Cultivating sprouts of benevolence: a foundational principle for curriculum in civic and multicultural education. (2nd July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Barton, Keith C.; Ho, Li-Ching
• Is Part Of: Multicultural education review. Volume 12:Number 3(2020)
• Page Start: 157
• Page End: 176
• Publication Date: 2020-07-02
• Subjects: Civic education -- multicultural education; social studies; compassion; Confucianism; Multicultural education -- Periodicals; 370.11705
• DOI: 10.1080/2005615X.2020.1808928
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2005-615X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: A central goal of civic and multicultural education is preparing young people to participate in deliberatively informed action on important social issues. In order to achieve this goal, educators need to cultivate young people's innate but partial 'sprouts' of benevolence, which are rooted in feelings of empathy and compassion. Without a sense of benevolence, students are unlikely to be motivated to deliberate and take action on the needs of others. Consequently, curriculum related to public issues should begin by engaging students with knowledge of other people's lives and concrete circumstances. By encountering rich and emotionally compelling accounts of the lives of others, students' sense of benevolence can be extended beyond the people and situations they know best. This forms the basis for subsequent curriculum encounters with differing perspectives and worldviews, as well as with structural causes of social issues and potential implications of civic action taken to address them.