From Knowing to Caring: Teaching for Moral Motivation

This Faculty and Administration workshop presented by the Wake Forest University Educating Character Initiative is sponsored by the Mercer University Center for Leadership, Ethics and Service (MUCLES) under the Building Character on Purpose Program. This workshop builds on last year’s programming to further explore integrating character education in the classroom within the context of the Mercer University Mission. Participants will gain an increased understanding through this workshop on how to integrate character education into coursework and programming. Prior participation in MUCLES or Building Character on Purpose programming is not a prerequisite.

From Knowing to Caring: Teaching for Moral Motivation with Dr. Elizabeth Whiting, Educating Character Initiative, Wake Forest University

Faculty and staff workshop from 9 a.m.-noon Sept. 15, with lunch provided. Location: Mercer Innovation Center. Deadline to RSVP: Sept. 10.

Attendees will explore how to:

• Articulate their own and their colleagues’ hopes as educators more clearly
• Recognize various kinds of motivation sharing students’ (and educators’) behavior
• Identify specific motivations they hope their students embrace
• Craft learning experiences that tgive students a chance to embrace those motivations; i.e. care more deeply about something that matters

Deepening moral motivation is at the heart of character education, but shaping what students come to value can be ethically complex and practically daunting. This interactive workshop helps educators recognize the motivations influencing student behavior, clarify the motivations they hope to cultivate, and design learning experiences that invite students to care more deeply about things that matter.