What's the Right Thing to Do?: Promoting Thoughtful and Socially Responsible Behavior in the Early Childhood Years

Making choices is one of the more pervasive acts of life. Almost every action we take demands that choices be made. Knowing how to choose wisely, to choose after reflection, to be aware of what motivates that choice, to see the consequences of that choice on others enables us to live healthier, more productive and more responsible lives. We now live in a world in which our traditional moral exemplars have been less than honorable in their public behavior. With fewer “heroes” and flawed role models, how are children to come to an understanding of what’s right, what’s good, decent and socially responsible? “Do as I say, not as I do” is hardly a viable tenet to guide children’s choices. This book offers important tools for carrying out effective strategies that build caring environments in the classroom and home; for teaching children to weigh decisions in the face of potential consequences, examine rationales for their choices, and study the effects of their choices on others, i.e., to think more carefully about ethical problems, in the presence of the moral freedom to determine for themselves what it means to lead a good and virtuous life.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1- It’s a Dilemma Theoretical Foundations of Moral Behavior Chapter 2- Making Sense of a Complex World: What’s the Right Thing to Do? What Can Teachers and Parents Do? Chapter 3- Children as Decision Makers Thinking and Deciding Some Caveats Freedom to Choose and Empowerment Chapter 4- Introduction to the World of Moral Dilemmas It’s Complicated Adult-Child Discussions About Moral Issues The Value of Small Group Work Chapter 5- Stories, Mini-Cases, Books, Films and Classroom Incidents What’s a Case? Twenty-two Mini-Cases Inviting Children’s Stories About Their Own Dilemmas Children’s Books and Stories Films Chapter 6- Putting Moral Behavior into Action Community Projects Extracting Meaning from Experience Journals Chapter 7- Discussion Strategies to Examine Moral Issues Learning Discussion Skills by Observing the “How” in Action The Interactive Dialogue The Teacher/Parent in the Process Non-defensive Awareness of Self Chapter 8- Even Children Can Make a Difference Children Who Make a Difference Bibliography About the Author

About the Author :
Selma Wassermann is a professor emerita in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Her books include An Introduction to Case Method Teaching: A Guideto the Galaxy (1994), This Teaching Life (2004), Teaching for Thinking Today: Theory,Strategies and Activities for the K-8 Classroom (2017), Teaching in the Age ofDisinformation: Don’t Confuse Me with the Data, My Mind is Made Up (2017).

Review :
What’s the Right Thing to Do?: Promoting Thoughtful and Socially Responsible Behavior in the Early Childhood Years is clear, concise, and on target. This book is a valuable contribution to an important field. Indeed, what can be more important to our future than the moral education of the young? The writing in What’s the Right Thing to Do?: Promoting Thoughtful and Socially Responsible Behavior in the Early Childhood Years is clear and persuasive, and the book itself is significant and timely. As an educator for over 40 years, I can’t think of a timelier issue than the development of moral behaviour in our students. I began reading What’s the Right Thing to Do? and couldn’t stop until I was finished; it’s that compelling and easy to read. Once again Selma Wassermann has given teachers a very inspiring book with just the right balance of theory and practical activities to use in the classroom tomorrow. During her forty years as an author, Selma Wassermann has been a consistently progressive force, inspiring learning and compassion. Make no mistake - no amount of our 21st century computer or technological proficiency can replace the need to guide kids towards informed moral choices as they develop into young adults. Selma Wassermann's wise book guides us in the training of a child’s moral development, for teachers in the classroom and parents over the kitchen table.