February 2, 2009 Summary

Tonight’s class started with some usual housekeeping done by Dr. Pope concerning the upcoming Law Presentations and Amanda advertising two upcoming band performances by her band Tattermask. A lot of things that we discussed pertained to ethics (in general), the differences between consequentialists and non-consequentialists, and what Nel Noddings suggests about the “One-Caring Teacher”.

Some notes about ethics:

· Two types of claims: factual and personal. One example of a factual claim is the sky is blue. One example of a personal claim is vanilla ice cream is good (since this is an unproven statement, it can be subject to bias since only one person can make such a claim).
· The term normative applies to what people should or should not do in order to solve an ethical dilemma.
· There are times where one’s personal experience can not serve as grounds for what ethically based decisions teachers often make in dealing with problems such as cheating or plagiarism.
· There has to be publically accepted reasons in order to act to what we should or should not do.

Some notes about consequentialism/non-consequentialism:

· Having positive consequences is often the desired result of all ethical decisions
· Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill were two followers of Utilitarianism.
· Some issues related to both consequentialism/non-consequentialism include: One needs to know all of the consequences involved (often based on decision), Giving preferential treatment to another one person or thing over another (this leads to worrying about whether a decision is fair to all or not). Example: Treating childhood cancer. Is it worth the pain and suffering of some to find a cure for others who suffer from a form of a childhood cancer?
· Consequentialism asks one to go against their rational sense or emotion. One way to look at it is that the actions of one benefit the rest of humanity. Here, the question can be asked: what will produce the most good for all?
· Non-consequentialism can be compared to the Golden Rule (do onto others as you want them to do onto you).
· Ways of showing respect : treating everyone equally, accepting all points of view, consider the welfare of others, acknowledging decisions that are made by others.
· Kant argued that what can not be done, can not become Universal Law. Example: Telling a lie
· Kant believed that all humans are on the same level since we are all capable of doing the same thing. Example: lying to protect a friend from being captured by the secret police. He also believed that we all are responsible for our own actions (a non-consequentialist argument).
· Rule Utilitarianism examines which rules apply to which situation, which ruling will make the most people happy. This is also a combination of both consequentialism and non-consequentialism.
· One should only focus on important criteria in making ethically-based decisions. This includes: a student’s performance in class, their social economic status or other possible factors outside of whether we like their families or not.

Some notes about the Nel Noddings reading:

· One large assumption that can be taken from Noddings is that we all are in relations with one another. Another is called motivational displacement or seeing things how the student sees it.
· Our role is to be the one caring for and fostering a student’s growth, being interested in why one responded the way that they did instead of what their answer was (whether they have any interest in the subject or not).
· Students will respond to the subject or class if the teacher shows that they actually do care, thus instilling interest in the student.
· Noddings defined the role of one-care teacher has more than rainbows, clouds, hugs and kisses. Her definition included an understanding of where the student is coming from.
· Good teachers are often shaped by how the good students are to them. This is done thru engaging the class in communication, probing thoughts and feelings about the teacher’s subject matter (which leads to constructivism or building new knowledge).
· Teachers should be open to allowing students to contribute to their learning, having to explain to students the consequences behind their actions, to providing a role model for the students.
· The biggest difficulty is when one party chooses not to accept the caring of the other party, in other words too much giving and not enough receiving.
· Engaging in cooperative practice is another one of Nodding’s beliefs, this does lead to both moral and physical development.Schools can make things easier for teachers in their job performance. However, there is the possibility that misunderstandings can develop thru negative connotations.