Smart & Good High Schools - The Flippen Group

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CHAPTER 5: Fostering the 8 Strengths of Character—Outcome 4SHIRIN EBADI:DEFENDER OF HUMAN RIGHTSIn 1978, Shirin Ebadi was a respected judge in Iranstriving to fulfill her dream of promoting justice in hersociety. When radical Islamic clerics came to power in1979, they banned women judges and stripped her ofher title.Many other professional women left Iran to escapethe repressive laws, but Shirin Ebadi stayed to protestthem. She stated: “Any discrimination based on gender,race, or religion is a challenge to our basichumanity. There is no future for mankind withouthuman rights.”She continued to practice law and took on cases representingwomen and political dissidents who had beenimprisoned for speaking out against the government.When people who criticized the government werekilled, she pressed for an investigation of their deathsand the prosecution of the killers. Subsequently, shewas beaten many times by radical groups and arrested.Iranian law under this government permits a father tokill his wife, sister, or daughter if he believes she isguilty of infidelity. When a father did take the life ofhis daughter, Ebadi represented the girl’s mother. Inan interview, she said, “We asked people who opposedthis law to throw white flower petals into the street. Ina few minutes, the whole street was white with petals.”This action reflected her belief in nonviolent protest.To make the world aware of Iran’s human rights abuses,Shirin Ebadi has written a book, The History andDocumentation of Human Rights in Iran. In 2003,she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.Questions for student reflection and action:1. Why do you think Shirin Ebadi stayed in Iranwhen other professional women were leaving?What did she believe about human rights?2. Where does courage come from?3. If you lived in Iran today, would you fight foryour rights?4. In working for human rights, what can we do?Choose one idea as a class to implement.—Civics in Action (www.civicsinaction.org) 23minute abridgements of films such as “The Miracle Worker”and “To Sir With Love” that contained dramatic examplesof altruistic behavior. Clips from each film were followedby 20-30 minutes of discussion: “Who in the filmshowed altruism—helping another person without thinking,‘What’s in it for me?’” “What were the effects of theiraltruistic behavior on others and themselves?”In addition, each student had a daily homework assignment:to carry out an altruistic act of their choosing,record it in a journal, and note the effects of their actionson self and others. On a pre-post survey measuring howimportant students thought it was to be altruistic, thosewho participated in this program showed a significantincrease in pro-altruistic attitudes. Many students alsomade statements indicating that the program had affectedtheir moral identity—how they viewed themselves. Saidone boy, for example: “I know I’m a good person becauseI do good things.”Students who viewed and discussedfilms depicting altruism showed anincrease in pro-altruistic attitudes.Love and Life at the Movies is a published curriculum thatmakes use of classic and contemporary films to engagestudents as ethical thinkers and choice-makers. Developedby Dr. Onalee McGraw (onalee@lynxconnect.com)of the Educational Guidance Institute, the curriculumfeatures one 4-film unit, “Celebrating Black History at theMovies,” and another 4-film unit, “The Heart Has Its Reasons,”on marriage and family themes. Lesson plans foreach film promote critical analysis and writing about characterissues. Love and Life at the Movies has been used inhigh school and junior high school classrooms, afterschoolprograms, and detention homes. McGraw comments:The films are chosen for their power to depict personalvirtues such as integrity, courage, and love, but also to showthe meaning of moral and social bonds with the larger community.The films contain no bad language, violence, or sexualreferences.In McGraw’s curriculum, the classic film “It’s a WonderfulLife” is used to explore themes such as:◆ Our choices and decisions in life shape our characterand have lasting consequences.◆ Loyalty to our family helps build a strong community.◆ We must not let ourselves fall into despair when we fail136Smart & Good High Schools
CHAPTER 5: Fostering the 8 Strengths of Character—Outcome 4to accomplish our goals.◆ We put life in perspective by understanding its parts inrelation to the whole.A teacher who used “It’s a Wonderful Life” commented:Some of my kids resisted it at first, but it won them over.Some said that they, like George Bailey in the movie, hadbeen tempted to commit suicide. They were touched by thefilm’s message that each of us makes a difference in thelives of others, whether we realize it or not.Teach With Movies (www.TeachWithMovies.com) is anonline resource that capitalizes on the power of film. Itcatalogues hundreds of films and offers lesson plans forusing movies to explore character themes.Studying lives of character is a holistic approach to developingethical thinking. We see whole people, whetherreal or fictional, facing moral choices and challenges. Asthey navigate their moral journeys, we can examine howthe four components of ethical thinking—moral discernment,conscience, moral identity, and moral competence—arepresent in, or absent from, their ethical lives.OUTCOME 4Ethical ThinkerPromising Practice 3:Help students develop a “go-to”ethical framework and an4 understanding of the functioningof conscience.The holistic approach of studying lives of character canbe complemented by attention to the individual componentsof integrated ethical thinking—with the goal ofdeveloping a “go-to” ethical framework.Reflect on Moral DiscernmentThe first component of ethical thinking is moral discernment.The dictionary defines “discern” as “to see, tounderstand.” The ethicist Richard Gula observes, “Wecannot do right unless we first see correctly.” 