Discovering Ethical Leadership Conference
Teacher’s Manual
by
© 1999, 2000 Professor Larry Nucci
University of Illinois at Chicago
Sponsored by ELF (Educational Leadership Foundation) and the Park Ridge, Illinois Elementary School District #64
_______________________________________________________
PROGRAM OUTLINE
Discovering Ethical Leadership Seminar Day
9:00-12:00 Morning activities
9:00-9:10 WelcomeChildren are given name tags as they enter along with a list of attributes (e.g., colors, animals) that will be used during warm-ups.
9:10-9:20 Warm-ups (Matching up)(10 minutes)
9:20-10:10 Listening and communication skills
10:10-10:30 SESSION I (fairness and welfare)1. Listening game (5 minutes)2. Elaboration Game (15 minutes)
3. Rebuttal Game (15 minutes)
4. Introduction to Communicative Discussions About Practical Issues (5 minutes)
10:30-10:40 Physical ActivityChoosing up (role play and discussion) (20 minutes)
Group game with large balls.
10:40-10:45 Children select new colors to form groups
10:45 – 11:00 SESSION II (Conventions, Social Hierarchy and Manners)
Forms of Address using Titles (20 minutes)
PROGRAM OUTLINE (continued)
11:00- 11:05 Children select colors to form new groups. (5 mins.)
11:05- 11:25 SESSION III (Moral/Conventional Conflict)
11:25 – 11:30 Children select colors to form new groups. (5mins.)Children’s Wages (role play and discussion) (20 mins.)
11:25 -11:55 SESSION IV (Personal/conventional conflict)
11:55 – 12:00 Lunch preparation (5 mins.)1. The Messy Room (10 Mins.)2. The Mall (10 Mins.)
3. Reflection (5 mins.)
12:00 - 12:30 LUNCH
12:30-12:35 Children select colors to form new groups (5 mins)
12:50-1:10 Session V Justice versus vengeance (20 Mins.)12:35-12:50 Lunch Structure Follow-up Discussion (Moral-Conventional Social hierarchy.)
The movie (role play and discussion)
1:10-1:35 Session VI Responding to Peer Pressure
Asch conformity situation
1:35 – 1:45 Physical Activity
Limbo
1:45-1:50 Children select colors to form new groups (5 mins.)
1:50 – 2:30 Session VII (Defining Myself and Who I Want to Be)
2:30-2:35 Session Evaluation
2:45-3:00 Closing Ceremony2:35-2:45 Closing Ceremony Setup
DISCOVERING ETHICAL LEADERSHIP SEMINAR DAY
Morning activities 9:00-12:00Welcome (10 minutes)As children arrive for the session they will be given name tags that have lists of attributes, such as colors, or names of singers that the children will use later to match themselves up with other children during warm-ups. The name tags will be color-coded (one of two colors) that will correspond to the child’s room assignment. Half of the group (30 boys and 30 girls) will be in the gymnasium and the other half in the multi-purpose room.Initially, however, all of the children and teachers will be seated together in the multi-purpose room for the opening remarks.
Warm-ups ( 7 minutes )Dr. Schroeder (the superintendent) will open the day with some opening comments. He will then direct the children to either stay in the multi-purpose room or move to the gymnasium. Children will use the color on their badges to go to the color designated room to start their day.
Selecting groups (3 minutes)Children will go to their designated room and use the first 5-7 minutes to try and locate others with the same attributes as on their badges. Teachers should help children to introduce themselves to one another as they match up attributes. The goal is to help children mingle and loosen up a bit.
9:20-10:05 Listening and communication skillsChildren will select colored slips of paper from one of two boxes (one for boys and one for girls) that will divide them up into groups of six (3 girls & 3 boys). Teachers will have large colored cards that they will hold up. The children will go to the teacher with the color that matches their slip to form the groups. This process will be used throughout the day and is intended to create new mixes of children within the groups. No child will be allowed to enter the same teacher’s group more than once. Children will reach in and get a color until they receive one that is different from one that they received before.
