For many of us, the learning opportunities our dynamic and enthusiastic presenters provided were highlights of the conference. The following language and ideas come directly from them!

Broad “Rules of Thumb”:

• Provide guardrails for kids: our job is to help them stay safe as they’re driving down life’s road. Examples of guardrails include asking questions to help promote thinking, cuing students with phrases they recognize, and respecting – but also supporting – the decision making development of each child. (Bill Taylor)
• Adolescents are a bundle of contradictions, and that’s a good thing. Teach to honor that and to respect them (BT)
• Kids need natural order (guardrails?) and expect adults to provide that. They also need relationships and seek those from adults. (Iona Whishaw)
• “Is this a ROARS emergency”? Use humor to diffuse situations while modeling the language and values (IW)
• Provide plenty of opportunities for teachers to think about ways they can uphold core ethical values in their classroom and outside of their classroom (IW)
• Make sure you get the language in place – and the relationships! Give adults time to think about and plan for this (IW)
• As a disciplinary approach, ask questions that stimulate thinking and dialogue (rather than telling a kid what they did wrong). (IW)
• Define safety as well beyond physical: explore “what constitutes safety” with other adults and with students. (IW)
• Develop a rubric of concrete behaviors (see Carousel of Values activity for one process that might work) for any list of values (IW)
• Look for ways that students can contribute real input to school policy-level issues. Make sure you can follow through on the answer before you ask the question! (Phil Hatton)
• Take advantage of sports to advance ethics – “sportsmanship” is ethics on the playing field
• For events like “Ethics Day”, building buy in from teachers is critical (Todd Horn)
• That buy in (above) comes from taking time and implementing a process that lets teachers think about the event over a series of meetings, without targeting a date (TH)

Specific, doable ideas:

• Try a “rewards card draw” every Friday (IW)
• Consider a (tongue in cheek) rehab approach for those who don’t uphold values – students and adults! (IW)
• Develop newcomer orientation around ethics and values (IW)
• Hold periodic conversations: what do we need to do to be more ethical? (“roarsy”) (IW)
• Create a space on line for student dialogue about ethical dilemmas and issues – assign one adult (techy) to monitor. (PH)
• Develop a working definition of plagiarism that everybody can recite and explain – especially teachers (Crowder Team)
• Consider a “stepped” approach to plagiarism infractions: don’t throw the book at a student on the first offense, but make sure learning takes place. Coordinate a “cheating report form” or other system so that all adults know the frequency of offenses – and students know they know! (CT)
• Take advantage of alumni or adults outside your school to come in and talk about their experiences with ethical decision making and/or ethical issues (personal or at work) (TH)
• Consider an “Ethics Day” as one way to build education across the school community – an “Ethics Day” includes a broad spectrum of students and adults in the school community, and is not really a “day”—it’s a thoughtful, coordinated year-long process! (TH)
• Respect development and interest range during Ethics Day – mix serious, “big” subjects with day-to-day ethics issues (TH)
• Circulate dilemmas through newsletters or electronically for faculty and staff to think through our use in Advisory (SGIS)
• Find a wide range of dilemmas so everyone has developmentally appropriate material for “Discussion Starters” (SGIS)
• Look for and circulate interesting news articles that present dilemmas and remind staff/faculty that ethics is real-world (SGIS)

We hope these items help you to advance your work in ethics this year at your school. Please contact us if you have any questions about anything here, or if you have new thoughts and ideas that build on these! Thanks again for your continued efforts to balance academic rigor with attention to the ethical development of young people.

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