IDLS 400 Essay 1 PDF

Preview

Summary

Essay...

Description

Teaching Ethical Reasoning Through Stories in an Elementary School Classroom As a future educator, I recognize the important role that we play in shaping our students during this critical period of development. In order for our students to become aware of what it means to be ethical, and to apply this thought to everyday life, we must contextualize the meaning of this word and allow them to think about it critically. Literature provides us with the perfect outlet to do this, as students are being educated about ethical reasoning through the joy of a children's book or short story. Stories can contain many hidden or obvious messages about life lessons and situations that require one to think about the best way to handle said situation. In my Seminar in Liberal Studies course, we discuss the 8 Key Questions of James Madison University that are used as a guide for students to “evaluate the ethical dimensions of a situation” (2018). These questions allow us to assess situations and come to a conclusion about how we would react based on the principles of the 8KQ’s. This can be used just as easily in an Elementary classroom setting, as students can learn about these 8 questions in a developmentally appropriate way and engage in group discussion about them. As both a student who is learning about ethical reasoning, and a future teacher, I find that fairness, outcomes, responsibility, character, liberty, empathy, authority, and rights are all essential factors to consider in ethical dilemmas. In the article The Role of Storytelling in Understanding Children’s Moral/Ethic DecisionMaking by Cheryl Hunter and Donna Eder, the authors explicitly discuss the benefits and outcomes of using literature to educate students on ethically driven decisions. “The process of storytelling can be seen as a central component to under-standing how students comprehend and reason out ethical ambiguities” (Hunter, Eder, 2010, p. 223). Through storytelling the students are better able to understand what ethics are involved in the situation as they experience real emotional responses to the readings. The example provided in this article is a lesson at an urban

school where the teacher read the story “The Lion and the Mouse.” The story depicts a lion that attempts to eat a mouse in the forest, however the mouse pleads for his life and promises to help the lion in the future if the lion sets him free. Later the lion finds himself caught by a hunter and the mouse makes good on his promise and sets him fre, despite the lion thinking he would never need a mouse to save him. The students were able to surmise different morals of the story based on the actions of the characters. Some felt it was about bullying, while others felt it was about giving back and getting things in return, and one student even tried to think about how they would act in that situation. The most interesting result of the reading of this story is how the students were able to engage in an effective discussion. In hearing their peers respond to the teacher, the students were able to gain multiple perspectives and create a dialogue that allowed them to discuss their thoughts about the ethics of the storyline. Teaching ethical reasoning to elementary school aged children is more important than some may think. Honing these skills allows for kids to set their own standards of behavior and find out what is and is not socially, as well as morally, acceptable. In many primary school classrooms, teachers gather the students to create a list of classroom rules. When I was in elementary school, I thought it was nothing more than my teacher trying to keep us in line; however, as an adult, I realize now it was their way of trying to help us figure out the values we think are important to uphold. This is where certain famous classroom phrases such as always raise your hand, treat others the way you want to be treated, and more, come into play. Through read-alouds and interactive discussions of stories, students can see these scenarios and rules be played out in an interesting and relatable way. In a Journal entry entitled Moral Reasoning as Part of a Primary School Programme by Cath Milvain, she goes on to discuss further why storytelling can be so beneficial to moral understanding. “Modern picture story books have

emerged as a viable method of introducing, in a concise text format, experiences which will appeal to children and leave room for reflection and wonder. The story line presents a contextual perspective which children can understand and which actively encourages their empathy with characters, yet allows them the privacy of investigating their own worries and misapprehension through the words and deeds of the characters” (Milvain, 1996, p. 19). This complements my previous thoughts on the use of stories well, as I agree that they allow students to think critically and understand better their own values and beliefs that they wish to uphold as they continue to learn and grow. When I reflect on what I would want my own approach to be, in terms of using stories to teach ethical reasoning in an elementary classroom, I think back to my personal experiences with this subject. As a second grade student, I remember my teacher having us all sit in a circle while she read the book Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell, a childrens book about a young girl being bullied for her appearance. After the story was over, we all had to go in a circle and discuss how the book made us feel, as well as what we would have done if we were Molly. As a future teacher, this is a method I found to be useful and would use again. The only thing I would change is that I would try to appropriately include the 8 Key Questions that I discussed earlier. Using chart paper, I will display the 8 Key Questions for all my students to see and tell them that in their explanations, they must use at least 3 to explain why they came to the conclusion they did. I would go first to give an example, and ask questions such as “Is it fair that Molly is being bullied?”, “What are the potential outcomes if she continues to let Ronald bully her?”, “Whose responsibility is it to help Molly in this situation, and why are they not doing that?” After expressing my thoughts to the students, I would conclude by saying that I would also continue to be myself, and not let a bully make me feel smaller than I am. Now that the conversation has

been started and the expectations set, the students will hopefully be able to formulate an opinion and have a constructive, thoughtful conversation with their peers. Overall, stories can be an extremely effective way to teach elementary school students about Ethical Reasoning. Teachers are able to witness first-hand the positive results that these activities yield, and watch their students in real time make sense of their thoughts and even misunderstandings about morals and ethics. In a dissertation from East Tennessee State University written by William G. Thompson, entitled The Effects of Character Education on Student Behavior, these results are directly discussed explaining how these types of educational opportunities affect students behavior. This piece touches on the Integrated approach to character education created by Timothy Rusnack and states that, “The programs he reviewed all stressed focusing students’ attention on the ethical dimension of stories, leading students to thoughtful consideration of ethical principles, focusing attention on the moral aspects of history, applying the moral of a story to a student’s own life, and building the skills of moral discussion” (Thompson, 2002, p. 29). This is yet another example of how powerful many educators believe teaching through story can be, because of the opportunities it provides for student reflection and consideration of ethics. With this in mind, I will take the information I have learned and use it to better my role as an educator.

Bibliography Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 706. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/706 James Madison University. (2018). Ethical Reasoning in Action. 8 Key Questions Handbook. https://www.jmu.edu/ethicalreasoning/Docs/8KQ-Handbook-Web.pdf

Hunter, C., & Eder, D. (2010). The Role of Storytelling in Understanding Children’s Moral/Ethic Decision-Making. Multicultural Perspectives, 12(4), 223–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2010.527593

Milvain, C. (1996). Moral Reasoning as Part of a Primary School Programme. Analytic Teaching, 17, 17–28. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download? doi=10.1.1.490.6207&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Thompson, William G., "The Effects of Character Education on Student Behavior." (2002)....