Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Blog #2: Ethics
As we explore the topic of ethics in the classroom, think about the origins of ethics and human nature. Is ethics something that we explicitly teach or is it innately developed as children mature? Why do we even teach ethics? How do we as teachers, as a society, decide what ethics to teach or model as the case may be? Where are the roots of ethics?
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32 comments:
I strongly feel that ethics are not taught but they are developed. You can not teach someone to respect a person or to feel respect for someone. I strongly feel that ethics is developed over time from imitation, observation, and experience. I do not understand why teachers try and teach ethics. Honestly, I do not even believe that they try. For chidlren to learn ethics they must first understand their feelings and be able to regulate themselves. Once this is accomplished, children are then able to respect others and hold ethics. I do not believe that we has teachers or caregivers should teach ethics. I believe that if we teach children manners and to respect themselves then ethics will come in time. One most first be able to model respect for others and hold ethics. The children must be able to observe the behavior to imitate it. I believe that the root of ethics lies in each persons individual beliefs. Each person has different feelings and is able to hold different values and morals than others. Ethics is not something you teach and it is not found in a textbook. Its found within the internal working model of chidlren as they learn to grow and develop.
Ashley Mooneyham
Mooneyham2006@aim.com
I agree with Ashley when she says that ethics can not be taught to children. As children mature they will be in situations where they have to decide what is right or wrong. I feel that teachers can not teach young children ethics out of a book. The children need to be able to have good role models in their lives, so that they can see what respect is. This will then help them when they are in a sticky situation. If all a child sees are their parent/caregivers/teachers yelling at each other, doing drugs, stealing, or lying , then that is what a child is going to see as "right." If a child sees them being loving and respectful, then they are going to want to attempt to model this behavior. I believe this is how a child learns ethics. After a child does "right" or "wrong" in a situation, the teacher needs to acknowledge it so that the child learns from it.
Mollie Lanigan
I feel that I agree with both Ashley and Molly on the topic of ethics. I feel that ethics are taught to some extent when we speak to people about what is right or wrong. At the same time I believe that the person’s temperament and personality will help to develop what they except and don’t except in ethics. For me ethics is only what each person sees and believes individually. Many people will believe in the same set of ethics, making them feel theirs are the “proper ethics”, because that is what they have learned and seen over and over in their society. We try to teach a child that they don’t take what doesn’t belong to them, because it is wrong, then as the child becomes older they add little side thinking to what they know, and that becomes their ethic for that time period. The child was told taking the game because it isn’t yours is wrong. When older, they feel they can take the game because in their mind it is okay, because the other person no longer plays with it, and they won’t miss the game when it is gone. They are rationalizing their decisions. The corporate world might move numbers around because no one will get hurt. The people don’t see it as wrong. For people to be able to change the ethics to their beliefs, they need the personality to except what they are doing, is okay. Many people’s personalities would not allow them to have a clear conscience, keeping them from doing something unethical. A person’s temperament will also have an effect on how and when someone accepts or denies a set of sets. Someone slow to warm up may take longer, then the easy going person, and then the difficult person may never accept a set of ethics as a way of behavior. Ultimately it comes down to the person having been introduced either straight forward or through modeling that starts a person on their ability to have a set of ethics.
I agree with Mollie in regards that by modeling, children will learn a set of ethics, positive or negative. However, I do disagree with Lorie. I do not believe that a child's temperament and personality regulates what a child accepct and does not accept when it comes to ethics. I believe that a child's ethics defines a child's personality but not their temperament. Temperament is something that is present from birth. However, I believe that a child's ethics defines their personality. By a child having ethics, it defines who that child is and what their beliefs are. If a child's ethics are against drinking or against breaking rules then the child will not participate in those activies. The same child can have a personality that is wild and does not like to listen or whatever, but that does not mean that they are going to go against what they believe are right and wrong. My personality is outgoing and I love to have fun but that doesn't mean I go to a party spray paint the walls because its fun. That goes against my ethics and I do not consider that "fun." In additon, temperament does not acceppt our ethics either. A difficult will have different ethics then a secure child or a slow to warm up. Everyone has ethics. It is not something we accept. Each person has their own individual ethics. We are all different with different beliefs.
