals and Virtues: What Are They

“Ethos”(Greek)Meaning: Custom,Usage,or Character“The Science of the Ideal Human Character”“Moral” (Latin) Meaning:Manner, Good and Right, Virtue, Value, Worth.“Describes What Is Good or Right or Proper.“Virtues”: Focuses on attitudes, dispositions, values, or character traits that enable us to be and to act in ways that develop our human potential. “It is about the good of the person performing the act as they value its consequences”.

Morality and Virtues

In its normative sense, "morality" appears to refer to whatever (if anything) is actually right or wrong, which may be independent of the values or mores held by any particular peoples or culture. While according to the Aristotelian perspective there are two sorts of virtue: the dianoethical and the ethical virtues. The former regards the right practices of our different capabilities related to knowledge (intuition, inference, technical knowledge, etc.) while the ethical virtues are about the practice of values ie. respect, regard, courage, benevolence or goodwill, justice and patience.

Ethics: What are they?

Other perspectives:Ethics are the norms and virtues by which members of a community bind themselves to a moral way of living. Starratt (2004) suggests that they are maps that we consult only when the familiar terrain we are traversing becomes a tangle of underbrush.

Duignan and Burford (2003) found that for leaders of service organisations, the choice was often between two “goods” rather than a “good” and a “bad”.

In this sense then normative ethics are concerned with doing right in particular circumstances while the ethical virtues are about prioritising the practice of values. Discerning the morality, ethics and virtues of our actions is at the core field of moral literacy

Moral/ Ethical/ Virtuous Literacy seems to be about discerning what we value, how these values express themselves in our personal and professional lives and making choices about their use.

Moral literacy seems to be about discerning and selecting RIGHT from WRONG and searching for consistency in the interpretation of universal values

Ethical literacy seems to be more about discerning and choosing RIGHT for the specific circumstances by prioritising competing values perspectives

Virtues literacy is about discerning, choosing and being consistent in use of values which we have decided will make us the best person we can be.

Moral Literacy

Real literacy seems to rest therefore in the values of our teachers and parents and their capacity to educate children in values discernment and practice.

Hence the ethical challenges of Stefkovich and Begley: What is in the best interests of the child? And The Willower challenge of what would we look like when we are at our best?What do schools really mean by the words they present in their Mission Statements? Is this the real literacy?

Examples: 1) Returned Australian veterans2) Canadian in-service of leaders:

What do we want the graduates of Canadian school to be like?

3) Seven Core Cowboy Values (Owens, 2008) :Courage, Optimism, Self-Reliance, Authenticity, Honour, Duty, HeartThe answer in every case was good people, people of character and worth and essentially morally literate people in their relationships and lives!So to a search for a model or taxonomy that might help us as professionals explain where and when values express themselves.

Taxonomy for Moral Literacy

 

 

 

 

 

Moral Purpose

Personal Purpose

Professional (Role) Purpose

Organisational Purpose

Public Purpose

Cultural Purpose

FIGURE 1: TAXONOMY FOR MORAL LITERACY

Moral Purpose

Moral Purpose

• Values, ethical beliefs, justice

• Moral reasoning

• Personal responsibility for lives of others

• Interior Level

Taxonomy for Moral Literacy

Moral Purpose. Centered on what we believe as our contribution to society, our responsibility for the lives of others and the commitment to act this out.Our moral purpose is justified by moral reasoning about the right thing to do.

Moral Purpose

Tuana’s (2007) model of ‘moral literacy’ involving ethics sensitivity, ethical reasoning skills and moral imagination, extends this notion and provides an ethical framework to effect moral agency, where we are “ethical agents” (p.375) who are able to “assess what is held to be valuable in a context” (p. 374).

Moral Purpose

Common mission, shared vision, core values

“formative power of meaning” (Wheatley): examining purpose and means

The above are pre-requisite to partnership with teachers and parents. It is at the core of “social capital” and ownership of purpose.

 

Moral Purpose

Personal Purpose

Personal Purpose

Interior

• Reflective capacity to understand reasons for acting

• Self-concept and identity

• Moral potency and capacity to act

• Operationalise beliefs into action

• Branson, Begley, Starratt, and Tuana.