A key element in a person's ability to interact in an ethical way, and to positively impact one's own ethical development is listening and communication skills. A surprisingly difficult skill for children to master is the ability to pay attention to and process what other people are saying. It is also difficult, not only for children, but for adults as well, to take what another person says into account in offering one's own response to what another person has to say. Research on moral development indicates that moral growth is related to a person's ability to engage in this type of communicative interaction. Thus, before we enter into activities that engage the children in social problem solving, we start off the morning with some listening and communication games.1. Listening game (5-10 minutes)
This is similar to the "post-office" game the children already know, except in this case, the idea is to have the message be as accurate as possible.
Children are placed in mixed gender groups of three. The first child, using a low voice so that only the second child can hear, tells the second child in the group something interesting about him or herself. The second child then restates, as accurately as possible to the third child what the first child said. The first child evaluates whether or not the paraphrase was an accurate one. The process continues until each child has a turn at each role.
2. Elaboration Game (15-20 minutes)
The topics listed for this exercise and the rebuttal game are ones subject to change after discussion with the participating teachers during their training sessions.
Children are brought together into groups of 6 with a teacher as observer and moderator. The teacher asks each student to say his or her name by way of introduction. The teacher then provides the groups with a shared issue to discuss:
(Should a person your age be allowed to stay up until 11:00 on a school night to watch TV?).
The first person in each group provides a response. The second person then paraphrases the gist of the first speaker's position, and then elaborates upon, or extends the first person's argument. This continues until all members of the group have had a turn at providing an elaboration. The teacher indicates whether or not each turn was a successful paraphrase and elaboration, and helps out in cases where this doesn’t occur.
3. Rebuttal Game (15-20 minutes)
This game follows the same procedure as in the elaboration game except that now each speaker must provide an accurate paraphrase and a statement refuting the previous speaker's position. The issue to be used is:
Should there be a rule that people have to raise their hand in order to speak in class?
4. Communicative Discussions About Practical Social Issues (5 Minute introduction)
This brief introduction will begin with an informal conversation led by the teacher about two different ways in which we can discuss things with people. The first way is to attempt to win the argument through persuasion or other means. The second is to try hard to arrive at a shared position based on the best ideas and reasons provided. This approach in which we really try to communicate and come to shared understandings is one in which everyone is a winner because everyone learns from the conversation. Children will be given a handout with the rules for how to have such a discussion. Teachers will serve as guides to help children stay on task and employ the process of communicative discussion.
Teachers will review the handout to be sure that the children understand the goals of the process. This is the format that the teacher should encourage the students to use in discussions throughout the day. A copy of the handout given to the children appears on the next page.
General principle: The purpose of a good discussion is to work with others to come up with the best set of ideas or ways to deal with a situation. In an argument or a debate, only one side wins. In a good discussion, everybody wins!
9 Rules for Discussion
1. Think before you speak.2. Listen carefully to what others have to say.
3. Do not interrupt when someone else is speaking.
4. Make use of what others have to say when it is your turn to speak.
5. Only say what you truly believe.
6. Do not remain silent. Make sure to contribute to the discussion.
7. Let other people speak. Do not hog the discussion. Once you are done speaking, let at least two other people talk before you speak again.
8. Support good ideas that other people have, even if they are different from your own.
9. Search for the best solution even if it is different from the way that you thought at first.
Throughout the day, children will be engaged in discussions and role-play activities. When setting up a role-play, scripts are given to all of the children in the group so that everyone can follow along as the roles are played out.
10:10-10:30 SESSION I (fairness and welfare) 10:10(20)
Choosing up (role play and discussion)
In this role-play and the others in the seminar day, scripts are given to all of the children in the group so that everyone can follow along as the roles are played out.
The teacher randomly assigns each student a role within the script. Students may not choose the role they are going to play. The roles are: team captain, good player 1, good player 2, good player 3, popular below average player A, nerdy poor player B
Teacher: In this scene the team captain is choosing sides for kickball. He/she is choosing second.Teacher asks for the students to enact the following script. The teacher should ask the students to try and really identify with the character that they are playing.