Ashley Mooneyham
Mooneyham2006@aim.com
Ethics is something that is very individual and it is not something that can be taught. You learn ethics from what your parents do and the decisions that you make in your own life. Even though teachers will try and teach ethics to their students, each and every one of them will need to decide for themselves what they want to follow in their life. All teachers should do is teacher their children the ways of the world and how to act respectfully in it. When children know how to behave and treat people, they will develope their unique code of ethics. Overall, children will decide for themselves which ethics fit their life style and all that the teacher is able to do is show them the correct path and hope that the children will follow it.
I think that ethics aren't so much taught explicitly to children. I think ethics are something children acquire by watching and observing their parents, family members, and other people important in their lives. From what they see from role models, ethics are then discerned and children assume their own set of ethics and values. As teachers I think the ethics we exhibit at school and show to our students come greatly from the society in which we live and teach. For example, a teacher teaching in a Christian school is going to exhibit different ethics at school at least, than those teaching in a public school. And the place we live is also a factor, because someone teaching in a small town is going to have different ethics than an urban, metropolitan area. In the overall picture, ethics stem from what we see around us. The actions of adults in front of young, impressionable children is going to stick and going to aid in the development of the ethics of children in the community.
I think that ethics are something developed by children as they mature, however I don't think each person is born with a certain set of ethical beliefs. There are many, many contributing factors to the ethics developed and maintained by a person. I also think one's ethical beliefs can, and typically do, change over time. Something deemed ethical by a 16 year-old may not be deemed ethical by that same person when they are 26 or 36. I think that as each person matures and gets older, so do their ethics. At the same time, as society changes and our community changes our ethics do as well. Outside factors contribute greatly to our ethical beliefs, therefore if those outside factors change our ethics typically do change in some way, shape, or form. For example, when I was a kid it was perfectly acceptable and ethical to spank your child. I got spankings and my sister got spankings and neither one of us ever thought anything negative about it and neither did our parents or society for the most part. However, now it seems that society has assumed a stance to which spanking is unethical. Many people, including those who were spanked as children, now feel spanking is not appropraite and is unethical. In my mind this is a prime example of how ethics change over time and how society affects a person's ethical beliefs. I think each person's ethics do change over time in relation to the world around them and their own maturity level as they grow and age.
I would like to first say that I didn’t make myself clear in the first blog. I didn’t mean to come across that all children will lose the ethics they started with. I would like to add that as children get older and have more information to choose from they might rationalize things differently
I agree with Ashley in the fact that a person’s personality can seem completely different from what most would expect their behavior to actually exhibit. I also believe that each person ultimately develops their own set of ethics. Many factors go into the development of ethics. For me the first would be the modeling. Children imitate from the beginning. Then people state what is appropriate, putting another avenue of exposure for the child. The next could be the circumstances someone is in, which help to develop how they respond. The time it takes for one to develop their beliefs. Temperament I feel will affect the time factor with how a person reacts to a situation. Some will be very cautious before deciding, while others will accept from the beginning, and some may decide on a different set of ethics.
I agree with ashely when she said that ethics are more developed but i also feel that some are taught. I am catholic and i feel that a lot of my ethics and morals are here becuase of my religion. i remember as a very young child learning to love everyone even if they dont love you, and to forgive everyone who does wrong to you. I feel that if it werent for my church and going to sunday school every sunday i would not be as loving and happy as i am today. so i do think that some ethics are developed but i also think that some are taught. I also feel that empathy has something to do with ethics. The more you feel empathy the more likely the child will know what is right or wrong. I agree with molly when she says that children need good role models in their lives, which also goes back to ethics are taught, maybe not by books or by someone telling them, but but modeling. i do not think that ethics can be taught by book, they have to develop and have good role models.
When it comes to ethics, I believe fifty percent is taught and fifty percent is developed as children grow older and experience life. Parents have a greater influence over children morals capacity especially when their young. Parents are a model for their children and will mold their children’s frame of thought until their child can understand right from wrong. I believe teachers can try to teach a child ethics, but it will not be successful because the child will go home to their parents who have instilled their own ways of doing or thinking certain things. Their rules will override the teachers. Ethics is taught because a child or individual needs to know and understand right from wrong and the consequences of not following the rules or social norms. I think teachers will decide to teach and model the basic right and wrong ethics in the classroom, to maintain order. I think the roots of ethics come from the child’s culture, family and parents.
