Integrating ethics into your school community
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The Institute for Global Ethics (IGE) is dedicated to promoting ethical behavior and integrity in educational institutions through the Ethical Literacy® approach, which offers a range of resources including professional development workshops, online curricula, and culture assessments. This initiative fosters a collaborative environment for educators and students to engage in discussions around ethics and moral courage, positioning ethics as a central aspect of school culture. Through community engagement, training, and support, IGE aims to equip school leaders and educators with the tools necessary to instill a shared commitment to ethical principles across the educational landscape.
Integrating ethics into your school community
- 1. +1-800-729-2615 (USA and Canada only) education@globalethics.org www.globalethics.org www.ethical-literacy.org Ethical Literacy® is a trademark of the Institute for Global Ethics. ©2012 Institute for Global Ethics. All rights reserved. Printed on recycled stock. Educators from across South America convene in Bolivia to explore the Institute for Global Ethics Ethical Fitness® Seminar. A Westside High School (Omaha, NE) student participating in a Word Wall as part of anti-bullying week activities. Students from the Clairbourn School (San Gabriel, CA) explore key ethics concepts of obedience to the unenforceable, moral perimeter, ethical dilemmas, and moral courage. A member of the Catherine Cook School (Chicago, IL) Ethical Literacy® Team participates in a World Cafe at our 2009 Ethical Literacy Conference in Chestnut Hill, MA. An educator from East Ridge Middle School (Chattanooga, TN) sharing an ethical dilemma with faculty and students during an Ethical Literacy training. Westside High School students participate in a non- credited course for student members of the Westside Ethical Literacy team. A Berkeley Hall School (Los Angeles, CA) parent listens to other parents discuss right-versus-right ethical dilemmas as part of an Ethics & Parenting Workshop. IDavid Thompson Secondary School (Vancouver, BC) principal provides a feature presentation at our 2010 Ethical Literacy Conference in Memphis, TN. Members of the Crowder College (Neosho, MO) Ethical Literacy Team explore the Chalk Talk protocol at the 3rd Annual Ethical Literacy Conference. A student Ethical Literacy team member from St. George’s School (Newport, RI) connects with teachers about why ethics matters at St. George’s. Educators and students from across South America convene to build a virtual school for ethics. A student member of the Westside High School Ethical Literacy team explores what it means to be a WARRIOR, as part of a values-in-action activity. OUR MISSION To promote ethical behavior in individuals, and cultures of integrity in institutions and nations, through research, public discourse, and practical action. Founded in 1990, the Institute for Global Ethics® (IGE) is an independent, nonsectarian, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. F R O N T C O V E R A snapshot of the Ethical Literacy® Learning Community. Follow images left to right, top to bottom. Integrating Ethics into Your School Community Dedicated to Building School Cultures of Integrity. SCHO O L LE ADE RSHI PST UDE NTSSTAFF PARE NTS FACULT Y Introducing The Ethical Literacy® approach—a comprehensive training and development initiative for all levels of your educational organization. Your students are influenced by everyone in their school day. TEACHERS OTHER STUDENTSCOACHES LEADER SHIP STAFF PARENTS THE COMMUNITY The Ethical Literacy® approach is a comprehensive framework for building a culture of integrity in your school and throughout your school system. If you want your students to become more ethical and you wish to develop a school environment that fosters a focus on integrity, the Ethical Literacy® approach is for you. The Institute for Global Ethics is committed to providing your students, teachers, leadership, and other affiliated groups with tools that support an ethics alignment. We build learning environments that deliberately support both academic preparation and ethical development. Because your students are influenced by everyone in their school day, the Ethical Literacy approach is designed to help you be sure that everyone is sending the same message about integrity to your students. We provide e-communications, school culture assessments, classroom curriculum, online learning sessions, keynotes and talks, professional development workshops, and school or system-wide culture building initiatives. All services are intended to build cultures of integrity throughout your entire school organization.