Teacher Reads: At this point, the other team has chosen all of its players and there are two kids left to pick from for the last spot on a team.Team captain: Okay. I need to choose up sides for kickball. So let’s see, my first pick is (use name of child who is player1).Player 1: All right! Who are you going to pick next?
Team captain: Let’s see. Um, I pick (uses name of player 2)
Player 2: Yeah! Pick (uses name of player 3) next.
Player 1: That’s right go for (names player 3) next.
Team captain: I pick (names player 3).
Player 1 and 2 together: This team’s going to be great.
The teacher directs a discussion around the decision and the process used to decide who should be picked as the last player.Team captain: I’ve got one more pick. Gee, who should I choose?___________
Team captain and the three players are directed by the teacher to deliberate who to pick next. They are given the following descriptions of the two remaining players.
Player A : Isn’t a great kickball player, but kids like him/her. He/she is fun to be with.
Player B: Is not very good at kickball at all, and not very popular. Everyone thinks he/she is a dork.
The two children who are remaining are directed to eavesdrop on the deliberations.
Group Discussion
Teacher: 1. To team captain: Okay, who are you going to pick next?
2. To child representing the player not chosen:
(Name) Why don’t you tell us the child you are representing in the role-play how you feel about the team captain’s decision.
(Names) Why don’t both of you tell us what you think of the process the other kids used to decide who should be picked.To both children who were in the position of being last chosen:
To the four children who were engaged in the decision-making process:(Names) Why don’t you tell us what your reasons were for why you decided the way you did, and how you were feeling about things.
Okay. Now everybody, lets talk about this as who we really are. Let’s see if we can come to an agreement as to what would be the best, most fair way to decide this taking everything into account.NOTE: Try to get the children to deal with the dilemma that is being presented rather than have them immediately escape by saying that they could have more kids on a team.
END 10:30
10:30-10:40 Physical Activity
10:40-10:45 Teachers collect the balls and children select new colors for next group activity.At this point the children will need a break from the cognitive work they have been doing. We will also have a break in the afternoon. The session leader brings everyone together into a large group and explains the rules for use of the large balls. The goal is to try to keep the balls moving around the room without touching the ground. Players must travel in "crab" fashion, they can strike the ball with their feet, but they may not stand up. Sometimes children may spontaneously divide up into two teams and try to move the balls to the wall behind the opposing team.Teachers release the balls and the fun begins.
10:45-11:00 SESSION II Conventions, Social Hierarchy and Manners
This session introduces a discussion about conventional social rules. The children in this program are at an age where they will begin to question whether these rules need to be followed at all since they are perceived as simply the arbitrary dictates of authority - based on long-standing habit and little else. This phase will be replaced in time with an understanding that such rules serve to structure social interactions and social systems. But that position is years off. The purpose of this exercise is to help children make it through this negation phase without undue conflict and strain on themselves and adults around them.
When children reach this realization, they have three typical modes of response:
Schools can minimize the first 2 responses by eliminating unnecessary rules. We can also acknowledge the arbitrary nature of such rules, but work on maintaining harmonious social life and appeal to mode 3.ignore rules - sometimes defiantlyfollow the rules to avoid negative sanctions
go along not to cause harm over something small like an arbitrary social rule
Manners
This exercise uses reflective discussion to allow the children to develop a set of shared positions about conventional norms.
Teacher introduces the topic with the following:
Forms of Address using Titles
Teacher:
Okay - has anyone noticed that when students talk to teachers they are supposed to use their titles and first names, but when teachers talk with students they use their first names? What do you think about that?
Suppose that a student lived with a family where the kids called their parents by first names. So, the student decides that she likes that better and decides to start calling her teachers by their first names too.
What do you think of that? Was the student wrong to call the teacher by her first name?
Has anybody had a teacher where it was okay to call by the first name? Which way do you think is better - or does it matter?
Why do you suppose that teachers are called by titles, but students are not?
Do you think that students should have to go along with these rules or not?
What do you think would be the best reason for a student to go along with school norms about addressing teachers by their last names?
Have you ever heard people talking about "good manners"? What does that mean anyhow?
