AME Conference 2007
Final Draft of Conference Program
October 5, 2007
**ANYTHING IN BLUE NEEDS TO BE FIXED**
Thursday, November 15
Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for University Life
60 Washington Square South
Registration Desk Open from 8:00am-5:00pm
Morning Coffee from 8:30am-10:00am
Workshops from 9:00am-12:00pm *
(wkshp # 6 will begin at 8:00am)
Workshops 1-8
Workshop 1 9:00-12:00 Room:
Title:Beyond the Classroom: Democratic Theater with Prisoners, Pushers, and Parolees
Author(s):
Kevin Bott, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University
Abstract:
Democracy cannot survive without open and honest dialogue. Yet the most vulnerable of the world’s population are either denied permission to join the conversation, or are subjected to patronizing monologues from the so-called experts. University/community alliances can be undermined by miscommunication between those with social, cultural, and economic power disparities. This participatory workshop invites participants to engage in drama exercises used by the facilitator in prisons and outpatient clinics in New York and Africa. These activities are designed to foster dialogue, examine and interrogate cultural and racial barriers, and complicate the roles of facilitator and participant. Video of prison and clinic work will be screened.
Workshop 29:00-12:00 Room:
Title: EQUIP for Educators for Behaviorally At-Risk Students: Pedagogy, Praxis and Pragmatics of Program Implementation
Author(s):
Ann-Marie DiBiase, Brock University
Jan van Westerlaak, International Trainer of the EQUIP for Educators Program, The Netherlands
Abstract:
EQUIP for Educators(EFE) is a psychoeducational interventionprogram that seeks to remediate the limitations widely evident among behaviorally at risk students. These limitations can be characterized as three socially problematic “Ds ": (a) developmental delays in moral judgment, (b) self-serving cognition distortions, and (c) social skill deficiencies. These limitations are interrelated, and so are the components of EFE. Remediation of thesedelays, distortions, and deficienciescan occur by equipping at-risk students with: (a) mature moral judgment (Social Decision-Making), (b) skills for managing anger and correcting self-serving cognitive distortions (Anger Management), and (c) social skills for balanced and constructive social behavior (Social Skills.)
Workshop 39:00-12:00 Room:
Title: The Essence of Moral Education
Author(s):
Bernice Lerner, School of Education, Boston University
Abstract:
Guided by the works of great philosophers and storytellers, gain a deeper understanding of educators’ most important mission, i.e., to help students develop powers of ethical thinking, and habits and dispositions that lead to wise and responsible choices. Learn why moral education involves more than a single course, a quick-fix program, or slogans posted on a bulletin board. Discover how to mine sources of wisdomfrom both within and beyond the academic curriculum to engage students in lively discourse and active learning, to assist them in forging meaningful lives.
Workshop 49:00-12:00 Room:
Title: Prospects for Coexistence: Religion, Identity, and Belonging in a Changing World
Author(s):
Diane Moore, Harvard Divinity School
Adam Strom, Facing History and Ourselves
James W. Fraser, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University
Abstract:
Using a range of case studies from schools in Europe, the United States, Pakistan, and Kenya, the workshop will explore the particular challenges and opportunities that religious diversity presents to education and the construction of healthy civil societies in a variety of cultural contexts. Through our discussions we will move beyond particular representations to larger questions of the best ways to create respectful, cosmopolitan, and religiously pluralistic civil societies that can both sustain and be fostered by primary and secondary schools.
Workshop 59:00-12:00 Room:
Title: Scoring Moral Narratives and Measuring Moral Development
Author(s):
Michael Lamport Commons, Harvard Medical School
Sara Nora Ross, Acting / Researching / Integrating Network Associates, Inc.
