Ethics Day, A Transformational Program
21
Kent Denver School “Excellence in Scholarship and Character” Integrity – Respect – Personal Growth – Community - Wisdom
-
Upload
the-institute-for-global-ethics -
Category
Education
-
view
2 -
download
0
description
Imagine a day that follows four months of meaningful conversation and planning engaging students, faculty, trustees, and alumni. Faculty learn how to team up with seniors to run ethics based seminars including participants in 6th through 12th grade. Beyond basic Socratic skills, faculty learn about leading open-ended conversations that bring out each participant’s voice, how to apply ethical frameworks, and how to bring alive an ethical challenge within a chosen school wide topic. The day starts by honoring newly elected distinguished alumni who reflect on the ethical lessons and moral character that they learned while in school. Several blocks of student/faculty run seminars follow that focus on issues within a given topic such as health, food, or simply decision making in areas of consequence when there is no easy answer and no ultimate resolution.In the afternoon of Ethics Day, alumni come to campus and offer seminars on ethical dilemmas within their chosen professions. Students connect with graduates, learn about different careers, and then typically address case studies that open their eyes to real world applications. Alumni are inspired by the opportunity to return to their school to teach. Finally, students engage in some reflective conversation and writing to finish a truly transformational day.This conference session will cover the overall design and philosophy behind running an Ethics Day program, the many and varied benefits of such a program, mistakes to avoid, and lots of interactive conversation about how this might be adapted to different school cultures. At Kent Denver we feel a fundamental obligation to help students practice making the very most difficult decisions before they, in fact, have to do so. This is what Ethics Day is designed to do.
Transcript of Ethics Day, A Transformational Program
Kent Denver School“Excellence in Scholarship and
Character”
Integrity – Respect – Personal Growth – Community - Wisdom
ETHICS DAY: An invitation to a
year long conversation
Institute for Global Ethics ConferenceInstitute for Global Ethics ConferenceMemphis June 2010Memphis June 2010
Good morning!
What would you like from this session?
Any burning questions?
Participate!
PP online
Your voice matters
Ethics Day:Ethics Day:A Path to DemystificationA Path to Demystification
• Mel Levine: Demystification of learning disabilities. Making a ghost tangible.
• Learning: Howard Gardner, Daniel Pink, John Medina, Etc.
• Ethics/Moral Development: Robert Coles, Lawrence Kohlberg,
Rushworth Kidder,
Institute for Global Ethics,
Ethical Fitness
The Kent Denver PathThe Kent Denver Path“Excellence in Scholarship and Character”“Excellence in Scholarship and Character”
• Vision Statement Matters• Community engagement and infusion of Vision
Statement in talks, writing, decisions, surveys• Community focus on elements of “Character”• The Virtuecrats step-up.. A cautionary tale• Honor Code…2 year failed process• KDS Core Values…2 year successful process• Writing, speeches, decisions, but needed more….• Ethics Day….Looks Good so Far
Ethics Day:Ethics Day:General ConsiderationsGeneral Considerations
• Develop rationale and buy in from all administrators and board of trustees.
• HOS must champion the cause
• Form student/faculty committee with mavens and connectors to develop concept, with guidelines from HOS
• Good intentions, meaningful action, or sacrificial commitment?
Ethics Day Committee ChargeEthics Day Committee Charge
Develop, Plan, Discuss:
• Vision for day
• Structure of day
• Resources required
• Anticipated obstacles
• What will success look like?
• How can it be measured?
Ethics Day Mission StatementEthics Day Mission Statement
Ethics Day celebrates and promotes
ethical inquiry
for the Kent Denver School community
to explore ethical challenges
while reinforcing
the school’s core values
Your turn………Your turn………
What would you like to see happen with a day like this if it happened at your school?
What might it accomplish?
What would be some desirable outcomes?
(small group work)
What would you like to see happen with a What would you like to see happen with a day like this? (1 of 3)day like this? (1 of 3)
• Year long dialogue to demystify and strengthen commitment to ethical behavior and moral courage
• Engage 6-12 as a community• Bring alumni back to school to engage• Distinguished alumni program….character matters
most• Education for making the most difficult of decisions,
where independent schools must step-up• Increase ethical, moral, character literacy
What would you like to see happen with What would you like to see happen with a day like this? (2 of 3)a day like this? (2 of 3)
• Bring out voice of each individual student (This I Believe…). Not a prescriptive exercise.
• Explore ethics of a specific content area (health, food, energy, etc.)
• Reinforce that all big decisions have an ethical dimension
• Improve authentic student leadership• Blend ethics in careers and career fair elements• Include the arts!
What would you like to see happen with What would you like to see happen with a day like this? (3 of 3)a day like this? (3 of 3)
• Develop ethical frameworks and approaches for faculty and students to use year round
• Help faculty grow in teaming with students and using seminar approach
• Empower students (what about me)• Get rid of typical clutter in a school day and focus
only on this• Strengthen ability for reflection• Make Core Values tangible, compelling, and useful
Most Important….The FacultyMost Important….The Faculty• Commitment and Rationale from Head of
School and Community Leaders• Training During Existing Meeting Time Guest Speakers, Case Studies, Frameworks...
• Recruit Champions, Mavens, Connectors• Respect Committee Process and use advisor
time• Moodle site resources:
http://kdsmoodle.com/login/index.php
Sample Daily Schedule-Sample Daily Schedule-MorningMorning
8:15 Continental VIP breakfast:Distinguished alums, trustees, alumni board, ED Committee
9:00 All school assemblyMusic Performance , HOS remarks/presentations , Dist. Alum remarks, guest speaker
10:00 6-12 conversations in Ethics session #1
11:00 6-12 conversations in Ethics session #2
Lunch
Sample Seminars 2010Sample Seminars 2010• It's My Body and I'll Eat (Chili Cheese) Fries If I Want To!• Hungry for a Hamburger: Got E. coli? • Food, Inc.: Whose health are we talking about—Planet, Animal,
Human?• Do old people have a “Duty to Die?” • End of Life Decisions—Murder of Mercy? • To steal, or not to steal • The Ethics of Abortion--Should we have the freedom to choose? • Organ Transplants: the physician, the poet, or the prostitute? • Euthanasia: is it ever justifiable? • Weighing the Ethics of NBC's The Biggest Loser • The Man in the Mirror • Ethics in the ER.• International Health and Emergency Care: Who gets it and when
Sample Daily Schedule - Sample Daily Schedule - AfternoonAfternoon
Grades 9-12
1:00 Ethics in Careers #1
2:00 Ethics in Careers #2
Grades 6-12
1:00 units on specific heath education and community work or movie
All
2:30 Reflective sessions with writing by advisor groups for archives
Student Reflection:Student Reflection:Guiding QuestionsGuiding Questions
• Personal Discoveries or Insights?
• Changes?
• Actions?
“Action is the sole
medium for the
expression for ethics”
Resources required:Resources required:• Commitment• Training time for faculty (4 x 1 hour)
(moral/ethical frameworks, seminar teaching, examples)• Advisor time (4 x 20 minutes)• Stipend for coordinator $ 500 to $ 2,500.• Book for every family? $ 0 to $ 9,000• Guest speaker? $ 0 to $10,000• VIP breakfast $ 500 to $1,000• Misc (printing, posters) $ 500• Total $1,500 to $20,500
How to Measure Outcomes?How to Measure Outcomes?• Adjust and frame expectations• Advisor group follow-up• Quality of reflective pieces• Electronic survey• Committee debrief• Check against
original goals• Be open to
change
Thank You!!!Thank You!!!
