I
believe the virtues of reciprocity, tolerance, and mutual respect need to be
taught to students in society. This is because society is made up of many
different groups of people that are interconnected and work together in
society. Reciprocity is needed to determine what is fair and reasonable.
According to Callan, author of Creating Citizens: Political Education and
Liberal Democracy, “reasonable persons are predisposed sincerely to propose
principles intended to fix the rules of fair cooperation with other” (Callan
25). The virtue of reciprocity also
gives one the capacity of realizing that it is not fair or reasonable to treat
someone in a manner that they themselves would not like to be treated.
Reciprocity is a necessary virtue in a pluralistic society since each member of
the society will have their own beliefs and both parties will need to come to
acceptance and mutual respect of each other when a conflict or disagreement
arises. For one to have mutual respect for someone outside his or her community
he or she needs to accept the burdens of judgment. To accept the burdens of
judgment one needs to be humble about their own beliefs and needs to respect
others’ beliefs (Callan 25). In a
society that supports everyone being autonomous and having their own ideas, the
burdens of judgment would be necessary so that the reciprocity can function.
The virtue of being tolerant is also needed since everyone in the society will
have their own ideas and beliefs. Members of the society will need to learn to
be tolerant to others’ beliefs since they will come across beliefs that are
unlike theirs. People in society need to understand that other people have a
different point of view then he or she does, and he or she needs to assume that
the other person is reasonable. By teaching these virtues students will learn
not to oppress other beliefs that are different from their own, since
everyone’s beliefs and ideas are equal.
Reasonable pluralism goes side by side with
autonomy, since one needs to be free to have their own thoughts to be able to
see another person’s perspective. An autonomous person is free to have their
own ideals, thoughts and conceptions of what is good (Callan 155). Someone whose thoughts and morals are
subordinate to another person because of his or her power over them or molding
of their character is not an autonomous person; he or she is ethically servile.
Students need to be free to have their own opinions and thoughts. John Dewey in
his writing Experience and Education explains that “a sound instinct
which identifies freedom with power and frame purposes and to execute or carry
into effect purposes so framed” (Dewey 67). Freedom allows one to do what he or
she believes in. I believe students that are forced into believing what another
person says is true will never fully come to accept that to be true. A
classroom should be set up in a manner that cultivates the independence. To
accomplish this, the teacher can encourage the students discuss their own ideas
of a certain subject area and allow the students to further their study of
content of their choice in that subject area. The teacher will need to guide
their student to have the experiences needed to gain the information or virtues
the teacher plans the student to take away. However, the teacher should not
force their ideals on the student.
In my vision of education a school
would be structured in a manner that allows the students to be inquisitive and
come to learning about the world and their beliefs through experience. I
believe that being able to question and understand is two of the most valuable
skills that a student should have.
Students should have the skill to be inquisitive; by questioning
everything that does not seem right, or questioning what they want to know more
about, they would come to a greater understanding of the world. Humans are able
to find truth through their senses and experimentation, but they will never
know if the truth they find is the actual truth. By being inquisitive and
learning from firsthand experience the student will be able to gain a deeper
understanding of the subject. A method that utilizes experiential learning is
one that uses one’s own hands as a connection to the world. Mathew Crawford in
his book Shop Class as Soul craft: An Inquiry to the Value of Work
explains how “we are led to consider how the specifically human manner of being
is lit up, as it were by man’s interaction with his world through his hands”
(Crawford 64). By experiencing an object
with their hands one is learning through tactile sensory method. I have seen
this method in use in an elementary math class by creating less or greater then
values using M&M’s and in a science class where the students were asked to
create simple machines. The students are able to learn through concrete
examples that instead of abstract concepts, which can aid the student in coming
to a deeper understanding of the concept.
The teacher would also need to teach
with a method that is conducive for students to deeply understand a subject and
is not based on memorization. Lessons with objectives that are based on the
higher level on the Blooms Taxonomy (applying, analyzing, evaluating, and
creating) emphasize meaning, rather than memorization. Teachers should utilize these
methods of teaching since it will aid the students in being engaged and active
learners. These methods will also help the student gain the reasoning behind
the subject and will be more able to reflect on why a concept is how it
is. In a lesson I taught I utilized the
applying method in teaching about the voting process. I had the student fill
out pretend voter registration forms, make I.D’s and fill out mock ballots
after they researched the platforms of the two candidates. By teaching this
lesson in a manner that used a higher level of the Blooms Taxonomy the students
were well equipped to explain how one votes and the students were engaged
throughout the entire lesson.
The manner in which a school is set
up in can affect the way students are able to learn virtues. I believe that a
common school approach over a separate school approach would need to be taken
for students to be able to learn these virtues.
A common school is defined as a school that is open to all, hospitable
to all reasonable beliefs, and represents the cultural diversity of the society
(Callan 164). In common schools students are able to interact and get to know
people in the society that are different from them and part of different
communities. A separate school is
different from a common since it only welcomes members of a particular group in
the society and its educational outcomes vary by the particular group (Callan
164). Callan explains that “When a
dialogical setting excludes diverse voices as a separate school must do by
welcoming only those who adhere to its separate educational aims, we are
compelled to create imaginary interlocutors if we are to practice
reasonableness” (Callan 177). In a separate school the students will not be
around others from different communities in their society, so the students will
not be able interact with people that have different beliefs or ideals than
they do. This will cause the students in a separate school to not have as great
an opportunity to gain the virtues of reciprocity, mutual respect and
tolerance. Callan states that teaching these virtues to students should “affirm
the importance of respecting the many different ways of life individuals
permissibly choose within the framework of free institutions, even when those
differences divide them at the deepest levels of identity” (Callan 14).
I believe that the school should be
set up in a manner that encourages ordinary conversations between students.
Dialogue is an essential means of developing
care for others which is an important part of civic virtue. These dialogs should
hone intrapersonal reasoning, which will strengthen relationships and build
confidence and self-esteem (Callan 203).
To truly understand one persons or a community of people’s point of view
and to be open and understanding of their ideas you need to have known someone
and have had a social relationship with someone with that point of view. Common
schools are an ideal place for this kind of interaction to happen since all
different people from a multitude of different communities come together in one
place to learn.
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