Taxonomy for Moral Literacy

It considers the factors that operationalise one’s beliefs about self are put into action, and seeks to explain how our attitudes towards this sense of self affects behaviour and practices

Branson Model

S e lf-C o ncep t

In te rfa c e b e tw e e nth e O u te r a n dIn n e r S e lf

Va lu es

Se lf-E ste em

B ehav iou rs

T h e S e lf

Diagrammatical representation of the various dimension of the Self

Italian Elementary School Virtues Research

The first example relates to a research project at the University of Verona in Northern Italy which investigated the thoughts and perceptions of 319, year 3 and 4 children about virtues in their lives. Incorporating a gaming situation using a game titled “ The Virtues Basket” the children had to classify cards into three categories: jobs, games and virtues.Children were invited to write what meaning they gave to one of the virtues written on the cards that they liked or knew better (honesty, justice, courage etc.) and were then asked to describe their personal understanding of the chosen word, rather than a formal definition.

A Tongan Moral Literacy Example.FORM 1COORDINATOR: Tevita Lea'aetoa 1 L CaringTevita Lea'aetoa 1H HonestyKalonikakala Havili 1R JoyLoise Raass 1T RespectFakalanu Tahi FORM 4 COORDINATORS: Sitaniselao Vea, Diane Laukaulolo4M CommitmentDiane Laukaulolo4A CompassionKelelia 'Apikotoa4R PatienceMelaia Taulangovaka41 PeaceSitaniselao Vea4S DisciplineTuiaki Latu4TTolerance

FORM 6 COORDINATORS: Sione Tausinga, Mele Leakona6M FortitudeMele Leakona6A IntegritySione Tausinga6R TrustAtonic Apikotoa61 Justice

University Application of Interior Dimension Masters of Educational Leadership at The Australian Catholic University. To capture the essence of the taxonomy; at the moral and personal purpose dimension the program incorporate a compulsory Unit titled :Values and Leadership and an Elective Unit titled Leadership Spirituality. The core unit utilises the work and models of Branson (2007) and Begley (2000) in the investigation of personal values and self concept leading to ethical investigations using the models and writings of Shapiro and Stefkovich (2001) and moral purpose in education using the work of Sergiovanni (2004), Starratt (2005), Tuana (2007). The second Unit enables students to discern their spiritual life and relies on more philosophical and reflective experiences from a broad range of theological and spiritual writers. evaluations consistently point to the essential nature of the Core Unit to the quality of the program and it’s lasting effect on graduates at both the personal and professional level; especially those in leadership positions

Taxonomy for Moral Literacy

 

 

Moral Purpose

Personal Purpose

Professional (Role) Purpose

Professional (Role) Purpose

Functional level

• Role expectations, norms and behaviour

• Beliefs about significance of contribution to the role

• Measures of role performance

• Codes of conduct

• Involves a person’s understanding of their role, its core function, role clarity and boundaries. However, the construct also involves an understanding of their function in the organisation and how they can influence outcomes.

Teaching and Learning

The Covenant of Teaching V Contract of Role (Sergiovanni)

Teacher autonomy and leadership (‘loose coupling’)

Dialogue, evidence-based and collegial.

Learning communities.

Taxonomy for Moral Literacy

 

 

 

Moral Purpose

Personal Purpose

Professional (Role) Purpose

Organisational Purpose

Organisational PurposeFunction Dimension

Function

• Organisational Purpose considers the practical, structural factors that operationalise one’s beliefs into action, and seeks to explain how attitudes and practices of its members affect current behaviour of the entity itself. What the organisation values influences our life.

• Core organisational mission influences worldview

• What is valued and celebrated influences decisions about teaching, learning, leadership, management .

The Concept of ‘Coupling’

Coupling is an attempt to understand how the linkages between leadership, management and organisational members can be used to explain how the organisation functions.

When leaders are close in operation and supervision of followers the linkage is described as “tightly coupled”.

Coupling (cont)

But in educational institutions the linkages between supervision (read management and leaders) and teachers or other professionals (like you) usually are not close physically or operationally close.

