Minutes 05/15/2005

A retreat of the Maricopa County Community College District Governing Board and Chancellor's Executive Council was scheduled to be held at 4:00 p.m. at the ASU University Club in Tempe, Arizona on May 15, and at 9:00 a.m. at the Business & Industry Center in Mesa, Arizona, on May 16 and 17 pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.02, notice having been duly given.

PRESENT

GOVERNING BOARD

Scott Crowley, Secretary
Ed Contreras, Member
Linda Rosenthal, Member
Jerry Walker, Member
ABSENT: Don Campbell, President

ADMINISTRATION

Rufus Glasper, Chancellor
Debra Thompson
Steve Helfgot
Anna Solley
Ron Bleed
Jose Leyba
Art DeCabooter
Phil Randolph
Linda Thor
Larry Christiansen
Maria Harper-Marinick
Gene Giovannini
Mary Kay Kickels
Maria Hesse
Ken Atwater
Homero Lopez
Pete Kushibab
Len O'Brian
Debra Campbell
Susie Horton
Jamie Moore
Rory Gilbert
Gerry Bradshaw

CALL TO ORDER

The retreat was called to order at 4:00 p.m. by Faculty Members Len O'Brian and Debra Campbell who provided a brief overview of the objectives of this Ethics Retreat, also referred to as Philosophy 250, a higher-level seminar of Philosophy 150. They encouraged everyone to be as engaged as possible.

Ms. Campbell explained that discussions have been held on the different campuses pertaining to the Mission, Vision, and Values and although the mission has been adopted, the vision and values are still being discussed and reviewed. She further indicated that the evening's agenda would include discussion on Moral Development, and pluralism, which is a collection of competing ideologies that interact and create moral misunderstanding and emotional distress. The tendency of contemporary culture to embrace relativism, on the one hand, and dogmatism, on the other hand, will be an implicit theme of the next two days. Mr. O'Brian used examples of rap music and suicide bombings to explain his understanding of pluralism. He stated that he disapproved of rap music rather than disliked it, and that his disapproval was based on its hostile and sexist qualities. He does not understand why others cannot see the moral problems associated with rap, and they do not understand why the thinks that music can have a moral dimension. He disapproved of it because it was hostile and immoral. Rap music thus illustrates the misunderstand and distress associated with a pluralistic world. With reference to suicide bombings, again, he doesn't understand it, and he doubts that the bombers understand him. He also referred to Marianne Moody-Jennings' remarks on the topic of cheating. Attitudinal changes in the different generations regarding cheating create concerns on how people view things such as downloading music, copyrighting, etc. When the gap cannot be bridged, the issue of pluralism arises. He questioned whether the gap could be bridged?

Mr. O'Brian introduced Susie Horton, Psychology Faculty Member at Mesa Community College, who spoke to the group on Moral Development. She addressed the following segments:

Freud's Theory of Id, Ego, and Superego

• Child, id, ego, superego
• Conflict of id (hedonistic) and superego (anal)
• Adults impose morality on children
• Heteronymous
  

John B. Watson Blank Slate Theory

• Wanted to change psychology and questioned id, ego, and superego.
• Give him a blank slate and he can form it into what he wants.
  

B. F. Skinner's Theory of Consequences of Behavior

• Consequences of behavior
• Reinforcer or punishment
• Morality is construct
• Behavior shaped by consequences

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development based on life experiences and influences

• Graduate school in the 1950's
  
• Maturation (Freud)
  
• Environmental (learning theories)
  
• Born in 1927 and attended Phillips Academy.
  
• Helped Jewish refugees through the British blockades to the new state of Israel (in effect, broke the law)
  
• Enrolled at the University of Chicago in 1948 and stayed on for graduate school, wanted to become a counselor
  
• Did not agree with Freud, Skinner or Watson. Conflict of ideas.
  
• Influenced by Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
  
• Moral Duty (deontology)
  
• Categorical imperative
  
• Universal moral truths
• Moral reasoning

John Dewey

• 1859-1952
  
• University of Chicago
  
• Progressive education
  
• Discovery through experience
  
• Social activist

John Mark Baldwin (John's Hopkins - 1861-1934)

• Stages of development for morality
  
• Ideal ethical self
  
• Development preceded by assimilation and accommodation (disequilibrium)

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

• Swiss
  
• Former biologist
  
• Cognitive development
  
• Moral judgment of the child - 1932
  
• Studies the way children played games and understood rules
  
• Presented children with moral dilemmas in order to draw out their own thinking about right and wrong
  
• Stages of development:
  
  • Premoral
    
  • Heteronymous morality (ages 5-10)
    
    • Rules handed down by others
      
    • Rules are permanent, unchangeable and require string obedience
      
    • Focus on outcomes rather than intent
      
    • Immanent justice
      
  • Autonomous morality (age 10)
    
    • Rules no longer fixed by socially agreed upon
      
• Kohlberg believed process of attaining moral maturity took longer and was more gradual than Piaget proposed
  
  • In 1958 took 72 middle class and lower class boys to study their moral reasoning
    
  • Civil Rights Movement was heating up at this time and King was disobeying laws. Wallace stated United States was a country of law and order
    
  • Became very famous with the issue of moral development
    
  • Worked at University of Chicago from 1962 until 1968 and then left for Harvard in 1968 and became director of the Center for Moral Education
    
  • Died in 1987 of a parasite he picked up and because of the pain he suffered, killed himself (age of 59)
    
  • Autonomous versus heteronymous
    
  • Learning and punishment (Milburn)
    
  • Experiment is obedience
    
  • Universal sequence of moral development
    
  • Six stages of moral development that are related
    
  • Moral dilemma: obedience to a higher power and avoidance of punishment
    
  • The Stage Concept
    
    • Not a product of maturation
      
    • Each stage a structured whole
      
    • Progress is invariant
      
    • Insights from earlier stages/subordinate into new stages
      
    • Does thought equal behavior?
      