You know in India there are places where you eat most of the food with your right hand instead of using a spoon or a fork. What do you think of that?
Suppose that a kid moved to Park Ridge from a village in India and started eating his spaghetti at the school cafeteria using his hands instead of a fork. Would that be okay? Would it be better if he used a fork, or would it matter?
Which way would be good manners? So, what determines good manners anyway?
Can you come up with some examples of good manners in our culture?
Using the examples ask:
Does it matter really whether or not people do X? How do you think it would change things if nobody did X?
What does it say about a person if they have poor manners?
What would be the best reason for using good manners?
111:00 –11:05 Children select new colors to form new group.
11:05-11:25 SESSION III Moral/Conventional Conflict
A key element in ethical leadership is the ability to identify and resolve situations in which the prevailing conventions or norms are in conflict with fairness, rights, and people’s welfare. We are going to address these issues at least twice in this seminar day, once in this session, and then again through a contrived convention around lunch. The lunch situation will hopefully help the children to become sensitive to the ways in which everyday social roles (in this particular situation, gender based) often place people in positions of relative privilege and disadvantage. In many cases, children are in the privileged position without recognizing it as such.
In this morning session the issue will deal with children as the disadvantaged group. A situation of this sort common to children’s experience is that they are paid less by adults for the same job than an older adolescent or adult. This is a "near" experience that can provide the basis for entry into reasoning about more distal issues such as child labor laws and their relation to consumer goods the children purchase in the US. This moves the children from a self-centered application of their sense of injustice to seeing that they can be in the position of privilege relative others.
Children’s Wages (role play and discussion)
The teacher assigns roles to three girls
Roles:
Marcy 11 years old, younger sister. Karen 16 year old, older sister
Mrs. Barkley Narrator
Once the roles are assigned, the teacher asks the narrator to begin
Narrator: In this scene we have a girl who is 11 (Marcy), her sister (Karen) who is 16, and a woman (Mrs. Barkley) needs to hire a baby-sitter. Her regular baby-sitter is the younger sister, Marcy. However, she is busy and can’t do it. So, Mrs. Barkley asks her older sister, Karen, to baby-sit for her.
Karen: [Talking with younger sister] Hi Marcy. Guess what. I agreed to baby-sit for Mrs. Barkley this weekend. So, you don’t have to worry about it.
Marcy: That’s great! How much is she paying you?
Karen: $5
Marcy: What! She only pays me $3!
Karen: Well, I am in high school you know. I guess she figures that she should pay me more because I am older after all.
Marcy: This stinks. I’m gonna call Mrs. Barkley and see what gives.
Marcy: [On phone] Hi Mrs. Barkley, my sister (Karen) told me that you pay her $5 to baby-sit, but you only offered me $3.
Mrs. Barkley: [On phone] Well, (Marcy) your sister is five years older than you. I think that $3 is a good wage for an eleven year old.
Marcy: But, I am doing exactly the same job, and I baby-sit more for you than she ever does.
Mrs. Barkley: Yes, but you are only 11 and your sister is in high school. I am offering you $3, take it or leave it.
Group Discussion
Teacher opens discussion with the boys:
Well, what do you think Marcy, the younger sister should do, accept the baby-sitting job at the wage Mrs. Barkley is offering or not? How come?Teacher: Girls - answer the question of what she should do as the person whose role you are playing:
Mrs. Barkley; Karen (older sister); Marcy (younger sister)
Teacher: Okay, let’s work on this together now as we are.
Is it okay for Mrs. Barkley to offer the younger sister less than her older sister?How come?Do you think older teenagers generally get paid more than younger kids?
What reasons can you think of for why older teenagers might get paid more for the same job than younger kids.6a. Is this really something the older sister should get involved in, or is this just something between the younger sister and Mrs. Barkley?What do you think of those reasons?
Taking everyone into account, what would be the best thing for Mrs. Barkley to do in this situation? Why is that the best thing?
Okay, one last thing. We talked about what the younger sister should do, and what Mrs. Barkley should do. But suppose Mrs. Barkley stays with her original offer to the younger sister, should the older sister do anything in that case?
