Brochure

Text Box: The New Enlightenment Institute for the Preservation and Advancement of Civil Democracy

Text Box: NEI Proposes Educational Initiative The New Enlightenment Institute is offering a professional development program available to school districts across Cape Cod and the South Shore. The program, “Empowering Teachers for Democracy”, was created by Tom Gotsill, executive director of the NEI and graduate lecturer in education at Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies. Program Mission To help teachers improve instruction in the two areas most essential to civil democracy: the ability to think critically and live ethically. To work with teachers to discover an approach to curriculum that is interdisciplinary, civic-minded, and critical.

Text Box: The Need For decades, observers have claimed that America is in decline. The claim is becoming less and less debatable. We see serious signs of decay on both the individual and civic level. On the personal level we see a rise in conditions such as bullying, disrespect, intolerance, apathy, cheating, self-centeredness, incivility, and excessive materialism. On the civic level we have come to expect duplicity, cynicism, and deceit, as well as a general lack of the moral leadership necessary to confront grim realities with truth and courage. Any sound public school system should have three objectives in educating children: preparation for the duties of citizenship, preparation for earning a living, and preparation for exercising one’s moral obligation to lead a good life - the pursuit of happiness. Currently, too many American public schools are largely neglecting two of these three objectives. We are told repeatedly that we are educating young people so that they and the United States can compete “in the new global economy”. We believe this objective is currently over-emphasized and that this condition can ultimately be dangerous. There ought to be a higher goal for our children. We ought to be in the business of educating people to be responsible, democratic citizens, not merely consumers. A democratic society is we-centered and adult in nature; a consumer society is me-centered and adolescent in nature. We should be teaching our children to be free, intelligent, ethical, civic-minded adults. We owe it to them and the future of our nation.

Text Box: Goals for Professional Development That we agree that the most important mission we have is the development of each child’s mind and character so that they may fulfill their moral responsibility to live good lives and to participate effectively in a civil democracy That teachers and administrators become competent and confident in the explicit teaching of ethics, philosophy, character and citizenship That teachers and administrators learn methods for incorporating the skills for good citizenship into the existing curriculum That we establish a common language for character education that will define the school ethos. That teachers and administrators recognize their power and influence as intellectual and moral exemplars.

Text Box: Features Guided instruction and group discussion of the great ideas of Western thought including happiness, justice and human nature, truth, equality, freedom and choice, personal and civic virtue, friendship, human and civil rights, the good life Selections from Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, as well as selections on Stoicism and Existentialism. Developing strategies for using the Socratic Method Opportunities to work with colleagues toward transforming methods and content and building a school culture which respects intelligence, justice, and virtue

Text Box: Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people. Eleanor Roosevelt

Text Box: Contact For brochure and further information, contact tom@newenlightenmentinstitute.com or call 508-375-6464