I can relate to the comment that Erin had about religion having a strong influence on a child. I am also Catholic and attended Catholic school for 13 years. I remeber learning to always forgive people and to always ask for forgiveness if we did wrong. My parents and teachers also encouraged the same things because we took religion classes at school. I think that being part of a religious community while young can really impact a child's ethics as they get older. Also being apart of a supportive environment whether it be religious or non is very important!
I disagree that ethics are solely developed and not taught. Of course you can't teach someone something they don't want to learn but it all depends on the child's temperment. If a child develops an understanding of ethics it is through learning, observation, and their experiences involved with ethics. It is a combination of developing and teaching when it comes to ethics. When a child gets in trouble we explain why their behavior was wrong and they learn from that teachable moment a bit about the ethics of right and wrong and how their behavior affects others.
on the questio on how do we as a society decide what ethisd to teach or model, i think that it is soley depended on the person origins and family. i believe that a child of an atheist family is going to have different ethics than that of a christian. then also some children have different temperments and learn on their own. i do believe that temperments have something to do with ethics because a child that is very difficult is probably going to have a hard time learning because they are not going to want to do certian things. I think that it is impossible as a society to decide what ethics that are to be taught and modeled. there are too many religions and too many different kinds of people in the United States to ever be able to make a decision like that. I think the best you can do is as a teacher or caregiver is to teach empathy so that they will feel bad for doing the wrong thing and start to make their own decisions.
I think that there are different types of ethics. There are home ethics that children develope as they grow up with their family. I think that these ethics are developed based on what a child sees in the home as they grow up. At school another set of ethics is developed that is taught by teachers and other students that children come in contact with. Children learn ethics from all around them by anybody that they come in close contact with as they grow up.
In some ways ethics is taught, but in other ways it develops as children mature. People are not born knowing how to treat other people, it takes many experiences dealing with people to learn the golden rule. Parents try from the very start to instill values and morals in their children. People make their own way in life and eventually realize that the best policy is to treat others how you want to be treated.
We teach ethics because it does not develop on its own. Children must be taught right from wrong and the value in treating everyone with respect.
As educators, when teaching ethics we should pull from many different sources. First and foremost, children should learn the golden rule, from there they should be taught the laws and rules in our society and the consequences if those laws are broken. Children need to develop empathy, those that do not fail to see a situation from another point of view.
The roots of ethics are as old as society. A religious person would say ethics come from God. Another person might say they are the rules in a smooth operating society.
Ethics, in my opinion is something that is developed not taught. As americans in society, we have been trained and teachers/mentors have instilled in us the "proper" way of things. Educators and parents are the most important influenciual factors in a students life. It's only right that they model posistive things because that's what they want studnts to be. I agree with mollie because I don't think you can teach ethics, its something that has to be model in order for students to understand how some things are. Now that I think about it...that is a way of teaching....
Teaching or developing ethics to me is much like the debate of nature and nurture, which is more important? I think both are important as both developing and teaching ethics go hand in hand. I think it takes a healthy dose of both. We can't expect the children who are in our care to portray what we have taught them if the same model is not being taught at home. We also can't say, "My hands are tied", and give up on our children. Children are sponges and will hold much more information than we give them credit for. Children will use that information or not. We have to be willing to be patient with them as well as their parents. It is a journey and we as the caregivers need to use every tool at our disposal to teach the children in our care and hopefully they will take the lessons into adulthood with them. We never know until we try. It is our obligation to model at anytime, any place, for any child or family who may be watching us.
I agree with Chandler about the different types of ethics, those in the home being different from the ones in school. This idea is quite intriguing and I see the truth in it. Parents teach their children ways of treating people within the family as being different from treating strangers or people they have just met. For instance you would always lend a helping hand to a family member in a time of need, but if you see someone walking down the street with a gas-can, would you stop to help?? I was raised by my parents to be leery of people (men especially) and to only help women and/or children as they are not as threatening and not as likely to harm you.
