- good= abstract accomplishment such as democracy, well-being, flourishing, mutual understanding
*NE= friendship, belonging, knowledge, good governance, justice, pleasure, intelligence, health, aesthetic beauty, personal excellence
- goals/aims= concrete accomplishments such as college degree, traveling safely, having cooperative relationships
-Short term, concrete goals→long-term, high ordered goals→abstract concepts of good 1. Communities have history: pat constitutes the community, retail their story(mission, founding, those who leave), these stories can contain exemplars (when are we really good as a group), some contain shared suffering (define going wrong to better know hot to ogo right), being a member shaped your identity
2. Traditions carry history: shared understanding of identity and meaning, what is good, activities that embody community; ongoing argument if traditions should stay stuck or if alteration is in best interest; constrain us but this is good b/c gives us roots and way to understand ourselves (what we are free for); communities should be an ongoing argument
3.) commitment: don't just fall into membership, you must formally become a member and commit to it, keeps ones from being able to leave
4.) Identification: you identify as part of your community
5.) interdependence: members rely on one another
*Communities can look different to different people: socialized to see things in one way, the harder you are socialized into your group the harder it is to be open to other cultural identities, ethnocentrism is natural; need personal development and new mindset to not do this o Definition: enduring and fearing the right things, for the right motive, in the right manner, and at the right time; thinking correctly, motivated well, aimed towards right goals, do it right way; feeling fear and taking appropriate risks with awareness of fear
o Excess: recklessness/rashness
o Deficiency: cowardice
o Dimension of courage: Risk Taking!!!
*Can't have too much courage, that's what excess and deficiency are b/c can have too much risk taking
o Necessities of courage: take risks gladly, spontaneously, whole heartedly without regret; for greater good, saving others (rationality and emotions) • Structure=
• avoidance (object of addiction to avoid problems, negative reinforcement)
• instability (craving)
• effect on pleasure center ( mimic natural substances in brain, have less pleasure for regular doses, nothing gives us pleasure in the same way
• Drugs, Alcohol, Sex, Sugar, Shopping, television, gambling, gaming, phobias ability to look at otherness and recognize that there are things to learn bout others, the world, ourselves, and human possibility; what people do always makes sense in their way therefor you must learn from others; idea isn't that differences go away, they are real and important and part of our identity
-the good of openness to other: social understanding, inclusion, affirmation, respect, harmony, justice, enrichment of otherness • Humans need identity
• Identity is sourced through: socialization, religion, ethnicity, political parties, work we do, family, identifying with roles, personality, way we contrast ourselves with others
• Identity creates division and otherness: need it but creates difference, see others as different from you, natural divider
• Ethnocentrism is normative, tend to be loyal to group we are in o Transmitting values are the work of civilization
o Democracy needs character education; need educated active citizens
o All actions have ethical dimension; each decision we make contributes to our character
o Common ethical ground even in pluralistic society; we have a lot of common ground in morality and character traits, even though parents believe they don't want teachers to implement this
o There is not a value-free education; regardless of what we teach we are always teaching character(working, learning, earning knowledge); individualism is a value; it is good to learn, know things, be more capable
o Clear and urgent need; we need people with strong character who are going to make good choices and engage in actions that help others; need this in all facets of life (edge against violence, fraud); act differently depending on how you are primed
o School's and community's roles as character educators vital today; teaching peace, number of adults in household that work have changed, less time kids have with their parents which means less education from parents b/c have less time together; children spend far more time with teachers than parents
o Broad-based, growing support; a lot of people have gotten behind this, around for about 30 years
o Helps retain good teachers; better school environment therefore teachers want to teach in good schools; less fighting and struggling;
o Helps improve schools and programs o its about a caring community; showing good ways to act and the way that is good for everyone
o Staff model character; teachers must exemplify character
o Character education promotes core ethical values as the basis of good character
o Character includes thinking, feeling, and behavior; cognitive, behavioral, habit (multifaceted); adapt what you do to your audience
o Character education occurs in all phases of the program
o Students need opportunities for moral action; need opportunities to implement their learning (Kansas jewish student example)
o Include meaningful, challenging curriculum that respects students; engage students, guest speakers and connections
o Develop students' intrinsic motivation; do things because they want to act in that way not for money or grades(only pay attention to rewards)
o Requires moral leadership from students and staff
o Evaluation must assess program character, staff as character educators, and students' character; must asses how things are going, someone come in and look around/give feedback
Recruit parents and community members as partners; must have parental and community support, meet with people and get together to decide what they value (allies and partners as opposed to authority); what parents and teachers want are normally identity, easier to become partners, shared goals * what is at stake
• Ability to see what is important in a situation
• What is important and central vs. trivial and peripheral
• How do we know what is most important= intuitive grasp of situation through socialization, emotions, knowledge of basic human concerns, specific goals, ability to listen to others
• Figuring out situation= what is most important, feeling of situation, what is central, what is at stake, how do others actions make sense, what goal am trying to achieve, what would be best outcome
•Ethical sensibility that highlights what is at stake
•Linked to character and affect/emotions one in which individuals purse characteristically human goods with excellence or virtue; not a perfect life, but a harmonious and coherent life that is the best, nobelest, most pleasant that it can be, priorities and organizations so ends are coherent and connected
• having belonging, meaning, knowledge, agency, beauty, narrativity, overall coherence with key elements of human goods and virtues, different complete life for everyone