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The Bridge to Civility: Empathy,
Ethics and Service
Developing a social consciousness in the young means engaging
them in meaningful activity
by Sheldon H. Berman, The School Administrator, May 1998
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In 1979, social psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner lamented that
it had become possible "for a person 18 years of age to graduate
from high school without ever having had to do a piece of work
on which somebody else truly depended ... without ever having
cared for, or even held, a baby; without ever having looked
after someone who was old, ill or lonely; or without ever having
comforted or assisted another human being who really needed
help." Bronfenbrenner concluded, "No society can long sustain
itself unless its members have learned the sensitivities,
motivations and skills involved in assisting and caring for
other human beings."
Without a sense of community and family, many young people lose
the connectedness that fosters these sensitivities, motivations
and skills. The result for these youths is incivility and apathy
as well as a lack of confidence that they can make a difference
to others and to the world as a whole.
Young people's disengagement with the social and political world
has become more serious over the past 30 years. In January 1998,
the Higher Education Research Institute reported that the
nation's college freshman were less connected to politics than
any entering class in the 32-year history of the study.
According to the study, this year's college freshmen are less
likely to believe that "keeping up to date with political
affairs," "becoming involved in programs to clean up the
environment" and "helping to promote racial understanding" are
important life goals. They have less desire than previous
freshmen classes to influence the political structure,
participate in a community action program, influence social
values or even discuss politics.
These findings are alarming because our democratic culture and
social wellbeing depend on the renewing energy of young people
who have the sensitivities and vision to help create a better
world. Indeed, the very fabric of our national community depends
on the degree to which we care about and treat each other with
respect and civility.
Nurturing a democratic culture and a civil society was the
central mission of public education at its inception. Although
we often pay lip service to this goal today, we have not
invested the necessary energy, thoughtfulness or financial
support to ensure its effective implementation. We have created
no equivalent to the National Science Foundation to support
basic research into the development of social consciousness
among young people or the development of exemplary curriculum
materials.
Schools have tended to relegate these vital issues to the social
studies curriculum where democratic participation is generally
taught through lecture and text rather than by engaging young
people in actively contributing to the wellbeing of others and
society.
Social Consciousness
Social understanding and social responsibility build on
children's desire to understand and feel effective in the social
world, to initiate and maintain connection with others and to
reach out to those in distress.
Research on the social development of children has revealed that
their awareness of the social and political world emerges far
earlier and their social and moral sensibilities are far more
advanced than we previously thought. This research indicates
that pro-social behavior is stimulated not so much by the
traditional constructs of efficacy and locus of control but by
much deeper sources-one's sense of self and one's morality,
one's sense of connectedness to others and the sense of meaning
that comes from contributing to something larger than oneself.
Young people are continually negotiating a sense of meaning,
place and commitment. In often subtle ways they ask: Do I have a
meaningful place in the social and political world? Are there
values that I can make a commitment to and people I can stand
with? Am I capable of contributing something useful to others
that they will welcome and appreciate? Do I have the courage to
act without guarantees of success?
Thus, social consciousness and social responsibility are not
behaviors we need to instill in young people, but rather
behaviors we need to recognize emerging in them. Contrary to the
stereotype of them as egocentric, children care about the
welfare of others and about issues of personal and social
fairness. To promote civility, nurture character and develop
civic commitment in young people requires that we reconnect them
with their community, help them understand and appreciate others
and show them that they can make a difference.
To teach these lessons, we must make the issues of care,
connection and civic action part of the core curriculum and
school culture. We must look thoughtfully at the ways young
people see society operating and help them develop a larger
sense of meaning for their lives. And we must apply what we know
about learning in general-that we learn best by doing rather
than by being told-to civil and civic education.
For the past five years, the Hudson, Mass., Public Schools has
pursued the teaching of civility, character and social
responsibility through instructional strategies focused on the
themes of empathy, ethics and service. We have embedded these
themes into the fabric of each chitd's school experience from
kindergarten through 12th grade. Though we have not completed
our journey, we have taken a sufficient step forward that our
efforts may help others trying to foster social responsibility
among young people.