24 In his bookThe Art of Virtue, Ben Franklin wrote, “The foundation ofall virtue and happiness is thinking rightly.” 25 The ethicistChristina Hoff Sommers states: “In teaching ethics, onething should be made central and prominent: Right andwrong do exist.” 26What are all of these authors saying? Two things: (1)Right and wrong do exist; and (2) Our challenge as ethicalthinkers is not to invent what is right but to discern it,to discover what is really and truly good—and then formour conscience and conduct accordingly. For example,being unselfish is truly good; being selfish is not. Being atruthful and honest person is good; being a liar and thiefis not. Discerning these “moral facts of life”—understandingthem for the truths they are—is the essence of moraldiscernment and wisdom.Every young person, like everyone else on the planet,wants to be happy. Franklin says if we want to be happy, wehave to form a “right opinion” about “the nature ofthings” and then live in accord with that reality. This ideaisn’t original with Franklin. Over the centuries, manymoral philosophers have put forth the same concept. SeanCovey, in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, explains thisidea in contemporary, student-friendly language:We are all familiar with the effects of gravity. Throw a bookup in the air and it comes down. That is a natural law or aprinciple. Just as there are principles that rule the physicalworld, there are principles that rule the human world. Principlesaren’t religious. They aren’t American or Chinese.They aren’t mine or yours. They aren’t up for discussion.They apply equally to everybody: rich or poor, king or peasant,male or female. They can’t be bought or sold. If youlive by these principles, you will excel. If you break them,you will fail.Covey goes on to say you may think you can get away withviolating these principles—with lying, cheating and stealing,for example—but in the end you will always pay aprice. What are some of these principles? He says thathonesty is a principle. Respect is a principle. Hard work isa principle. Love is a principle. Moderation—not eating,drinking, or indulging in other legitimate pleasures toexcess—is a principle. 27We can choose to violate basic moralprinciples, but we can’t escape theconsequences of doing so.Again, it’s true that we can use our free will to go againstthese moral laws or principles, but we can’t escape theconsequences of doing so. Consider, for example, theprinciple of respect. What happens when we treat otherpeople disrespectfully? They lose respect for us. It damagesour relationships. They may do something to getback at us. If we develop a pattern of treating other peopledisrespectfully, it will change the kind of person weare. We will find it hard to respect ourselves. We will find137Smart & Good High Schools
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A Report to the NationSmart & GoodH
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A wonderful piece of work that addr
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Dedicated to the memory ofWinifred
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AcknowledgementsWe would like to ex
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Table of ContentsLetter to the Read
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ELC PRINCIPLE 4: TAKE PERSONAL RESP
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1. Develop Critical Friends Groups
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Letter to The Reader“Are you a he
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Letter to the ReaderBut we also do
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How to Read This Reporttices relate
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Patrick Bassett, president, Nationa
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Research Methodologyand Criteria fo
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Research Methodology and Criteria f
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Principles of a Smart & Good High S
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CHAPTER 1The Call to Character:Perf
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est work and be their best ethical
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CHAPTER 1: The Call to Charactertin
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CHAPTER 2: Performance Character an
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EndnotesCHAPTER 2: Performance Char
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Galvanized by this finding, she and
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(1) scheduling a weekend retreat in
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CHAPTER 6Commonly Asked Questionsab
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Comprehensive EndnotesLetter to the
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Comprehensive Endnotes6B. Watts Dav
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Comprehensive Endnotesside, 1990).3
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