The Solution to Disengagement? Ethics!

Teen disengagement from both academics and in-person social interactions is increasingly a topic of concern amongst educators. The level of concern has increased since the pandemic, as educators have noticed that students are more frequently disengaging in class.  A 2022 article in the Harvard Business Review interviews college students about their classes and what they think makes them more likely to disengage from their courses.  While this article focuses on college students, the students' feedback can apply just as well to students at the middle and high school level.  Several of the students mentioned that they felt most disengaged from courses that they felt were not applicable to the real world.

Disengaging from - or simply not attending - class is not the only concern around disengagement and social media use. The addictive nature of social media apps along with the sharp rise in cyberbullying and depression amongst teens raises concerns about social media’s impact on young people’s social and emotional learning and, by extension, their ability to engage appropriately and healthily with people around them. A 2017 study by the Royal Society for Public Health found that 7 in 10 teens reported experiencing cyberbullying and rates of depression and anxiety among young people have increased 70% in 25 years. Another study of Italian students found links between cyberbullying, moral disengagement, and internet addiction.

Ethics courses might, at first glance, seem to be the opposite of engaging.  You might be imagining right now your Philosophy 101 lecture in college where the focus was memorizing and regurgitating main theories of western philosophy and the biographies of their authors. However, I would argue that ethics courses provide excellent opportunities to engage students in social-emotional learning and discussions about real-world situations. Overcoming disengagement happens in ethics courses that are inquiry based, where students explore issues that are important to them in a collaborative and student-centered environment. 

A key part of our ethics curriculum at the Kent Place School is teaching students how to identify values - their own and others' - and how to use those values to make decisions.  In our courses we emphasize the importance of self-reflection, which helps students to slow down and think about their actions. For example, our sixth grade students are asked to think about what values are most meaningful to them and how those values might inform how they go through their day.  This sort of slow reflection is the opposite of the fast-paced, reactionary thinking that much of social media trains us to engage in, which is one of the contributing factors of disengagement.  Another important component of our ethics classes is discussing ethical dilemmas, where students are asked to explore an issue from multiple perspectives and consider how others might arrive at a very different answer. This teaches students how to have meaningful discussions, see from another person's perspective, disagree with respect, and communicate their own position to others. 

Along with learning about values, students are taught how to analyze ethical case studies that touch on issues that they might encounter in the real world. This involves being able to identify stakeholders, identify the relevant values at play, and see the issue from multiple perspectives. We intentionally use case studies based on real-life situations, as they are more likely to capture students’ interest and also give them the opportunity to practice how they would navigate similar situations in their own lives.  An important part of analyzing a case study is looking at the different perspectives one could take on the situation - you might not agree with that perspective, but you need to be able to acknowledge it and try to understand why others might find this option ethically compelling. This is an essential exercise in building open-mindedness and empathy.

Ethics, I believe, provides a powerful opportunity to address disengagement in students. When the focus is on supporting students in developing ethical decision making practices, students are able to strengthen key social and emotional skills such as empathy, listening to each other, navigating disagreements and communicating respectfully.  When they think through ethical dilemmas that relate to their own lives, students naturally engage with the material and with each other. Above all else, ethics in school encourages students to engage with and think critically about the world around them.