A Focus on Empathy
Often educators react to children's incivility or challenging
behavior by tightening the school's behavior codes. Although
this might be a small part of the solution, young people's
problematic behavior is often a sign to adults that youngsters
do not know how to act with compassion, empathy and sensitivity
to the needs of others or in response to conflict. The most
productive instructional strategy for developing social
responsibility, therefore, is to teach young people skills in
empathy.
Empathy, in fact, may be an innate human attribute that is
either nurtured or inhibited by a child's environment. Martin
Hoffman, Judith Dunn and other researchers have noted signs of
empathy during infancy. This attribute can be developed by
helping children become sensitive observers of others' feelings
and helping them to understand the causes of those feelings.
Studying the development of empathy and moral behavior, Norma
Haan and her colleagues, in their book On Moral Grounds: The
Search for Practical Morality, found that children could think
in profoundly empathic and moral terms, but their behavior did
not reflect this ability because they lacked skill in handling
moral conflict. Thus, empathy is best taught by giving students
training and practice in perspective taking, conflict resolution
and assertiveness--the skills that enable them to maintain
clarity in conflictual and stressful situations.
Whether through role playing, analysis of children's literature
or dealing with actual classroom situations, we can help young
children understand and appreciate how others may feel and
experience a situation differently.
Many curriculum materials and programs are available in this
area. Hudson has been using an empathy development and anger
management program produced by the Committee for Children
entitled Second Step, along with conflict-resolution materials
from Educators for Social Responsibility. Second Step begins in
kindergarten and involves students in role plays and discussions
that help them identify others' feelings and practice ways of
appropriately responding. The program includes a parent
component as well so that these skills can be supported at home.
A recent study of Second Step, funded by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, found that it decreased physical and
verbal aggression and increased pro-social behavior. These and
other programs give students direct instruction in basic social
and emotional skills and involve the whole school in creating a
caring community that models respectful and empathetic behavior.
(See resource list.) Thus, through a school's curriculum and
culture, students can become sensitive to and considerate of the
feelings and needs of others while at the same time learning
ways to constructively deal with differences.
A Focus on Ethics
Young people also must find a moral center in themselves and
learn how to manage moral conflicts. The internalization and
ownership of ethical principles develops through a non-coercive,
open-minded approach that invites discussion, exchange, dissent
and understanding rather than demanding agreement and adherence.
Research by the late Lawrence Kohlberg and psychologist Carol
Gilligan, both of Harvard, among others, has shown that ethical
discussion can enhance moral reasoning and nurture such ethical
principles as justice and caring. Placing young people in
situations where they must work with real moral dilemmas in a
democratic community also nurtures moral action.
Consideration of ethics is an area that becomes contentious for
schools, with some individuals wishing to promote particular
religious principles within the curriculum and others advocating
for values neutrality. However, the character education movement
and the Character Education Partnership, in particular, have
helped adults see that we can come to agreement on such
collectively held values as trustworthiness, respect,
responsibility, justice, fairness, caring and citizenship.
Affirming these values while engaging students in dialogue about
moral issues provides an opportunity for schools to nurture
moral and pro-social behavior.
Good curricula in the area of ethical development are harder to
find than in the area of empathy. Our school district has
selected material from an elementary literature program
developed by the Developmental Studies Center in which students
read good literature that portrays pro-social themes. In
addition, we have created a core 9th-grade English-social
studies-civics course based on the essential question: "What is
a just society?" A central part of this course is the Facing
History and Ourselves curriculum.
This 9th-grade curriculum engages students in the study of the
roots of two 20th century genocides, the Holocaust and the
Armenian genocide, and confronts them with the human potential
for passivity, complicity and destructiveness by asking how
genocide can become state policy. The curriculum raises
significant ethical questions and sensitizes students to
injustice, inhumanity, suffering and the abuse of power.
The course is academically challenging and helps complicate
students' thinking so they learn not to accept simple answers to
complex problems. In the process of studying both a historic
period and the personal and social forces that produce genocide,
students confront their own potential for passivity and
complicity, their own prejudices and intolerances and their own
moral commitments. The curriculum enhances students'
perspective-taking and social reasoning abilities and provides
them with a greater sense of moral responsibility and commitment
to making a difference.