This was described as:

‘loosely coupled’ (Sergiovanni) and seen to reflect the elements of “Chaos Theory”(Wheatley).

• ‘Ethical coupling’ concept places a different emphasis on leadership of professionals

Function Dimension

Masters of Educational Leadership at the Australian Catholic University The Function Dimension is captured in the other compulsory core Unit is titled Perspectives on Leadership and together with three elective Units titled Leading Educational Change, Leading Authentic Learning and Leading Educational Change where the students are offered insights into the function of the educational leader. The works of Starratt ( 2005), Burford and Bezzina (2012), Fullan (2009), Duignan (2007), Willower (1991), Hargreaves (2004), Sergiovanni (2005), Hodgkinson, (1996) and Hatti (2005) form the theoretical base . In keeping with the focus on the taxonomy students are exposed to the contesting forces and the ethical and moral issues faced as a leader of learning.

Function and Education

In addition most Australian schools have instituted extensive Leadership programs for student leaders from age 12-18 years. These programs focus on the role responsibility, representative activities and capability training in leadership and group dynamics. In some schools students are involved in programs exclusively by senior leaders and trained to take major responsibility for decision- making and leadership of artistic, cultural and sporting events.

Taxonomy for Moral Literacy

 

 

 

 

Moral Purpose

Personal Purpose

Professional Purpose

Organisational Purpose

Public Purpose

Public Purpose Environment Level

• Involves the external contexts that have the ability to influence the potency of individuals to translate beliefs into action

• External context – accountability

• Government and System requirements

• Stakeholders, pressure groups, parents

Environment

Public Purpose: The compliance agenda of government requires a reasonable level of resources already across education systems to “deliver better education – by putting local communities in charge of improving the performance of local schools” (Liberal Party Australia, 2013, p.40). There are political points to be scored by all sides in the rhetoric around school improvement, effectiveness and standards (Clarke, 2012, p. 297),

Model for Moral Decision-making

 

 

 

 

 

Moral Purpose

Personal Purpose

Professional Purpose

Organisational Purpose

Public Purpose

Cultural Purpose

Cultural Purpose

Environment

• Cultural values and traditions influence the organisation

• Cultural and societal norms influence decisions

• Reciprocity between community perceptions and individuals within the organisation

Example of Application of Taxonomy

Masters of Educational Leadership in this environment dimension of the program attempts to focus on the contrasting and competing purposes associated with being schools with both faith foundation and defined valuing structures as well as publically and privately funded institutions. The challenge of leading a school in a secular society that supports all education while protecting the unique character of schools built on faith values and parental choice with varying degrees of ecclesial control becomes the focus of :Units such as Leading The Catholic School, Faith Leadership, Policy Formation and Governance and Human Resource Development in Catholic Schools.

Environment Dimension in Education

During the 2012 Presidential elections schools in and around Charlottesville, Virginia ran week long election programs with students taking on the policies of the two main political parties and conducting public electioneering and debates which culminated in formal elections. The passion and expertise of the students and the sophisticated electoral procedures went a long way further than the normal civics debates that mark such events in Australia. These procedures were preparation and celebrations of the political and constitutional life of Americans but lived out in the curriculum of a high school.In Australian Catholic High Schools students undertake weeklong camps called retreats that focus on their faith life and their relationships with peers and teachers in the context of a Catholic school. These experiences have regularly been identified as the most critical and memorable events in students school experiences (Flynn, 2002).

But it isn’t finished!

The taxonomy attempts to to articulate the levels and types of valuing that occur in life and show how the values and purposes interact and compete at and between levels. Hopefully it will enhance the ability of practiconers to structure discernment of the complexity of purposes on moral literacy . However a reflection from Tuana and Bezzina (2012) is important in the future development of the taxonomy:“Individuals will only choose a particular moral action if they are both convinced of its importance and have a sense that they are capable of acting in this way … Before they will act in a way that aligns consistently with moral purpose (moral agency) they need a sense of their own role as an influential player in this domain (moral potency) reflected in their sense of a capacity to act in ways that make a difference; their ownership of, and commitment to moral purpose; a sense of hope; and the requisite courage to act” (Bezzina & Tuana, 2012, p.6)