Character in the Professions: Teaching
Discussion Board Unit 1.2
What is Virtue Ethics?
Unit 1.2 asks 'What is Virtue Ethics?'
Activity 3 asks you to write your own definition of virtue ethics based on what you have read and watched so far.
Activity 5 asks you to prepare a brief for your fellow partners in response to the below scenario:
Here is my definition of Virtue Ethics having worked through Unit 1.2 of the course: Virtue Ethics focus more on the building of a person's character as a virtuous (or "good") character capable of acting virtuously in any situation by thinking of the emotions and motivations behind actions, and the manner in which these actions are performed rather than focussing on a set of rules to decide whether an action in itself is the correct action, or by considering the consequences of an action rather than the action itself. The concept behind Virtue Ethics is to develop phronesis, or practical wisdom, in the pursuit of gaining virtues to achieve eudaimonia, a flourishing happy life.
ReplyDeleteHere is my brief for Activity 5: In light of the high number of applications the school is receiving, I would like to inform you of the things we should be considering when conducting interviews. Given that all of the applicants have excellent academic credentials, I would like to focus instead on the character traits possessed by the potential new teachers. I would like to hire someone who displays many virtues such as honesty, integrity, trust, fairness, compassion, justice, teamwork and leadership skills, as these qualities will enable them to make good decisions when faced with moral dilemmas. I'd like to see evidence that they would approach such dilemmas using these values to help make decisions rather than blindly applying a set of rules. For our current staff, I suggest training to develop and build on any such traits - organised discussions, role play, theoretical scenarios and similar activities will play a large part in this training. I'd like to encourage teachers to use their own judgement rather than just a rulebook, and this approach must be practiced.
ReplyDeleteDefinition for Virtue Ethics: Virtue Ethics is concerned with individuals characters and how they can be improved over time by acting in virtuous ways in every day situations. This means acting in accordance with the golden means developed by Aristotle, for example not behaving in a cowardly way, or in a rash way, but behaving in a courageous way. Human beings are creatures of habit and virtue ethics suggests that if we continue to practice behaving in these virtuous ways then our character will change for the better and we will instinctively act in the right way in situations through the development of our practical wisdom (phronesis). This will lead to us achieving eudaimonia, (living our lives in a happy and good way).
ReplyDeleteBrief for activity 5: Dear all staff, as you know we have received a high volume of applications, all of whom possess outstanding academic credentials. However, it is important to consider something beyond these academic achievements; their characters. Teaching is a challenging career, with many obstacles to overcome and as I'm sure you all know, can often present you with difficult situations to confront. Whilst conducting interviews it is therefore important for us to consider the nature of the applicant's character and personality. It is also important for current staff to reflect on the ways in which their own character can impact their teaching career. I have therefore set up a series of training days and activities which encourage you to consider how you would respond in particular situations in school. One day will focus on researching Aristotle's theory of Virtue Ethic and understanding it fully and the next day will focus on putting these virtues in practice through role-play and different activities. This is something which teachers should come to grips with in order to feel confident in their decision making and the strength of their own character.
ReplyDeleteDefinition of virtue ethics
ReplyDeleteVirtue ethics is a moral theory, which highlights what is good and why it’s the right thing to do. It focuses on cultivating good character through emotions and motivations rather then just following rules. Virtue ethics continues to emphasize how a person can contribute through moral acts maximizing and flourishing in goodness. Virtue ethics depends on a person possessing virtuous character traits for example being kind, compassionate and content leading to virtuous actions.
Zarina Khanum
Activity 5:
ReplyDeleteDear Staff,
You are all aware that we have received a considerable amount of applicants regarding the recent job advertised. Below we hope is a helpful guideline detailing the key skills, experience and attributes we are specifically looking for at this establishment. Potential candidates should possess virtuous traits such as honesty, compassion, fairness and being trustworthy. In light of this new approach, current staff are also encouraged to adopt this new strategy. Training will be provided to staff focusing on the Aristotle’s concept of virtue ethics thinking about dilemmas/ scenarios that will develop thinking process that is relevant. This will enable teachers to build their own character and values.
Definition of ‘Virtue Ethics: from what I understand, virtue ethics is a moral theory, which primarily focuses on the character of individuals. It focuses on what is right (or wrong) based on the circumstance of the situation. Therefore, virtue ethics focuses on what an individual should choose in different circumstances based on the emotions and motives of a given action as appose to relying on external laws and customs of society, its about doing the right thing based individual (or certain personal circumstances) situations. Through this one should achieve eudaimonia (living our lives in a happy and good way).
ReplyDeleteDefinition of virtue ethics: The focus in virtue ethics is on one’s character. Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher is the man behind virtue ethics, which sees that flourishing should be a person’s goal in life – being the best you can be with good character. It also focuses on having ‘practical wisdom’, or phronesis. This theory sees that a person should act for the greater good, which may mean breaking rules on occasion: one should make a decision that is the best for a given situation, even if this means going against rules.
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ReplyDeleteActivity 5 - Staff briefing. Dear all, as you know, we have received many applications for teaching positions within the school, all of which have excellent academic credentials. Although this is a crucial factor, it is also important to consider the applicants’ characters and personalities when interviewing. We need to see that the applicants are more than just their excellence in academia and that they also display excellent character: they need to be patient, kind, hard-working, creative and good leaders. We need to probe them for these characteristics in the interviews to ensure we hire the best applicant for the position. Similarly, it would be useful to help current staff develop their character even further. I am therefore proposing to hold training days focusing on character in education and what teachers can do to improve their character and to make decisions that are the best for a given situation, even if this seems difficult to do.
ReplyDeleteVirtue ethics is an out of date confused moral theory. It is based around the idea of promoting good character and natural wisdom. It claims not to be consequentialist but the definitions of what are good ethics or virtue are based on what consequences come from any particular action. The theory is useful when looking at ones own ethical position and determining how one feels regarding specific moral and ethical issues but is improper, simple and to based on subjectively defined ideas of 'good' to be applied to social situations in which the 'good' must be constantly re defined through inclusive societal processes. Duty based ethics whilst having problems are often misrepresented as simply following the rules no matter what, more often than not societal structures include systems in which rules can be changed re-interpreted via socially accepted means.
ReplyDeleteActivity 5: Dear Team, Due to the high number of excellent applicants to positions across the school, I am writing to discuss the possibility of creating a part of the interview process which will examine the 'virtuous' nature of applicants focusing of the character traits that we as a team will decide are required, for example honesty and compassion. My intial thoughts are to create an ethical questionnaire that can be completed by all applicants and then reviewed by the interview team. We must be careful to ensure that this review process does not open the door to any potentially discriminatory practice and is in accordance with current employment legislation. Furthermore, to ensure that we promote these values across the faculty I would suggest that once created all members of staff complete the questionnaire and review together. On the basis of that review as a complete faculty we should then agree upon a training day course to help all staff with whatever issues arise from the review as part our ongoing CPD programme.
ReplyDelete