Terri Lee Robinett, College of the Desert
Patrice Marie Miller, Harvard Medical School
Abstract:
Applying the Model of Hierarchical Complexity to Scoring Moral Narratives and Constructing Instruments to Measure Moral Development
This Workshop addresses two forms of measurement of moral developmental and a framework for evaluating specific interventions. The Hierarchical Complexity Scoring System is applied to the construction of instruments with consent of the user’s preference and to the scoring of narratives. Those attending the workshop will learn about 1) the model, 2) the concepts underlying the model, 3) the description of the stages and their relationship to Kegan’s and Kohlberg’s stages, 4) steps involved in universal stage transition, and 5) examples of scoring samples from interviews, illustrating adult development applied to using the Hierarchal Complexity Scoring System (HCSS) as a scoring aid.
Workshop 68:00-12:00Room:
Title: The Konstanz Method of Dilemma Discussion (KMDD)
Author(s):
Georg Lind, University of Konstanz, Germany
Abstract:
The Konstanz Method of Dilemma Discussion (KMDD) has emerged from the dilemma method by Moshe Blatt and Lawrence Kohlberg, and is also based on Habermas' communicative ethics, Oser's discourse method, and Lind's Dual-Aspect-Theory of moral behavior and development. In the past 20 years, new elements like counter-arguments and phases of support and challenge have been added, the role of the learner has been strengthened, and its focus has been sharpened to make it even more effective and better teachable. The KMDD has strong and lasting effects on the cognitive-moral development of students of various age groups. In intervention studies, very high effect sizes were found (gains of 20 out of 100 C-points; r > 0.70).
This workshop will introduce the three main didactical principles of the KMDD, a blueprint for a dilemma discussion, and guide lines for writing one’s own dilemmas.
Workshop 79:00-12:00 Room:
Title:Voices Reading: A Comprehensive Reading and Character Development Program
Author(s):
Patrick C. Walker, Zaner-Bloser Voices Programs
Co-author(s):
Catherine Snow, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Robert Selman, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Abstract:
This workshop will present case studies (including videotapes) of students using the Voices Reading curriculum over a one year period. Voices Reading is a K-5 comprehensive reading program that fully integrates character education into the teaching of reading and writing. Participants will be introduced to the curriculum and participate in core character development activities. The adult development of teachers will also be analyzed with respect to their ability to teach core character development activities. Longitudinal and case study data will be analyzed to study the relationships between the growth in moral development, student achievement, and student behavior.
Workshop 89:00-12:00 Room:
Title: Racial and Ethical Sensitivity Training (REST) Workshop
Author(s):
Lauren Rogers-Sirin, Drew University
Selcuk R. Sirin, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University
Abstract:
The U.S. Department of Education (2001) states that in 2000, 39% of public school students belonged to a minority group, representing a 17% increase from 1972, and that the immigrant population nearly tripled from 1970 to 2000. It also predicted that the proportion of students who are considered racial, ethnic, or language minority students would continue to rise in the next several decades. On the other hand, 90% of teachers who work with these children are predominantly White and 81% are between the ages of 45 and 60 (National Education Association, 1997). Schools are burdened with the double challenge of finding teachers who are trained to successfully teach a diverse student population and dealing with an anticipated shortage of teachers in general in the next decade. Researchers and professional organizations continue to emphasize a great need for school professionals to be sensitive to the special needs of diverse students and the adverse academic and social effects of intolerance and discrimination within educational settings. The Racial and Ethical Sensitivity Training (REST) Workshop is designed to address precisely these needs by providing a hands-on training for current and future school professionals to promote cultural competence as an ethical requirement for teaching professionals.
12:00-1:30 LUNCH (on your own)
Paper Presentations and Symposium Sessions
1:30pm - 2:45pm
Session 11:30-2:45Room:
Papers #47
Title: The Cosmopolitan Solution: Political Lessons from Nineteenth Century Education Reformers
Author(s):
Chris Anderson, University of Hartford
Abstract: This is a consideration of the rhetorical strategy of an earlier successful educational reform movement: the mid-nineteenth century American common school movement led by the “Friends of Education.” While the Friends were generally Whiggish in politics and liberal in religion, they sought to avoid the rhetorics of party politics and sectarian controversy by moving discussion of education outside of these spheres, developing what they called a “cosmopolitan” rhetoric of education. They also developed new institutions to bring the reform message directly to practicing teachers and teachers in training. These strategies have direct relevance to moral education advocates of our day.