Teacher: gently probe - don’t push the children to consider whether or not a person in a position of advantage has an obligation to help change conventional arrangements that put another person at a disadvantage.
END 11:25
11:25-11:30 Children select new colors to form new groups.
11:30-11:55 SESSION IV Personal/conventional conflict
The most frequent source of conflict between early adolescents and adults stems from the increasing claims that children of this age make regarding their areas of privacy, discretion, and personal control. In many cases both adults (parents and teachers) and children recognize issues as within children’s zones of personal prerogative. Conflicts arise, however, around issues children see as personal and parents or teachers view as conventional or matters of prudence. The key for children is to recognize that parents may have legitimate reasons for their positions, and to learn how to negotiate and compromise, rather than confront parents and teachers over these things.
The Messy Room (10 Mins.)
Teacher assigns roles to 1 boy as the child, and 1 girl as the mom, and 1 boy as the narrator.
Roles:
Mom Son/Daniel Narrator
Narrator: In this scene we have a boy named Daniel, who is 11, and his mom. It is Saturday morning and the mom wants Daniel to clean up his messy room.
Mom: Daniel, it’s Saturday, and its time for you to clean up your room.
Daniel: Oh mom, why do I have to do this? It doesn’t look bad to me.
Mom: Well it looks like a mess, and today’s the day that we are supposed to get the house cleaned up.
Group Discussion
Teacher: Okay, what do the rest of you think Daniel should do here?
How come?
Who do you think is right in this case, Daniel or his mom? How come?
Teacher: To the boy who plays Daniel, "Really get into your role as Daniel and tell us how you see the situation.
Teacher: To the other students: "Do you think he has a point here in arguing that it is his room after all?" [Teacher should also highlight other points that the child playing Daniel might offer on his behalf.]
Teacher: To the girl who plays the mom in the skit: "(child’s name) in your role as the mom, explain to us how you see this situation. Tell us why you want the room cleaned up, and why you think its right to expect your son to go along.
Teacher: Okay, what do the rest of you think about what the mom has to say?
Teacher: Okay, let’s brainstorm here, and come up with advice we could give Daniel that would help him out in this situation.
Note to teacher: Let the children generate their own solutions, but gently guide them toward solutions that allow the child to arrive at a fair compromise that recognizes the child’s claim to his room, and yet allows him to meetthe mother’s request in a broad sense.
The Mall (10 Mins.)
Teacher gives three different children tasks: 2 girls and 1 boy are assigned roles, 1 student is narrator.
Roles:
Mom Dad Daughter/Alison Narrator
Once roles have been assigned the teacher asks the narrator to begin.
Narrator: In this scene, we have a mom and dad, and their daughter Alison who is 12. She wants to go to the mall with her friends. Her parents don’t allow her to go there on her own.
Alison: Hi mom, Jenny and I want to go to Golf Mill Saturday. Can I go?
Mom: No, Alison I don’t want you going there on your own.
Alison: Dad, can you help me out on this?
Dad: I’m not getting in the middle of this. You know that we don’t want you going to the mall on your own.
Alison: You people never let me do anything! It’s my life you know.
Group Discussion
Teacher: Okay to get us started; let’s get clear about the mom’s point of view here. So, [referring to the student playing the mom] tell us in you role as the mom, how you view your daughter Alison’s request, and why you don’t allow her to go to the mall alone.
Teacher: Referring to the three children who observed the role-play: What do you think of the mom’s position here?
Teacher: Okay, now let’s hear from the dad. [Referring to the boy who played the dad] Tell us how you view this situation, but especially why you say that you don’t want to get in the middle of this.
Teacher: Referring to the three children who observed the role-play: What do you think of the dad’s position here? Should he take sides with the daughter in this case? How come?
Teacher: Okay, now let’s hear from the daughter. Alison, tell us your view of things.
Teacher: [Referring to the entire group]
What do you think of the daughter’s point of view here?
Is this something that she should be able to decide to do?
Does it matter how old she is? How come?
