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Monday, September 13 was the first day of my Principles of Ethical Reasoning class. From the minute I stepped into the classroom, and by the way the classroom was set, it struck me immediately that this class would have a different type of atmosphere and learning experience than the other classes at Sir Sandford. The classroom was set so that all the students were sitting in a circle as if we would be involved in a tribal meeting of sorts. Born and raised in Montreal, by strict Muslim morals and values, this type of atmosphere and setting was something I was used to in a religious ceremony at the Mosque (our place of worship). Immediately I felt a sense of home and comfort, knowing that the whole class would be involved in the learning experience, not by one ideology or thinking, but by sharing and discussing, and learning from each other on an individual basis. John, what I felt from you on a first impression basis, was that you were probably arrogant, and all knowing.
I guess this is just a feeling that all students feel about their teachers prior to getting to know them. You came off strong talking about certain rules and goals you wanted the class to attain before it's 15 week duration was over, yet I felt a sort of wisdom in your voice. None the less, I was ready to give you and the class a chance, even though after reading the course outline I felt the class was bull censored . (You wanted honesty). I did not realize until the end of the class the severity and importance of this class, and also, at the end of the day when I pondered my thoughts and read a few excerpts from your book. What we discussed in class began with honesty.
The question brought up by you was if honesty is a personal quality like shyness. We discussed this question in depth in-groups of 5 - 6 people. We all expressed our opinions freely. My feelings toward this question were "unlike shyness honesty can be controlled. " If one chooses to lie instead of tell the truth, it is something (s) he has chosen to do.
Where as shyness is something uncontrolled. A person will become shy in a certain situation whether (s) he wanted to feel that way or not. I can go as far as saying that for some people it is a lot harder to lie than for others, but it still does not compare to shyness. It may indeed be a personal quality but it is not a virtue. I felt the question should have been more posed towards whether honesty was a virtue or not. I feel that religion, morals and ethics have a big role on how honest a person can be, and this most definitely has an impact as to whether honesty is imbedded in a person for life.
One may know how it's wrong to lie, but still might lie freely, where as others might lie freely not even knowing that they are going against societies morals and norms. To be honest is not a virtue, nor is it something one is born with, it is a learned behavior so that one can function in a society normally. The other situation discussed was if we were teaching a Police Foundations course and it came to our attention that two students cheated on an exam, would we "rat" them out within their future career. In accordance to the situation, one student apologized and the other was very aggravated that he got caught, not to mention his disrespect towards the teacher.
He also tried to justify his cheating. It is imperative to look at this situation critically and individually. Normally, a person can not bear his / her embarrassment, specially a teacher, and it is rare that many people now a day forgive and forget. It is possible that if I were in that situation I would rat the student out to his recruitment officer. Not only because the situation led to my embarrassment and disrespect, but also because I would not hope that a student of that caliber should be allowed to weed his way through Police recruitment.
But another situation arises as to my permissibility, legally, to inform the recruitment officer of where this student stands in my book. Because of it's illegality I would not know whether I would inform the recruitment officer anonymously, or if that would even alter the officer's opinion of the student. This is a depending situation upon the circumstances, so it was hard to judge what I would do sitting in class, as well as it is hard to judge now. Finally, you ended up the class with a remark that did not catch me off guard, the mention of a student and the students' feelings towards "packets and chinamen. " The fact that I was raised in Montreal, a very multi-cultural city, did not impede my lack of surprise. The fact is I've faced many racial situations, and at this point in my life I rarely tend to get surprised by such racial remarks, especially in Peterborough.
But the question was of freethinking and speech. How far can a teacher or society accommodate this practice? The student was freely expressing his / her feelings and experiences in an open environment of thinking and speech created by yourself, the teacher. None the less, these types of feelings and beliefs among racists and bigots can not be erased by lack of discussion. It is imperative that it be discussed in a monitored environment, to show these types of individuals the right path from the wrong. But your question also is if you have the right or responsibility to enforce your beliefs or experiences upon individuals, so that they 'can's ee the right from the wrong.
As a teacher I feel it is your responsibility to try and prevent people from having these feelings, specially a field such as Law Enforcement. But that unfortunately is not a decision we can make without considering societies norms and regulations. I truly feel that future classes within this course will be of a great benefit to myself as well as other students, because it makes one think. Bibliography:
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