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 Conference Memphis June 2010
Good morning!
What would you like from this session?
Any burning questions?
Participate!
PP online
Your voice matters

Ethics Day: A 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 Path “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: General 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 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 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………
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 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

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!

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 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- Morning
8:15 Continental VIP breakfast:
Distinguished alums, trustees, alumni board, ED Committee
9:00 All school assembly
Music 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 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 - Afternoon
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: Guiding Questions
Personal Discoveries or Insights?
Changes?
Actions?
“ Action is the sole
medium for the
expression for ethics”

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?
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!!!

Ethics Day, A Transformational Program

by Ethical Literacy Learning Community on Jul 13, 2010

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Ethics Day, A Transformational Program — Presentation Transcript