Okay, let’s brainstorm here, and come up with advice we could give this girl and her parents that would help them to resolve this situation.
Note to teacher: Use the same basic approach as in the previous scenario.
Reflection (5 mins.)
Teacher: Okay let’s take a few moments to think together about what was similar in the last two situations.
What would say was different about the mall situation, and cleaning up the room?
1a. Which one would you say dealt with the more important issue? How come?
Probe: Okay , the mall situation involved safety. What are parents’ responsibilities in those situations?
What would you say was similar about the advice you came up within both situations?
Probe: Okay, why is it important to negotiate and compromise on these sorts of things?
Okay, one last thing. Suppose you were the girl (Alison’s) friend, and her parents would not allow her to go.
How do you think her friend should react? How come?
Lunch preparation (5 mins.)
Teacher: All right. We are now finished with the morning session, but before we break, I need to give you some instructions about lunch.
FOR GROUPS IN THE GYM ONLY:
We are going to be eating in the multi-purpose room where we had the opening of the seminar day. BUT, before we go there, I need to give you some additional instructions.
FOR EVERYONE:
The boys are going to handle everything for lunch. The girls will be asked to be seated when its time to eat, and the boys will take your orders, bring you your sandwich and drink, and they will also clean up afterwards. So, girls you can go off on break now, and you will be called when its time to eat.
Boys, your job will be to find out what the girls want for lunch and serve them. You can either each serve one girl, or you can work in teams. That is up to you. The boys are also going to serve the teachers. Once you have finished serving the girls and teachers, then you can get your own lunch and eat. You will need to finish up quickly, because you will also be responsible for cleaning up afterwards. That means clearing away any trash, and drink containers. Okay; go on over to the lunch area now so that you will be ready to start serving lunch.
LUNCH 12:00-12:30
12:30-12:35 Children return to the gym. Children obtain color slips and form new groups
12:35-12:50 Lunch Structure Follow-up Discussion/Moral-Conventional Social hierarchy
Teacher: Okay, before we get into the afternoon activities, I would like to know your reactions to how the lunch was set up. Let’s hear from the girls first.
Probe questions:
1. Was it nice to have the boys do all the work?
2. Did you think it was fair to have the boys do everything in terms of serving food and cleaning up afterwards?
Okay now let’s hear from the boys:
Elicit boys’ point of view.
Now let’s talk about this together.
Who usually does this sort of thing at home? How come? What do you think of that?
1a. Would it be okay to just not do any of these jobs, I mean not clean up, or do the dishes and stuff?
Okay, so somebody has to do this stuff. -
So, how should we determine who does different jobs around the house? What do you think is the best way to do that? Do you think the way we do things now is the best way?
Who do think has the most responsibility to try to change the way things are run at home, the men or the women? How come?
Teacher: You know what I just thought of guys? This whole situation reminds me of the issue from this morning where the older sister got paid more than the younger one. Does anybody else see that?
What’s similar about the younger sister getting paid less, and the fact that the mom usually does most of the work around the house?
Interesting isn’t it? Can you think of other situations where the way things are set up isn’t really fair? How should we deal with those situations?
12:50-1:10 SESSION V: Justice versus Vengeance
Teacher: Okay let’s shift gears a bit. We’ve been talking today about different things that have to do with fairness and how we treat other people. Sometimes it happens that we are the ones who end up on the short end of things.
How do you guys feel when someone does something mean or unfair to you?
What do you feel like doing to the person who was mean or unfair to you?
Okay, that’s what this next situation is about.
The Movie
Teacher gives children tasks, 3 girls and 1 boy are assigned roles, 1 boy is Narrator # 1; 1 boy is Narrator # 2.
Roles:
Popular girl 1/Ginny Popular girl 2/Caitlin Unpopular girl/Jennifer
Jack/Jennifer’s brother Narrator #1 Narrator #2
Once roles have been assigned the teacher asks the narrator to begin.
Narrator 1: In this scene we see two popular girls, Ginny and Caitlin discussing who to get together to go to see the movie "The Perfect Storm."
