:: Lt Gen (Retd) Arjun Ray :: -

This evening I wish to share with you the scientific and ethical idea of moral imagination for children. This is a key missing ingredient in leadership development especially in young minds. Moral imagination is a personal belief of the child and her world view that:

Man is innately good.

Character will always beat brains.

Moral laws and principles guide society and our daily conduct.

All religions have their vision of the Golden Rule - Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you. The Golden Rule, the law of reciprocity, is the core of all religions, of spirituality, and leadership. It will help to bring back compassion on our personal agenda.

There is nothing esoteric about moral imagination; it is a neuro-reality ? a reality based on the scientific finding that, the critical window for learning concepts and morality is in the primary years. Science and faith now agree that the moral foundation of a child is best developed in childhood.

Therefore, parents and teachers have a great responsibility to develop and nurture moral imagination in children by the following important steps:

Reading, reading and reading that leads to ethical reflection and imitation of moral and spiritual values. Any reading will not do. If child's imagination is going to be crammed by Pokemon, Tin Tin, and Terminator, that will become her aspiration. Any reading may improve language and vocabulary, but it may not develop the moral imagination. Reading, followed by reflection, has to be specific. Lists of books like Lord of the Rings, that arouse moral imagination, have to be drawn up.

We seldom help children to reflect on what they read. Even adults find reflection difficult. To read without reflection is as good as not reading. This is an area where parents and teachers need training on how to assist the child. To reflect. To enable a child to make sense of what she has read, the moral concepts have to be identified and explained with examples. Thereafter, they have to be made relevant in the daily life of the child.

Give them a first-hand experience of the world and experiential values through community service. Once again, doing community service without follow-up reflection is meaningless.

Practicing the core values of the school must become a habit by strictly following certain do's and don'ts and code of conduct. Habitability is the byword.

Music, dance, and art provide deeper and wider access to a moral world, and capacity for reflection.

Re-connect with nature as much as possible because it touches the depth of our spiritual lives.

Right from birth children start imagining what is good and bad, and what is right and wrong. Children tend to think in opposites, in black and white. Their character formation thus starts very early and, therefore, the importance of moral imagination. As such, teachers and parents have a heavy responsibility because moral imagination is an inspiration that elevates man from a base to a moral level.

(This is the essence of the message brought to newly elected Leaders of The Indus Student Council at Bangalore, by Lt. Gen. Arjun Ray (Retd.), CEO of the Indus Trust on the occasion of The Ceremony of Investiture on January 26th, 2012)

Moral Imagination

01, 12.1.2012

Comments

Post a Comment

Date: 11/23/2024