- 2. Online Learning Sessions IGE is committed to providing affordable ways to support the professional development of educators. Our Online Learning Sessions feature 20 one-hour sessions. Sessions are designed for leadership and for classroom teachers to collaborate with colleagues worldwide, actively learning ways to integrate ethics in the class- room and across their school cultures. Customized Webinars Provide one hour online, and/or on-demand sessions tailored to meet the particular needs of your school or system constituents. We’ll work with you to make the ethics education process relevant and specific to your context. Ethical Literacy® Bulletin Delivered weekly by email to subscribers and Ethical Literacy® Learning Community members, the Ethical Literacy Bulletin provides highlights of Ethical Literacy in action, lesson plans, and tools and resources to support ethics work in the classroom and broader school community. Online Resource Center Members of the Ethical Literacy Learning Community have access to a library of resources1 including lesson plans, curriculum, culture building activities, our research in guide and teaching formats, shared materials from community members, and access to a directory of hundreds of educators teaching and practicing ethics in the classroom and school community. IGE’s Ethical Literacy® Approach provides a wide range of ways you can integrate ethics into your organization. Whether you are an individual teacher looking for help with ethics for your classroom, a principal lookingtoprovideprofessionaldevelopmentinethicsforyourstafforasuperintendentwhowants to promote an ethical culture system-wide, the Ethical Literacy® Approach from the Institute for Global Ethics has the answer for you. 1 There are three levels of membership in the community. Access to resources is password protected based on membership level. 2 Access to curriculum is limited to members of the Ethical Literacy Learning Community. Culture Assessments Based on the “Schools of Integrity” findings we have developed a simple, user-friendly assess- ment instrument to gain an understanding of your culture. This instrument is administered electronically; once all data is collected, the Institute will provide a short analysis of your culture based on responses. Student and adult versions available. Focus Groups Sending the signal that “we’re all in this togeth- er” can be an inspiring and critical first step to launching a long-term focus on ethics in your school or school district. Engaging a variety of constituent groups to explore ethical issues and attitudes tells members of your community that their opinions matter and that your ethics work will be designed with them in mind. Executive & Leadership Coaching Leadership is largely defined by effective de- cision-making. Because of the complexity and sensitivity of decisions at the top and the pres- sure to “get it right,” leaders often need help learning to analyze and resolve ethical dilem- mas, and building the fluency to communicate the basis of decisions effectively. One-on-one coaching is highly effective for this purpose. The coaching process employs the Institute’s Ethical Fitness® model to identify the important aspects of awareness, analysis, and resolution faced by the individual leader at each stage of a complex and results-critical decision, and works with the leader to address them. Coach- ing helps build fluency in communicating the ethics behind decisions, to increase trust with all constituents in a school community. MEMBER BENEFITS CONSULTING ANNUAL CONFERENCE Annually we convene educators worldwide to share and learn from each other about build- ing school cultures centered on the broadest purpose of education: “what kind of people will lead us in the 21st century?” Together we will: Explore ethics and whole-school approach- es that advance education for all students Practice ways to build the case for a focus on ethics at every school Try out materials/tools to further work in ethics and school culture building Examine concrete examples of the Ethical Literacy® approach directly from participating schools Learn first-hand the benefits of Ethical Literacy® for your school or districtCurriculum2 The Institute for Global Ethics (IGE) offers a variety of downloadable K-College level curriculum, based on a hands-on, interactive classroom model for teaching ethics. Each cur- riculum guides teachers and students through a practical and conceptual process for making ethical decisions and defining shared values. Curriculum titles include: MEMBERSHIP PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS ETHICAL LITERACY® CULTURE IMMERSION ADDITIONAL SERVICES Online Resource Center Curriculum Online Learning Series Customized Webinars Building School Culture™ Building School Culture™ Train-the-Trainer Ethical Fitness® Ethical Fitness® Train-the-Trainer Ethics & Parenting