I might be seeing this whole issue of ethics in a completely left field way, but that's how my train of thinking works! One strange idea leads to another :)
I agree with Amanda that teaching and developing ethics is alot like nature vs nurture. We cant expect children to act in ways that we do not model. I also agree that teaching and developing ethics go hand in hand, you cant have one without the other. children have to develope certain things in order to understand the ethics that we teach them. I also think that development depends on what children see. We can try to teach a child to be nice or to have empathy but i think those things are better modeled.
Before answering the first question: “Is ethics something that we explicitly teach or is it innately developed as children mature”? I have to say that before formulating my answer, I had to carefully think about what does explicitly and innately means… Two definitions for explicitly that I found are: “fully and clearly expressed or demonstrated; leaving nothing merely implied and “Described or shown in realistic detail”
Two definitions for innately that I found are: “existing in one from birth” and “originating in or arising from the intellect or the constitution of the mind, rather than learned through experience: an innate knowledge of good and evil”
After Studied both definitions, I came to the conclusion that ethics are taught to children. Children observed and register what they see others doing, and although they might not know what it means, they will act upon what they saw. Same with language, they will say what they heard others say.
Yes! I believe there are things that are prewired in us since we are born but in my opinion, the experiences we go through is what determined the development of such abilities and the potential we have. Our experiences are the food we need to expand our knowledge of things; knowledge that allows us to mature and as we grow older, reach a maturity level that helps us understand about ethics and moral principles.
We are constantly telling children what to do and what not to do…that to me, it’s the example of how that set of right conduct is taught rather than innately develop.
If ethics were completely innately develop then why should someone worries about how they behave in front of children (if ethics are innately develop) then by them self they will figure it out what’s right and wrong and not parents involvement would be needed to guide children.
We adults model to children behaviors and although at certain ages they might not yet understand why some behaviors are right and some are wrong, they simply learn that some behaviors are not acceptable by their parents or others in general but as they grow older, they would have accumulated enough experiences that would increase their knoledge and this would help them understand why does some behaviors are or are not acceptable.
Why do we even teach ethics?
I believe we teach ethics because ethics are needed to keep certain order in society. Also, because in my opinion, ethics dictated how we all behave and depending in what society you grow up, you are taught different things regarding what behaviors are appropriates in your home and country but that might not mean the same in other places. I said this because we can’t forget that culture definitely influences our behaviors…Ethics are a set of principles of right conduct, but who sets the standards… each particular family right? And who set the standards for the family? Perhaps, their belief system and their culture.
How do we as teachers, as a society, decide what ethics to teach or model as the case may be?
I don’t think it’s hard to decided what ethics to teach, because I believe people will simply taught what they were taught and what they believe is the right set of principles needed to be teach…because at the end (when children reach that maturity level that I mention above) is that they will decided by their own what they consider is a good conduct…This decision however will be influence by the experiences and the individual the child was in contact with in the previous years of his or her life.
Where are the roots of ethics?
In my opinion, (the seed) is in the family, water by the parents who want the seed to germinate. Once the roots start to come out depending on the soil(environment) the roots will continue to grow in healthy way. WHen the plant is full grown (set of values, moral)the plant would need to be trimmed by others (siblings, relatives, friends, and any other person they are in contact with)…if well trimmed by such individuals (experiences with others) then a good set of principles of right conduct, a system of good moral values would be the fruit.
Kodie disagree that ethics are solely developed and not taught. I support her statement because as I mention in my post. Children learn through observations (experiences) and they are guide by others constantly about how to behave or not in places.
I agree with Kodie that you can't teach someone something they don't want to learn but i should say that it also depends on the age of the child because I believe we adults control a lot of what children learn in their first years and is in those years that Ethics (set of conducts) are learned. As the child grows older, they thy start to develop some control over what they do or not but are (influenced by others).
During my first 3 years of Univerity...I have alwyas heard that children are prewired to do a lot of things but that (the experiences) are the onces that will (wake up) that prewired ability... why can't it be the same for Good and Bad (the child is prewired to act in certain ways both good and bads) but which one are we going to feed praise, support, or tolerate more.
