Article #2
Knowledge Sets and
Ethical Values to Be Imparted in Systems of Public Education
Schools in systems of public
education function along with family, religious organizations, and social and
political assemblages as the key institutions influential in determining human
behavior. When a person's genetic inheritance and biological
development during the first five years of life interact with one's environment
as determined by these institutions and by life experiences, a person becomes
all that she or he is and shall be.
Because people between the ages
of five and eighteen spend so much time in school, the knowledge and values
acquired in the school setting determine much of the individual's information
base and ethical values. Greatest care
must be taken, therefore, as to the knowledge and values transmitted.
As to knowledge, each student
should be given the foundation to pursue any profession that she or he
selects. At K-5, curriculum should emphasize mathematics, biology,
chemistry, physics, history, government, economics, psychology, American and
world literature, English usage, the visual arts, and music.
These subjects should continue
to determine curriculum, with increasing experiences also with world languages
and the vocational and technological arts from middle school through high
school. Most students should upon such a firm foundation then be prepared
to take Advanced Placement courses and to opt for electives according to their
driving interests, academic aspirations, and professional goals.
Such a public education will
produce citizens positioned to dwell as culturally enriched, civically engaged,
professionally satisfied human beings living maximally for self and society on
this one earthly sojourn.
Ethical Values to Be
Imparted in Public Schools Overhauled for Curricular Excellence
School represents, along with
family, religious institutions, social organizations, and other life experience
a determinative force as a person's genetic and biological constitution
interacts with environment.
To produce an informed citizenry
in the generations to come, to replace the abysmally ignorant national populace
extant today, we must overhaul education for knowledge intensity and elevated
ethical content.
At their best, the world's major
belief systems offer values to be incorporated into a consensual ethical value
system >>>>>
>>>>> from Judaism, the
relentless aspiration to discover and live according to supreme justice and
righteousness;
>>>>> from Hinduism, the non-egotistical commitment
to >dharma< (moral law) in the pursuit of spiritual
liberation;
>>>>> from Confucianism, the
commitment to practical daily behavior for betterment of family and society;
>>>>> from Daoism, an appreciation for nature and
flexible response to both aversive and joyful events;
>>>>> from Christianity,
universal love for all humankind;
>>>>> from Buddhism, deep compassion for all beings
in lives of firm mental and moral discipline;
>>>>>
from Islam, steadfast and undistracted devotion to supreme truth and
disciplined personal behavior.
In our classrooms, we must
conduct vigorous discussions focused on these exalted moral values, with a
commitment to go forth in the world with love for all human beings, deep
appreciation for nature, and a commitment to the best life for all on this one
earthly sojourn.
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