Why the six virtues?

Headline

Slur, Surfacing on Old Video, Alters Young Lives and a Town

Story

Read this NYT story https://nyti.ms/3rxt184 (12/27/2020), then think about what the principal should have done, instead of nothing.

Mr. Galligan (a mixed-race student) showed the clip (of the student using the N word) to the school principal, who declined to take action, citing free speech and the fact that the offensive behavior took place outside school.

If the school had defined the educated person as one who demonstrates the six virtues, the principal would have been expected to educate the girl, who posted the slur, about the importance of being understanding, imaginative, humble, and generous. (The first amendment does not say public schools cannot teach the six virtues of the educated person.)

Instead,

the district in August released a plan to combat systemic racism. The move was followed by a formal apology in September for the district’s history of segregation.

Ironically, the school district’s failure to adopt a virtue definition of the educated person was costly to both the girl who posted the slur (and was therefore denied admission to UT-Knoxville) and to Mr. Galligan, who was subjected to years of discrimination in the school district.

Education policy makers go to great lengths to avoid defining the educated person as one who develops the virtues we want in all citizens. How is that other definition working — the one about getting correct answers on standardized tests?

Update

If you want to know why the district’s “plan to combat systemic racism” is unlikely to be educational, read this editorial by David Brooks:

https://nyti.ms/3mW1WrS

Once again, the failure of educators to adopt an inspiring, useful definition of the educated person means we fail to educate. How could it be otherwise?