Moral Compass Teaching Morality One

Moral Compass

Teaching Morality

One of the most important roles that a teacher plays is that of the moral example. Many children come into the classroom today with few examples of how to act in a moral manner. This is not necessarily because their parents cannot provide them with the example, but because their parents are often gone working while they are left with the TV and other children for examples. I think that by taking Bible classes and participating in weekly devotions at Azuza Pacific, I am preparing myself to be the moral example in my classroom.

Through taking Bible classes at Azuza Pacific, I have grounded myself in my beliefs. This way, it won't be easy for me to loose those beliefs even in the public school classroom. Furthermore, I have learned a great deal in my Bible classes about how to respond to issues that I might encounter in the classroom -- angry parents, slothful students, and difficult situations in my students home lives. Through my Bible classes, I have learned that I can handle these situations with grace and temperance. They have also convinced me that it is important to act as a moral example in the classroom. Because of my Bible classes, then, I have committed to doing this, although it may be very hard at some times. According to the University of Michigan, students in public schools tend to have a greater ability to make a moral decision ("Morality in Education," n.d.). I think this is an unfair advantage, so I plan to help my students be able to gain a spiritual maturity through their participation in my class.

One of the ways in which I will encourage students to do this is something I learned from weekly devotions. By participating in weekly devotions, I participated in a moral discussion with my friends. This was a time that we not only learned about our own morality, but also a time in which could discuss the moral issues of our own life. I plan to have my students hold similar discussions in the classroom. Because it is public school, these sessions will not be called devotions and they will not involve explicit Bible reading. However, this will be a time that my students know they are free to discuss any problem that they may be having and receive the non-judgmental reply.

I believe that one of the strengths of this plan is that it is far different from the moral values that most conservative Christians want to teach, and I think that this is where teaching morality in school has gotten its bad name. Shafersman (1991) discusses a religious right that wants to teach women to be subservient to men and that certain political forms are more godly than others. I believe this is going to far. What our children need is simply someone to show them how to make the right decisions. This is what I learned at Azuza Pacific -- I learned to use the Bible to make right decisions and to converse with my peers about those decisions to confirm their correctness. The principals of Christianity mandate certain fruits of the spirit, certain moral actions, and faith. I believe these are what should be modeled to the students. Garlikov (2000) notes that one of the main obstacles to teaching morality in the public schools is the fact that current schools of education do not require teachers to learn moral philosophy. At Azuza Pacific, I believe I have had a different experience, and I plan to use the moral philosophy I have learned in my classroom. In addition to offering this period each day when students can discuss their moral problems, I plan to be available to my students to talk on a one-on-one basis and I plan to be an advocate among other faculty for teaching students to have a moral compass.