As faculty members, we benefit from a strong ethical foundation that reflects our values; one that can serve as a moral compass to guide our pedagogical choices. The foundation can be based on a spiritual or religious worldview or it might be rooted in a more secular philosophy. It might even be a self-written teaching philosophy. Regardless of the form it takes, having an ethical foundation gives us a standard from which to evaluate our actions in the classroom. A strong set of core values can guide us in our day to day activities in ways that provide positive benefits for our students.

Let me use the story of the Last Judgement as an example. Found in Matthew 25:31-46 of the Christian Bible, the story recounts the second coming of Christ. Jesus explains that those who obtain salvation did so because when they saw that the Christ was hungry, they fed Him; when thirsty, they gave Him something to drink; when naked, they clothed Him. When asked when they saw the Christ hungry or thirsty or naked, Jesus explains that whenever they did this for even the least of their brothers or sisters, they did it for Him.

Christian colleagues who try to exemplify Jesus’ teaching in the classroom have this and other stories of salvation from which to judge their actions. If they view each of their students as the Christ sitting in their classrooms, they have no choice but to be student centered in their teaching.

Sometimes, in our role as faculty members, we literally feed and clothe our students. If we require that our students dress up for presentations, we need to be aware that some of our students do not own appropriate business attire. On more than one occasion, I have given money to students to buy professional clothing to wear for their presentations; clothing that I know they can keep for job interviews or other situations when they need professional dress.

Jesus’ words need not be limited to the examples listed in the story of the Last Judgement. How would I talk to the Christ? What type of compassion would I show to Him if He could not make it to class because He was ill or because His car broke down? Would I come to campus a half hour early to meet with Him? Would I take the time to construct meaningful assignments that would increase His ability to learn?

Although some might argue that one must have a Creator God to whom to appeal so as not to fall into the trap of moral relativism, I do not agree. As someone who follows the Buddha Dhamma, my ethical foundation is not built on the teaching of a creator God. Yet I can still have a moral foundation which informs my work in the classroom. For example, I find that the Brahma Viharas—compassion, loving kindness, equanimity, and sympathetic joy—are values that I can use to judge my pedagogical decisions. By incorporating these values into my life, I have no choice but to make my classroom student centered.

Initially, I had prepared to argue that faculty members benefited from a strong spiritual core, but I did not want to use the word “spiritual” because of its religious connotations. More secular philosophies that advance equality and compassion can also serve as the basis for an ethical foundation that supports student centered teaching. I would even argue that professors could even write their own ethical foundation in the form of a teaching philosophy that they could consult while developing syllabi, classroom activities, and interacting with students. At one point in my life, I spent hours and hours crafting a teaching philosophy. Printing my teaching philosophy in my syllabus made me even more accountable to the ethical foundation on which I wanted to design my classroom.

Although having an ethical foundation is important for effective pedagogy, not all ethical foundations are desirable for academics or for promoting a student centered classroom. For example, the Spartan education system was built on a set of core values that effectively produced graduates who served their society well. However, adopting the Spartan ethical foundation is not desirable for the twenty-first century professor.

At a conference I once attended, participants were placed in teams and each teach was given the responsibility of drawing a picture that was a metaphor for education. Our team–with one dissenter–enthusiastically decided that students were like grass and it was our responsibility to fertilize them.

I cannot remember why our team decided to place a lawn mower in our drawing, but we did. I pointed out that if you cut grass that it cannot flower. My team mates were not phased. They continued to draw the blades of grass that represented the students whom they were planning to decapitate. The worldview of my colleagues was condescending. Yet they gleefully designed classrooms in such a way that students could not flourish.

A strong ethical foundation can serve as our moral compass if our values result in a focus on student learning. With such a foundation, we need not worry that we are metaphorically cutting the heads off our students so that they cannot bloom.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

 

---

---