Ginny: Boy I would really like to invite Jack - he is sooo cute. But if we invite him, we have to invite his creepy sister too.
Caitlin: Ugh, she is the worst. I like have to hold my nose to be near her, she’s so fat and gross. I mean is she adopted?
Ginny: I know! We can tell her that we are all going to see the movie in the next theater. We can get Jack to get her into the theater and then once it starts he can say he has to get popcorn and ditch and her and then join us.
Caitlin: Oh - you are so evil. I love it. But, we have to get Jack to go along.
Ginny: Don’t worry, he’ll do it. Besides his mother always makes him drag her along. He doesn’t like her any more than we do.
Narrator 1: At the movies: Jack and his sister are sitting together.
Jennifer: Jack, where is everybody else.
Jack: Don’t worry they’ll be here soon. Hey, listen I have to go get some popcorn. [Jack leaves]
Narrator: 1/2 hour passes
[The girl portraying Jennifer acts this out as the narrator reads.] Jennifer is really anxious. She looks in the lobby. Then she pokes her head into the next theater and sees Jack with the other kids. Jennifer is devastated, and goes back to her seat in the other theater.
When the movie ends, Jack and the other kids leave without Jennifer who is left alone at the theater
Teacher: Okay folks, let’s just take a second here. How does Jennifer feel right now?
How do you think she feels toward her brother and his friends? Okay. Try to get that feeling for yourself for a minute and let’s follow the rest of the story.
Narrator 2: Its a week later and Jennifer is still upset at what happened to her. And then it happened! The school arranges for everyone to go to Great America as long as they have their money and parent permission forms in on time. The day before the Great America trip, Jennifer goes to the school office to do her service hours helping the school secretary. When she arrives, the secretary asks her to take care of things in the office while the secretary goes to the bathroom. Jennifer is all alone in the office when she notices something amazing. All of the Great America parent permission slips are sitting on the secretary’s desk. Then Jennifer gets an idea for what she calls "sweet revenge." All she has to do is go through the pile quickly and get her brother’s and the popular girls’ permission forms from the pile. No one will know until its too late - and the kids who treated her so mean at the movie won’t get to go to Great America.
Teacher:
What do you think Jennifer should do? Why? (There is no chance that she will get caught or get in trouble.)
Well let’s say that Jennifer does destroy the permission forms and the kids who treated her badly don’t get to go to Great America. Wouldn’t that be justice? Why?/Why not?
Have you ever gotten "sweet revenge" on somebody? How does it feel?
Is there any difference between justice and revenge? What would the difference be?
If you were Jennifer’s friend, and you knew how hurt she was by what her brother and the girls did, what advice would you give her? How come? Why is that good advice?
NOTE: Teacher may wish to ask kids to answer the above questions both in terms of the people whose roles they were playing and as themselves.
Those were some great ideas. Let’s take a moment and write down some suggestions for what a person should do when someone else has done something unfair or mean to them. How should you react? What are some good ideas about what to do in that kind of situation?
After the participants have had some time to write down their ideas, the teacher would then ask:
Okay, let’ share some of these ideas. The teacher asks students to share their suggestions.
1:10-1:35 SESSION VI
Responding To Peer Pressure (Asch Conformity Situation)
Teacher: Okay, we are going to shift gears again. Let’s look to the front of the room and see what we will be doing next.
____
At the front of the room will be the group leader, 2 children 1 boy and 1 girl selected during lunch, and two teachers.
Projected on a screen are 5 lines of different lengths. Two of the lines are very close to one another in length, though distinguishable if looked at carefully.
Session Leader: "Okay, can everyone see the lines on the overhead?"
Okay, I am going to ask the 4 students who are up front here to say which of these lines is the longest one. Please do not talk while we are doing this. Do not talk with your neighbor. We will all do something together in a minute.
Session Leader: Asks first child, "Which line do you think is longest?"
Child 1: This is kind of hard, but I would say it is line D." [The second longest
line.]
Session Leader to first teacher: "Okay, which do you think is the longest?
Teacher 1: "Well, I was torn between line D and line A (the actual longest line), but
now that I think about it, I guess it is line D."