Moral Courage™ Moral Courage™ Train-the-Trainer Tone-at-the-Top™ Tone-at-the-Top™ Train-the-Trainer Customized Workshops DECISION SKILLS SERIES Elementary Decision Skills (K–2) Elementary Decision Skills (3–5) Building Decision Skills Decision Skills for Colleges SPECIAL TOPICS Ethics & Service (Service Learning) Ethics & Choices (Youth at Risk) How Big is Your Backyard? (Environmental) Tough Choices: Today and in History (History) WHY DOES ETHICS MATTER? Participants will develop insight into the role of ethics in our society today, the critical need for personal ethics, and the need for a focus on ethics in schools. ETHICAL BAROMETER As the 21st century gets underway, many people are calling into question our ability to meet new ethical challenges. But how does our ethical barometer read? Is it rising or falling? What kinds of ethical issues do we find at home, at work, and reported in the news? Why is ethics “essential” rather than simply a “luxury?” SHARED VALUES By the end of this module, partici- pants will understand the difference between bedrock, ethical, and other kinds of values. They will be able to identify the important features of a code of ethics. And they will see that it is possible for a group of individuals to come to agreement on a set of core, ethical values. CAROUSEL OF VALUES What next? How might we use the list of shared values we have created? In this module, participants will define in terms of specific behaviors what it means to be an ethical leader, teacher, student, or parent. SCHOOLS OF INTEGRITY While individual skill building is essential to ethical development and aware- ness of one’s ethical values and common ground with others, this module examines school culture: the condi- tions and structures that support and encourage ethical behavior. Participants examine their own school in light of findings from the Schools of Integrity research. HIDDEN CURRICULUM CAFÉ The hidden curricu- lum is powerful: it signals how closely we walk our talk, and uphold our ethics in schools. Unlike the formal and extra curriculum, the hidden curriculum may or may not be deliberate, and is sometimes not even understood or noticed by adults in the school community. Students, in contrast, are always tuned into the hidden curriculum. TRUST CAFÉ In this module, participants will explore the tough ethical dilemmas inherent in running schools and consider approaches to building cultures where trust and self-regulation are the norm. DILEMMA ANALYSIS The most difficult ethical di- lemmas occur when two of our core ethical values come into conflict. By the end of this module, participants will understand the concept of an ethical dilemma as a conflict of right versus right and will be able to give examples for each of the four dilemma paradigms. DILEMMA RESOLUTION It is not enough simply to understand what kind of ethical problem we are facing. By the end of this module, participants will know three different principles for resolving an ethical dilemma and will be able to apply each of them to a number of actual dilemmas. They will also understand the concept of find- ing an appropriate third way out. MORAL COURAGE By the end of this module, participants will have an appreciation for the courage it often takes to make and act on a tough ethical decision, and understand that moral courage often involves personal sacrifice. CUSTOMIZED WORKSHOP MODULES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS TRAIN-THE-TRAINER WORKSHOPS ETHICAL LITERACY® CULTURE IMMERSION Building School Culture™ Our four-hour or full-day, highly interactive workshop helps teachers, staff and administra- tors build awareness about why ethics matter, come together around their core ethical values and their common purpose in schools, and consider ways to forward ethics across their school culture. Ethical Fitness® Our four-hour or full-day Ethical Fitness Semi- nar helps provide educators with the tools and confidence required to resolve tough, values- based dilemmas. Hundreds of people connect- ed to schools—including students, teachers, adjunct personnel, and administrators—are using the Institute’s dynamic decision-making model to improve the way they live their lives and do their work. Ethics & Parenting This workshop promotes a quick-paced, highly interactive conversation that is designed for parents and educators who want to strengthen integrity in young people. The objective is to give parents the tools to guide children through ethical dilemmas and engage them in mean- ingful conversations without sounding preachy, irrelevant, or old-fashioned. Moral Courage™ Our half- or full-day seminar is an interactive, small group course to help educators under- stand the importance of moral courage in 21st- century culture; learn how to identify it, define its elements, put it into practice for themselves, and help others recognize and embody it. Tone-at-the-Top™ Our four-hour highly interactive Tone-at-the- Top Seminar establishes processes for admin- istrative leadership to explore the tough ethical dilemmas inherent in running schools, to com- municate ethical decisions effectively, and to consider approaches to building cultures where trust and self-regulation are the norm. Customized Workshops Each client has specific needs that may not be met by purchasing one of our standard workshops listed above. Clients can mix and match modules from the list of highly interac- tive, research-based service modules to build customized workshops lasting anywhere from a minimum of 2 hours to a maximum of 8 hours (see listing to the right). IGE is committed to providing affordable ways to support the professional development of educators for the long-term. Our Train- the-Trainer workshops build capacity while providing important conceptual background and skills—from ethics vocabulary, and 21st awareness, to practice in fielding difficult questions, providing compelling examples, and sharing relevant anecdotes with fellow educators. Honing leadership and group development skills, the trainings help school or district-based professional development providers build the confidence and capacity to effectively engage leadership, faculty, staff, and students in ethics concepts and processes. Participants test their understanding of concepts, explore different points of view, practice facilitation, and discuss a variety of examples in depth. Train-the-Trainer Workshops are available for delivery of IGE’s: Building School Culture™ Ethical Fitness® Moral Courage™ Tone-at-the-Top™ Ethical Literacy® equips school-based teams to educate the entire school community about ethics, engaging all constituents in building a school culture where “doing the right thing” is top priority. Ethical Literacy blends individual skill building and examination of best practices in schools that effectively balance attention to academic rigor and to students’ ethical development, toward an institutional alignment around ethics. Through ongoing support over a minimum period of three years, teams are provided with the tools needed to help each member of their community to: Discover and articulate shared ethical values Develop a shared language for ethics discourse Integrate ethics in content areas and daily interactions Sharpen ethical decision-making and articulation skills to: Consistently uphold core ethical values— even under pressure Think through any decision’s potential impact Recognize and address right-versus- wrong temptations as well as right- versus-right ethical dilemmas Anticipate and understand the need for moral courage and take a stand based on moral principle Consistently self-monitor and improve in the realm of ethics Revitalize vision and mission through the lens of ethics There are three broad phases to an Ethical Literacy initiative at any school, and the Institute helps each step of the way: First, by establishing the will, the need, and the team to carry forward this initiative; Second, by training the team in deep conceptual work and activity delivery. Collaborating to produce a specific, time- and-date-driven action plan for aligning the entire school community around ethics; and Third, by supporting the team through follow-on coaching, assessment, activity development, access to an online community or network schools, and shared learning opportunities, to carry out the work in a thoughtful, coordinated manner. Community Forum The forum is designed to promote a positive community connection to improve school or district climate. The forum is a key starting point for identifying the shared ethical values that all adults can agree to model and uphold. The forum engages community members and educators around the importance of ethics education and leads participants to a set of common ethical values that everyone can sup- port and use to guide future planning. Keynotes Ethics is everywhere and truly matters on every level and in every instance. Our experienced speakers can bring ethical awareness to your school community while inspiring commit- ment to integrity. Through a collaborative process we will customize keynotes to meet your community’s needs. SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS Training in: Key Concepts Frameworks Skill Building Action Planning Ongoing Coaching Total Culture Assessment Formative Assessment Special Online Community Events Customized Activities Annual Conference Access to All Archives The conference was important for helping us to see how to bring Ethical Literacy more intentionally into all of our divisions in developmentally appropriate ways. Cory Stutts, Middle School Director, Catherine Cook School (Chicago, IL) “ Consulting Culture Assessment Focus Groups Executive & Leadership Coaching Annual Ethical Literacy Conference Speaking Engagements Community forums Keynotes