Title: Dialogue and Conflict of Cultures
Author(s):
Yu-hui Chen, Institute of Teacher Education, National Chengchi University, Taiwan
Abstract:
Hegel interprets world history as dialectically moving from the East to the West, with the spirit of Chinese philosophy remaining at the first moment; this spirit is the “immediate unity” and lacks individual self-consciousness and mediation. The author hopes that through this article the meanings of “reason”, “subjectivity” and “self-consciousness” in the development of world history can be further elucidated. Do Hegel’s Universal History and Fukuyama’s The End of History both fall into the myth of “Rationalism” and “Monism” and ignore the subjectivity of the “others” that post-modern scholars are striving to eliminate?
Title: Cosmopolitan Ethics and the Cultivation of the Moral Resources
Author(s):
Dale T. Snauwaert, Center for Nonviolence and Democratic Education, Judith Herb College of Education, University of Toledo
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature and cultivation of the internal moral resources required to enact a cosmopolitan ethic. The moral resources are capacities and dispositions of consciousness and of natural human inclination that enhance our capacity to morally respond to others. While a rational understanding of the principles of ethics is essential, the development and actualization of particular moral resources is necessary for securing respect and care for human dignity in the human community. The paper articulates and defends these capacities in the context of a cosmopolitan ethic as basic goals of global civic education.
Session 21:30-2:45Room:
Papers #40
Title: A Conceptual Framework For Teaching Ethics in a Pluralistic Society
Author(s):
Miriam Orkar, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Abstract:
Almost everyone thinks ethics should be taught in schools. However, moral education experts are often not in agreement about which ethical values should be taught, in a pluralistic society. This is because what may be considered ethical by a certain group of people may not be considered ethical by another group of people. The author’s central claim is that there is a basic moral principle, which appeal to people of all color and creed. Respect for human dignity is not only considered to be a universal moral principle, it is also considered to be the highest moral principle, among many philosophers and moral educators. To respect human dignity in all persons means to respect human dignity in oneself (self-respect) and to respect human dignity in others (respect- for- persons). Excerpt of lessons on self-respect and respect- for-persons are included in the paper. A discussion of the authors experience in sharing ethical values with youths in her neighborhood, through the “NeboReach Youth Project, is also included as an Appendix.
Title: Plurality as the Heart of Ethics, in Community and Curriculum
Author(s):
Simon Robinson, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, United Kingdom
Abstract:
The paper argues that plurality is central to ethical reflection and practice. Engaging plurality within and beyond the community involves enabling critique of that community and a sharing of responsibility around practice that makes a difference to members, partners and wider community. This moves beyond either tolerance or practical wisdom, requiring commitment to the other and the shared project, leading to creative transformation. Plurality in the curriculum often works against this dynamic, with different cognate areas of value and ethics demanding their own space. The paper examines pedagogies that can make the connections, through and ethics of critical hermeneutic.
Title:Professional Ethics, Pluralism, and the “Rationality of Traditions”
Author(s):
Daniel Vokey, Faculty of Education, University of British Colombia, Canada
Abstract:
The citizens of pluralistic societies such as the US and Canada have very different and sometimes incompatible moral standpoints representing a wide range of cultural, philosophical, religious, and/or political traditions. If there is no “tradition-neutral” perspective from which to engage ethical issues in a pluralistic society, then from what perspective(s) should instructors teach professional ethics courses for educators? The paper examines whether this question can be answered by drawing upon MacIntyre’s arguments in Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry that “post-liberal” educators should commit to defend both their own traditions and the conditions of productive discourse across deep disagreement.