Session Leader to second teacher: "Well, how about you, which is the longest?"
Teacher 2: "Boy this is tough. I"ll go along with D."
Session Leader to Child 2: "Well, 3 people have said D, what do you think?"
Child 2: "Yeah, it’s D."
__
Session Leader to entire group:
"Okay, what I want you to do now is quietly write down in your notebook which line you think is the longest, and quietly pass your answer to your teacher."
Teachers then tally how many votes for each line.
Session Leader then has the teachers announce their tallies.
Session Leader: "Okay, some of you said line A, but some of you also said line D."
Really, the longest line is line A.
Group Discussion
In small groups teachers discuss the following:
How come you changed your mind?"How many of you who put down line A weren’t sure and thought it might be line D?"
Why weren’t you sure? What made you think it might be line D?"
Did anybody who put down line A, change your mind and end up putting
down line D?"
What does this exercise tell us about ourselves?
1:35-1:45 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: LIMBOWhat should we do, when we know that we are right, but other people are
trying to get us to go along with what is not right?
Let’s brain storm bout this a bit.
Okay, now what I would like you to do is to write down some suggestions
to yourself in your notes.
Session Leader: Okay everybody; let’s form two lines. It’s Limbo time!As in the morning the children need a break from all of the cognitive activity. The teachers set up two limbo lines using two broom sticks at either end of the room. A record player is turned on to the song, "Limbo rock."
1:45-1:50 Children obtain color slips and form new groupsEach time a line goes through, the broomstick is lowered until one child remains who can make it under the bar.
Teacher:1:50-2:30 SESSION VIII
Defining Myself and What Sort of Person I Want to Be
Okay guys, now we are going to do something a little different. What I would like you to do is to use words and describe yourself as you are now. What sort of person would you say that you are? What are your characteristics? We aren’t going to read this out loud here so just go ahead and write things down for your self.
(Allow about 3-5 minutes)
Okay, now I want you to think about yourself again - but this time imagine your ideal self. This is the person you would really like to become. Not just what career you want to have, like be a doctor or a famous sports figure, but what sort of person inside that you would ideally like to be. Take a few minutes and on a new page, write down in words a description of your ideal self.
(Allow about 3-5 minutes.)
Great! Okay, now think about what sort of person you would least like to become. What is the sort of person you would least want to be like. On a new page describe this version of yourself as the person you would least want to become.
(Allow about 3-5 minutes.)
Excellent! Now comes the fun part. Go back and make a drawing on each page of the self that you have described. Start with the person you are now, then draw your ideal self, and then draw the person you would least want to become.
(Allow about 5-7 minutes)
Okay that was kind of fun wasn’t it? Okay, now comes the most interesting and maybe the hardest part. Now you have a sense of who you are and who you would ideally want to become, and who you really don’t want to turn into. What I would like you to do now is to think about who you can become in the next two years if you really work at it. What kind of values will you have? What kind of skills will you develop? Get a new page in your notebook and describe who you are going to become in the next two years.
(Allow about 3-5 minutes)
Okay, let’s get together and talk about things for a little bit. We each have just given some thought to what kind of person we want to become in the next two years. Let’s brainstorm together to come up with some ideas about how each of us is going to meet that goal and become the sort of person we imagine ourselves being two years from now.
[Teacher records all of the suggestions without comment.]
Okay let’s go through all of these ideas and come up with the ones that are best. Is there any that maybe we should eliminate? [et cetera until the participants have determined their best strategies list.]
Session Evaluation (2:30-2:35)
Teacher: Okay, this is our last activity before we have the closing ceremony. We would like each of you to take a couple of minutes to give us your honest feedback about the Ethical Leadership Day. Please do not put your name anywhere on the form - just give your honest views. I am also filling out a form as well.
[Forms are distributed and collected by staff assistants.]
Closing Ceremony Setup (2:35-2:45)
Parents and guests enter and take places behind the participants.
Closing Ceremony
Dr. Schroeder leads the closing ceremony including remarks, and the awarding of certificates and placques.