Teaching Virtue

Typically my process for blogging is to read the news and blog sites I frequent, pick something of interest to me, and then post pretty much a real time reaction, with little advanced planning or thought (this is supposed to be fun, after all). There have been two topics, however, that I have been collecting links on with the hope of more planned posts. Well, unfortunately, time has kept me from making of them what I would like, but I will patch the links together to get them posted, hopefully in some half coherent manner. First up is my linkapalooza on the teaching of virtues.

I am very encouraged by what is happening around the world in regards to a growth of virtue-based education, and hope that it continues to gain momentum. At the center of much of this growth is The Virtues Project. Started by psychotherapists, they combine virtue ethics with positive psychology to develop training programs, curriculum, and books on virtue. A critical point is that they draw from all religious and cultural traditions and use language that can be universally accepted regardless of one's personal faith. In addition to their client list, recent news stories have shown their use in day care:

The Rose Garden philosophy is about creating children who are friendly, caring, respectful, c
o-operative and peaceful,” said licensee Ferruccio Baiocchi.

“Character formation starts at birth and ends around six to seven years of age.

“Does it not make sense that childcare should be the first formal education that a child is exposed to, especially when it comes to character education?”

Mr Baiocchi said Rose Garden Childcare had identified this need and worked together with parents in bringing out virtues in children.

In private schools:

The positive language of the virtues, all three principals agreed, has been a valuable tool in praising students and in disciplining them in a meaningful and appropriate way.

“It’s not a punitive approach,” said Trudy Dwyer, principal of Sister Mary Phillips School, discussing how the language of the program can be used to discipline students. “And it’s fabulous at building relationships because now they’re not afraid to come to our office.”

In public elementary schools:

"It's been an amazing transformation since we first started putting the virtues into practice," said Nordgren. "The culture has evolved here and the parents seem to appreciate it a lot."

In public high schools:

"Instead of looking at the behavior, we're actually looking at the kids."

"We want students to become good students, but we also want them to become good citizens," said Paula McCoach, an education specialist in the state agency's youth development branch. "Character education ... has influences on the climate of the building and the school itself."

Beyond The Virtues Project, the need to develop virtues is being discussed in Higher Education:

"In order to teach virtue," Power said, "we have to know what it is, how children acquire whatever it is, then, how we can teach it."

Children develop virtue through interaction. They need to be nurtured in communities in order to develop virtue. These communities must provide competence, care and choice.

"Children who grow up neglected or isolated from other students are high risk. We need connection. As teachers we need to protect these students, not only from bullying, but from isolation as well," Power said."We also don't want to have our life totally managed. We can't develop morally if we don't interact and make our own decisions."

The University of Chicago is making a science project of of virtues, and the University of Pennsylvania has become the home of positive psychology. These are not exactly backwater schools, and I am encouraged that their leading initiatives, along with the work of The Virtues Project and other similar organizations, will become more widely adopted in the near future.

Even the last places you would expect to find people discussing virtue are coming on board, including science:

Science educators need to help graduates develop a robust commitment to acting with integrity in their professional lives. Students should come to appreciate how it feels to be exposed to negative role models in the workplace, and how to resist their influence.

Employing the sorts of experiential approaches used successfully in medicine could enhance the teaching of virtue ethics and other ethical frameworks to science students. Scientific integrity needs to be protected from within as well as without, lest it be sacrificed in the name of progress. Otherwise we all end up paying the price.

Whew, it will feel good deleting all these bookmarks from my browser. At some point I will get to my link extravaganza on Austrian economics, but for now, my workday beckons...