Session 31:30-2:45Room:
Symposium #73
Title: Moral Emotions in Childhood and Adolescence and Their Role in Moral Education
Discussant:
Dan Lapsley, University of Notre Dame
Chair:
Tina Malti, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract:
The symposium analyses the development of moral emotions in childhood and adolescence. The first presentation investigates the role of moral emotions in the development of a moral self in childhood. The second presentation examines how moral emotions and moral reasoning interrelate and affect children’s prosocial behavior. The third presentation analyses how adolescents' meta-cognitive understanding of morality contributes to the coordination process of moral knowledge and moral emotions. Overall, the symposium contributes to our understanding of how moral emotions develop in childhood and adolescence, and the implications of the findings for moral education are discussed.
Title: Moral Emotions in Middle Childhood: Foundations for the Development of the Moral Self
Author(s):
Bryan Sokol, St. Louis University
Abstract:
In current theorizing about “moral selfhood”, children’s emotion attributions play a central role in determining the level to which moral rules have been integrated into the self-system. As compelling as this account has become, there remain several critical issues needing further clarification. The present paper begins to address some of these, including: 1) how self begins to develop in childhood; 2) what role perspective-taking has in the self-integration process; 3) what sorts of behavioral outcomes are associated with moral emotion attributions; and, 4) how this approach can be used to design moral education programs.
Title: Children’s Moral Emotions, Moral Reasoning, and Prosocial Behavior
Author(s):
Tina Malti, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract:
This study investigated the role of moral emotions (i.e. sympathy and moral emotion attributions within the happy victimizer paradigm) and moral reasoning in children’s prosocial behavior. Representative cross-sectional data of six-year old kindergarten children were used to examine this rationale. The findings document that sympathy is positively associated with prosocial behavior, whereas moral emotions as attributed to the self-as-victimizers and moral reasoning in the context of emotion attributions moderated the relationship between sympathy and prosocial behavior. The findings suggest complex interactions between affective-motivational and cognitive dimensions of morality in children’s prosocial behavior, and the implications for pedagogical interventions are discussed.
Title: "It Can't Be Right What Feels Wrong": The Coordination of Moral Emotion Expectancies and Moral Judgment in Adolescence
Author(s):
Tobias Krettenauer, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
Abstract:
This study expands research on the "happy victimizer phenomenon" by analyzing the coordination process of moral emotion expectancies and moral judgment in adolescence. It is demonstrated that a subjectivist meta-ethical understanding of moral judgments that typical for adolescents promotes the coordination process of judgment and emotions. In the course of adolescent development moral emotion expectancies become an important source of moral judgments. The finding points out that greater attention should be devoted to the interaction of judgment and emotions in the course of development, both in theory and practice.
Session 41:30-2:45Room:
Symposium # 55
Title: Urban School Reform: Three “Social Justice” Efforts to Engage Students
Discussant:
Steven Becton, Facing History and Ourselves
Chair:
Anna L. Romer, Facing History and Ourselves
Abstract:
Three high and extreme poverty urban schools-- two high school level and one middle school-- have all chosen Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO), which engages students in complex studies of prejudice reduction, social justice and participation in democracy as a key dimension to their school-wide efforts to transform teaching and learning. These papers will explore the divergent ways three principals have mobilized FHAO to strengthen their students’ sense of agency, academic achievement, understanding of citizenship and participation in democracy, as well as the ways in which it has been more challenging to do so.
Title:Strengthening Students’ Voices and Engagement in a Chicago Middle School
Author(s):
Anna L. Romer, Facing History and Ourselves
Abstract:
This Latino middle school in Chicago has engaged a set of civic and moral education materials and methods—Facing History and Ourselves—to combat academic underachievement and student disaffection. Intensive and ongoing professional development of almost all staff and dynamic leadership on the part of the principal have begun to reinvigorate teaching and learning in this extreme poverty school (96% free or reduced lunch). The paper will report on interviews, classroom observations, and objective data regarding school climate in a discussion on how infusion of Facing History has changed the school, as well as ongoing challenges to educating students living in poverty.