Grappling
The reading starts with a discussion of Carl, a student, who feels ineffectual in the school environment. He listens to the teachers’ answers to question, being told his poetry is substandard and his help with computers is unwelcome by a substitute. Sizer and Sizer (1999) suggest that it is unwise to underestimate young people. Students should feel empowered, competent and that i talents are valued by a broad audience. This leads to a stronger sense of agency than just focusing on “self-esteem buidling activities”(pg.186). Further, a moral education which leads to civil behavior can not only be learned through habits and skills. Educators need to provide content which enables students to go beyond the immediate context. In order …show more content…
Currenly, the Parkland school shooting in Florida has placed a magnifying glass on these high school students who thought about issues such as gun control before. Now it has directly implacted them, so their “grappling” takes center stage. The authors make the point that adolescents are not “delicate flowers” but are immently able to do anything. In classrooms, grappling goes beyond mere engagement. Grappling allows for student input in the form of their research on a particular topic or their opinion. Adolescents spend alot of time thinking about various problems and ideas; from religion to substance abuse. This is a great time to get that information out of their heads and into the classroom. Teachers need to ask their opinions on the Cold War or slavery after providing students with content. Careful discussions of books like “To Kill A Mockingbird” allows for thoughtful and purposeful thinking. Sizer and Sizer suggest that fiction is a useful content to explore various moral dilemnas. In these unfamiliar settings, students can begin to form their own questions and answers to various situations. Teachers may need to help develop their ideas further but they should not interject their own personal biases. Students are also able to bring their own skills (artistic, public speaking, peer mediation) to complex questions eventually being able to examine ideas …show more content…
This theory is based on his idea that a progression through moral stages requires active thinking. This development of this active thinking was described in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. He accompanied this theory to his own theory of moral development in which a child progressed from a pre-moral stage, to a heteromous stage in which rules were following and finally reaching an autonomous morality. Dewey also had a theory of moral development in which three stages of moral development existed. The first stage was a premoral or preconventional stage in which decisions are based on impulses and the desire for reinforcement. The second stage bases moral decisions on conventional beliefs as in what does society value. An automous stage is also the end stage for Dewey as well. Kohlberg’s goal was to bring together these different models and create his own developmental model of moral decision making. As Dewey’s theory was completely theoretical, Kohlberg conducted various validating studies in which boys were observed longitudinally and other cross-cultural studies were
The reading starts with a discussion of Carl, a student, who feels ineffectual in the school environment. He listens to the teachers’ answers to question, being told his poetry is substandard and his help with computers is unwelcome by a substitute. Sizer and Sizer (1999) suggest that it is unwise to underestimate young people. Students should feel empowered, competent and that i talents are valued by a broad audience. This leads to a stronger sense of agency than just focusing on “self-esteem buidling activities”(pg.186). Further, a moral education which leads to civil behavior can not only be learned through habits and skills. Educators need to provide content which enables students to go beyond the immediate context. In order …show more content…
Currenly, the Parkland school shooting in Florida has placed a magnifying glass on these high school students who thought about issues such as gun control before. Now it has directly implacted them, so their “grappling” takes center stage. The authors make the point that adolescents are not “delicate flowers” but are immently able to do anything. In classrooms, grappling goes beyond mere engagement. Grappling allows for student input in the form of their research on a particular topic or their opinion. Adolescents spend alot of time thinking about various problems and ideas; from religion to substance abuse. This is a great time to get that information out of their heads and into the classroom. Teachers need to ask their opinions on the Cold War or slavery after providing students with content. Careful discussions of books like “To Kill A Mockingbird” allows for thoughtful and purposeful thinking. Sizer and Sizer suggest that fiction is a useful content to explore various moral dilemnas. In these unfamiliar settings, students can begin to form their own questions and answers to various situations. Teachers may need to help develop their ideas further but they should not interject their own personal biases. Students are also able to bring their own skills (artistic, public speaking, peer mediation) to complex questions eventually being able to examine ideas …show more content…
This theory is based on his idea that a progression through moral stages requires active thinking. This development of this active thinking was described in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. He accompanied this theory to his own theory of moral development in which a child progressed from a pre-moral stage, to a heteromous stage in which rules were following and finally reaching an autonomous morality. Dewey also had a theory of moral development in which three stages of moral development existed. The first stage was a premoral or preconventional stage in which decisions are based on impulses and the desire for reinforcement. The second stage bases moral decisions on conventional beliefs as in what does society value. An automous stage is also the end stage for Dewey as well. Kohlberg’s goal was to bring together these different models and create his own developmental model of moral decision making. As Dewey’s theory was completely theoretical, Kohlberg conducted various validating studies in which boys were observed longitudinally and other cross-cultural studies were