Dilemma Story Workshop – Session 4

Plan for today  History & philosophy of dilemma pedagogy  Dilemma story pedagogy  Values learning through ethical dilemmas  Types of thinking involved  Role of the teacher  Structure of dilemma stories  Structure of dilemma lessons  Structure your own dilemma story

History and Philosophy  Kohlberg’s student Carol Gilligan  critical of Kohlberg’s model  Kohlberg’s stage model did not describe accurately girls’/women’s moral development  Gilligan’s model is focused around relationships and care  Ethics of Care

A useful model for 21 st Century schools Felicity Haynes combined 3 types of ethics:  Ethics of Justice – Ethics of Consistency  Ethics of Care  Ethics of Consequences

The Borromean Knot of Ethics after Lacan (Haynes, 1998) All 3 types together provide a valuable framework for educating young decision- makers!

Dilemma story pedagogy Lessons are structured into alternate phases of:  Storytelling  Individual reflection  Collaborative reflection  discussion  Role of the teacher different from ‘normal’ classes

Typical dilemma unit… ‘Activities during a ‘typical’ dilemma unit’ (as suggested by Gschweitl et al, 1998)1998

Climate Change Dilemma Science

When to use dilemma stories?  At the beginning of a topic – as an introduction, to raise interest in a new topic  In the middle of a topic – to enhance ongoing learning  At the end of a topic – as a culmination of learning.  Not too often but regularly!

Learning of values  Traditionally direct instruction – lecture style  Students listen and learn values by heart

Constructivist approaches to values learning:  Students construct their own knowledge  Students construct their own values  Teacher does NOT tell students what to think, what not to think!  Teacher guides discussion!

The teacher’s role  Facilitator  Storyteller  Devil’s advocateadvocate  Provider of learning opportunities – storyteller

Potential pitfalls for teachers A poor ethics teacher:  indoctrinates!  steers discussion in his/her preferred direction!  tells students their response is ‘wrong’!  chooses only topics interesting for him/herself!

Students’ role – active learner

Individual Learning  forced to think critically about a solution to a dilemma situation  forced to reflect critically on one’s own values  Important: “Explain your answer...why did you choose...?  Explanation forces students to think more deeply about the issue!

Collaborative Learning  Sharing of one’s values, opinions and decisions is not common in most conversations  Being confronted with other people’s opinions  Learning about other people’s values and opinions

Student might think...  “Maybe their decision is better than mine?”  “Maybe they thought of something that had not occurred to me at all?”  “Maybe I like their opinion better?”  “Maybe after listening to others I will certain that my opinion is good?”

Types of thinking involved  Critical thinking – Bloom’s Taxonomy, left brain activity  Critical reflection – focusing on self, inwards, right brain activity  Values learning through ethical dilemma stories is therefore a whole brain activity!

How to build a dilemma story?  See Handout  Brainstorm topics for own story

Homework  Write own dilemma story  Where and how does your story fit in the curriculum or in your context?  Micro-teach own dilemma story  Improve story

If you think this is hard and you can’t do it watch this!  dxCY&feature=related dxCY&feature=related