    • Disconnect between what people say and what they do
      
    • Situational forces and moral behavior more consistent at higher stages
      
    • 45 studies in 27 different cultures - passage through stages 2-5 w/o reversals
      
    • Collectivist cultures did not fit his stages
      
  • Is Kohlberg's theory sexist?
    
    • Carol Gilligan:
      
      • Studies were done with males
        
      • Women score at stage 3 and men tend to score at 4 & 5
        
      • Men/women do not think about moral issues in the same way
        
  • Is there a stage 6? Are there universal principles of justice?
    
  • Kohlberg tells us that just communities can be developed
    
  • Democratic society can reason moral issues

Final exercise on Sunday night consisted of moral dilemma regarding cheating in the classroom.

May 17 - 9:00 a.m.

Ms. Campbell introduced suggested Ground Rules and asked for any changes or additions. She then asked what the following terms meant to everyone:

• Ethics, Morality, Values, Maricopa Guiding Principles, Values in Statement of Values.

She explained that ethics according to western thought represented the following:

• Broad theoretical study of morality, e.g., how should we live?
  
• Professional code of conduct (narrower sense, e.g., medical, legal, business)
  
• Values: what we care about; the accepted morality generally reflects our values
  
• Morality: right and wrong; a set of rules accepted morality reflects our values. Example: we value life, therefore, we adopt rules against killing.

Mr. O'Brian presented the following theories and their descriptions:

Pluralism:

Relativism:

Dogmatism:

Descriptive Theory:
Culturalism relativism - the theory that moral beliefs vary from individual to individual and from culture to culture

Prescriptive Theory:
Ethical relativism - the theory that moral truth varies from individual to individual and from culture to culture
Ethical absolutism - the theory that moral truth does not vary from individual to individual and from culture to culture. Note: Absolutists don't have to be dogmatists.

Normative Ethics: Theories - consequentialist and non-consequentialists

Consequentialist:

• Ethical egoism - Ayn Rand
  
• Utilitarianism - Jeremy Bentham/John Steward Mills
  1. Act to produce the greatest possible ratio of good to evil for all concerned
  2. Concern: how does one know what is best for all?

Non-consequentialist

• Kantian Ethics: moral theory based on individual reasons/categorical imperative
  
• Categorical imperative: I must always act in accordance with maxims that I can will to become a universal law
  
• What if our duties conflict?
  
• Four-way test:
  
  • Is it true?
    
  • Is it fair?
    
  • Is it beneficial to all concerned?
    
  • Will it build good will?
    
    • Divine Command Theory: One should always act according to God's will. Concern: What is God's will?
      
    • Moral Dilemma - when a choice must be made between conflicting values or duties
      
    • Moral Dilemma Problem Solving Approach
      
  • What are possible solutions to this dilemma?
    
  • Does one of the moral theories justify a particular solution?
    
  • What consequences follow from that solution?
    
  • What state of moral development is this?

The following individuals made presentations:

Pete Kushibab presented on Moral versus Legal (Right versus Right)

• First Amendment: protection against Congress prohibiting free speech
  
• Fourteenth Amendment: employees and students have right of free expression
  
• Rights of faculty versus non-faculty
  
• Courts says you cannot disparage based on religion
  
• Government may never control speech regarding religion
  
• As long as conduct is based on context the expression cannot be held against but rather the message (hate)
  

Rory Gilbert presented on Diversity

• Ethics: Morality
  
• Morality: Rules we live by
  
• Diversity: What we are
  
• Diversity: learning about and practicing how to understand and work with people who are different.
  
• Diversity: A descriptor of the many aspects that define us
  
• We are all diverse: ethnicity, gender, marital status
  
• Core identity issues: age, ethnicity, gender, race
  
• Secondary diversity issues: family status, work style, education, first language, religion, communication style
  
• Inclusion: how we work together
  
• How do diversity and ethics come together?
  
• By what we value - freedom, happiness, life, patriotism, families, education, independence, religion, right to vote, property, individualism, basic human rights, equal rights
  
• Dialectics
  
• Individualism vs. collectivism
  
• High power distance vs. low power distance
  
• Monochromic time vs. polychromic time
  
• Masculinity vs. feminity
  
• High context vs. low context
  
• Spirituality vs. change
  
• Implicit Bias
  
• Occurs in four different ways
  
  • Group favoritism
    
  • Conflict of interest
    
  • Taking credit for work done
    
• Pervasiveness is not a mark of appropriateness anymore than poor eyesight is considered so ordinary that it does not require corrective lenses
  
• We are not fixed in our thoughts. We are evolving in our quest for life-long learning.

Gerry Bradshaw presented on Discrimination

• Drawing a distinction
  
• Unequal treatment
  
• Picking and choosing
  
• Employment Discrimination: discrimination is wrong when it is illegal or immoral
  
  • Illegal discrimination: laws that prescribe what practices are illegal
    
• Recruitment needs to take place where the possible employees can be found
  
• Need to establish goals and not quotas
  

ADJOURNMENT

The retreat adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

———————————
Scott Crowley
Governing Board Secretary