Ethical Values and Citizenship
How people in a school behave to each other--
in classrooms, halls, the office and faculty lounge--
sets a tone that has profound effects on what students learn.
What makes a school a decent place to be?
Walking into a school, one can tell almost at once if it is a decent place to be. The signals are everywhere: in the way teachers and students speak to each other, the way work is carried out at every level, the way rules are made and bent and broken. What is valued in a school comes across in a hundred subtle ways, rarely articulated. In 1992, the Board of Education of the Irvine Unified School District adopted eight ethical values that are powerful and important to life. We believe there are universal moral values, those associated with "should" or "ought", to which people in all successful civilizations subscribe. In a public education setting, therefore, we believe it is appropriate to foster and promote such ethical values and principles. Though not inclusive of every commonly accepted moral value, the list below has been developed to include values that are powerful and important-to-life.
The faculty is committed to using the following as criteria for teaching and assessing citizenship:
AN OUTSTANDING CITIZEN CONSISTENTLY . . .
| HONESTY · tells the truth without needing to be asked even when difficult or inconvenient · completes his / her own work and never cheats, voluntarily gives credit where credit is due · asks permission to use / touch another's property, including school work COMPASSION COURAGE RESPONSIBILITY |
COOPERATION · cooperates (works well) with teachers and students · encourages other students toward success in positive ways (practices "Home Court") · is tolerant of different opinions and viewpoints PERSEVERANCE RESPECT CIVIC DUTY |