A Focus on Service
Finally, to truly encourage civility and civic responsibility we
must get young people involved in taking action that makes a
difference to others. They need to be an active part of the
solution rather than passive observers. The understandings they
develop through reflection need to be translated into action
either through community service opportunities or direct social
or political participation.
The research shows that young people who are active early in
life, whether in school or the larger community, are more likely
to be active as adults. Similarly, students who are given
greater responsibility often develop a greater sense of
responsibility. We tend to treat young people as "citizens in
preparation" rather than asking them to use their citizenship
skills by becoming active members of the community.
The Hudson Public Schools has made a strong commitment to
integrating community service learning into our curriculum for
all students. We are creating a consistent, system-wide approach
so that an ethic of service and an ethic of care is sustained
from kindergarten to graduation. In 1996-97, 80 percent of our
students were involved in service learning. Our goal is to
provide every student with such experiences marked by
continuity, depth and meaningfulness.
Teachers at each grade level develop their own initiatives. For
example, kindergartners are taking part this year in a
handicapped awareness program that raises funds for the March of
Dimes, a student-run recycling program tied to a environmental
studies science unit and a holiday toy drive linked to a social
studies unit on community. Our 4th graders are involved in an
environmental field studies program to protect wetlands and
other natural areas near our school. And our 9th-grade English
and social studies teachers are asking students to find ways
they can help create a just society through a service-learning
experience. Through a collaborative of 10 school districts, we
also are developing a student leadership program that provides
our middle and high school students with such leadership
training experiences as student leadership conferences, summer
institutes and courses.
A committee of teachers and administrators guides all our
efforts and has created community service learning reference and
resource kits for each school library, teacher guidelines for
projects, a list of 100 good ideas and a list of local
organizations.
To highlight the importance of service learning in the district,
the school board sets aside one of its meetings for a service
learning exposition in which all our projects are displayed and
parents and the community are invited to learn about our
students' efforts. In addition, special Superintendent's Awards
for Service are awarded to students at each school. To highlight
their importance, these awards are presented to middle and high
school recipients at the Hudson High School graduation.
Community service learning, however, is more than older children
tutoring younger children and more than students raising money
for a food pantry or entertaining the elderly at a retirement
home during the holiday season. True service learning helps
students make the connections between what they are studying in
class and real-world issues. It engages students in action and
reflection on important community, social, political and
environmental issues. And it requires educators to think of
students not as future citizens but as active members of their
community.
Encouraging trends are emerging nationally in the area of
service learning. Many states and school districts have pursued
initiatives with the support of the Corporation for National
Service. Most recently, the Education Commission of the States
has formed a K-12 Compact for Learning and Citizenship involving
school superintendents and chief state school officers in an
effort to provide national leadership in the areas of community
service learning and the use of community volunteers in the
schools. By providing a voice for school leaders to advocate for
effective programs, the compact could significantly advance the
quality and acceptance of service learning as a vehicle for the
development of civility, character and responsibility.
A Commitment to Community
Human beings often latch onto simple answers to complex
questions. The path to teaching civility and character is strewn
with curricula that provide students our own pleadings for them
to he good. But if we are truly concerned with helping young
people become good individuals and citizens, we must focus on
empathy, ethics and service to provide students with the skills
and experiences that give meaning to the concept of civility.
At a time when some members of the public contend that schools
are for nothing more than instruction in basic skills, it is
bold to make the commitment that Hudson has to teaching social
and emotional skills. We have not neglected making improvements
in our academic program as we believe that students benefit both
academically and socially from an education that integrates
challenging academics with a commitment to nurturing a caring
and civil community.
Hudson's focus on empathy, ethics and service helps young people
experience the sense of community that ties us together. Through
this experience young people begin to understand the meaning of
the common good, appreciate that their actions have consequences
for others and the community at large and develop a sense of
relatedness to and responsibility for the larger human
community. Thus, empathy, ethics and service are the bridge to
civility that enriches us all.
Sheldon Berman is superintendent of the Hudson Public Schools,
155 Apsley St., Hudson, Mass. 01749. E-mail:
shelley@concord.org.
He is past president of Educators for Social Responsibility and
author of Children's Social Consciousness, published in 1997 by
SUNY Press.
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