Class #9 - 3/18/08

We suffered again by having so few people in class so I focused on an abbreviated topic. We dug a little deeper in the spectrum concept I brought up last week, this time zeroing in on an *situation* that took place between Josh & Eric a week or so ago. Josh had left the room for a minute and when leaving told Eric not to take his chair. Playfully, Eric did just that, took Josh's chair, and upon Josh's return offered him the chair but not the same space Josh had meant. While not a big event in the grand scheme of things, I saw this as an opportunity to consider the story from a peacemaker standpoint.

Josh reviewed the exchange from a couple of perspectives, one being how he might have reacted a couple of years ago (with anger & violence, he said) compared to how he reacted this time (to separate and regroup). This got us discussing the concept of maturity and whether or not added life experience (maturity) is an important factor in being a peacemaker.

We also looked at the situation through one of my PSCS "talking points," the distinction between rules and principles. I suggested that PSCS is a school with few rules and a lot of important principles, and that key to everyone's success at school is when we honor the principles. I said that sometimes it's necessary to "honor the principle and break the rule."

I asked you to consider the Josh/Eric story from this standpoint, suggesting that when Eric gave Josh the chair he was technically following the "rule" but violating the "principle." This is the source of a lot of challenges in the world, and a big conflict in justice situations. I said that many of the peacemakers in the book honored principles but broke rules, sometimes going to jail or suffering personally for having done so.

You can consider this "Rules/Principles" thing even further here.

Summary of Homework Due on 3/25:
- Finish reading the 4 chapters in Part Five of the book and complete the journal entry.

Class #8 - 3/11/08

For those students present (Eric & Josh, plus Aaron who sat in) we did a thorough review of Part 4 of the book. Students presented their journal entries which started some useful dialogue.

The bulk of our class was spent creating a spectrum of the peacemakers and their philosophies and trying to place them, starting with Schweitzer's concept of "Reverence for Life" and comparing it to the persecution of people in Nazi Germany during WWII. We ended up trying to place ourselves on this spectrum, as well as concepts like vegetarianism and veganism.

If you missed class, please do some additional research on each of the people featured in Part 4 and report back to me. To assist:
- Henry Salt
- Albert Schweitzer
- Astrid Lindgren
- Jane Goodall

Summary of Homework Due on 3/25:
- Finish reading the 4 chapters in Part Five of the book and complete the journal entry.