Children will develop the understanding of ethics when they grow older afther years of life lessons, observations, modeling, etc
I believe ethics can and are taught in the EC classroom in the sense that teachers guide the behavior of the children, and intervene when something may be inappropriate or detrimental to the learning environment. This translates and evolves alongside the child throughout his or her life and future roles in the larger societal group. I discussed this topic with the EC teacher in the classroom in which I observe, and she pointed out how she encourages children to recognize whether they are making "good choices" or "bad choices" concerning proper classroom behavior. From there she guides children through the process of identifying where these bad choices occurred (such as choosing not to share a toy) and how such a situation can be made a good choice (choosing to cooperate and share the toy). I think in this sense, ethics are explicitly taught, as well as innately developed as children mature and gain the capacity to understand why they should choose to share, etc.
Further, I believe the roots of ethics lie within the human drive to cooperate within a group.
-Cristina Caterisano
I as well strongly feel that ethics is something that we develop and learn for ourselves. Ethics varies within individuals, and most children have to learn ethics by expierence, knowledge, and learning the world around them. We as teachers want to teach ethics, because we care about children, and we want them to do what is right instead of wrong. I also feel that teaching ethics to a classroom of children is a difficult challenge, because ethics is something that has to be taught by their family/parents/siblings/caregivers. As a society, we want to model good behavior from our children, and shelter the children from wrong things in the world. We want our children to make good choices, and have high values, but children have to expierence and understand for themselves right from wrong.
I agree with Maria's analogy concerning ethical development being comparable to the nurturing of a fruitful plant. I think this holds very true in many instances, as it takes a large amount of care and dedication on behalf of caregivers to insure that a child is effectively guided to his or her full potential as an ethically sound person. If no one takes responsibility for guiding a child along the journey of decision-making in life, minimal firm ground will be available for the child to stand on when evaluating the difference between right and wrong.
I agree with molly when she says that ethics can not teach young children about ethics out of a bool. I also agree it depends on the child's environment that he or she is raised, and this is most importantly depends on how a child views, behaves, values, respect, and etc..
I find that there should be a course talking about ethics in the elementary curriculum, because the way kids are today do not seem innocent. I see most of them poke fun of other kids, because it is funny. However, if ethics was taught to kids in school we would get students that know how to act and respect.
I also believe ethics is something we learn from our parents and home environment, but it is also something we do develop over time. It is true that depending where you are in life and what age you are will determine what your ethics are at that time. As teachers we have to be good role models. We can talk at the kids all day, but if we don't show them then we are wasting our time. I guess it goes back to the old saying "practice what you preach" or in our case teach.
I agree with Barbara stating that people aren't born knowing how to treat other people. It does take many experiences and education for someone to learn how to respect other individuals other than themselves. Because whether we like it or not, the topic of ethics is becoming opinion-based. Society just cannot agree anymore, even on simple things like bullying.
Although I was not raised Catholic, I grew up in a Baptist church learning the same things about forgivness, love, and kindness to others. I now attend a non-demoninational Christian church and still hold to those same beliefs and values. I don't like to use the word religion so I will just say that those experiences early on in my life influenced my ethics as a child and now as an adult. Those things can be modeled in the classroom as well without having any religious conotations attached to it.
Thank you Maria for your response to my post. To go into more detail of my previous post about children not being able to be taught certain thing unless they want to does depend on age. You can start teaching children ethics early on but until they have the mentality to understand their actions and start being less egocentric, they it is difficult for them to impliment them. Having guided techniques done in the school setting and at home is important for children to understand their actions and have the capabilities to establish good behaviors for their actions.
I believe that in this day and age, it is essential for teachers to teach and enforce ethics. Unfortunately, most children do not recieve this at home so it is important to begin at as early an age possible. One way for a teacher to teach appropriate behavior as well as right and wrong is to first model the behavior and second, discuss with the children the difference between right and wrong. For someone to be able to teach them, they must first ask questions and see where the students understanding as well as their influence lies. Ethics should be interactive, children learn much more by doing, than by hearing. Teachers can even let the students help establish rules for the class. This can help them to feel more invested and may encourage them to follow the rules for behavior if they feel as though their voice is heard.
I think ethics can be taught but like with any other form of knowledge given to someone, it has to absorb. I think person has to truly relate to ethics before they can truly understand it and grasp the concept. I think it takes experience before someone develops a sense of what ethics are and what their personal values are.
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