#3. Understand their values and Moral beliefs...

3. Understand their values and moral beliefs and how and why they may differ from those of others. Be able to accept and address criticisms of his/her values and beliefs.
Part of your growth and frame of reference is a development of values and moral beliefs.
VALUE: ...to consider with respect to worth, excellence, usefulness, or importance. What do you value within your makup? What makes you have worth? If your interest is academics, do you "value" a "A" grade, or is a "C" acceptable. The higher your value, the harder you work towards that goal. That is why grades are representative of your efforts. An employer likes to see those kind of values, because it indicates you will be a hard worker, independent, organized, loyal, etc. College recruiters always say that high school grades are the best indicator of success in college. Establishing goals early in life and striving to acheive them makes you work and find out how to acheive things that you may never thought you could.

MORAL BELIEFS: Of or concerned with the principles of right and wrong in conduct and character: teaching of conduct standards of good behavior; conforming to the rules of right conduct: sexually virtuous: judged by one's conscience to be ethical or approved: capable of distinguishing between right and wrong.

Moral beliefs are taught by parents, the village, the government, church, and the friends developed over years. The main portion of moral beliefs is knowing the difference between right and wrong AND ACTING IN THE CORRECT MANNER. Politically speaking, do you vote for a person of proven good character, or someone of lesser character. The church provides morals and ethics that are examples of proper behavior.
Your values and beliefs will not always be the same as others. Do you know why you have your values and beliefs? Can you justify your beliefs in the face of criticism in a "debate" about questioning those beliefs and having people try to change your position? Can you accept others position with their values without making enemies? Remember, if you are entitled to your values/beliefs, so is everyone else . This is an area of political discourse that gets out of hand. Several religious entities become overzealous about their views and attempt to "convert" those that they evangalize. They think if the potential convert does not agree with their position they will go to hell. If you think this is not a big thing, rethink the Iraq war situation. The Muslims think Christians are not a respectful religion because they do not do church-like things everyday like the Muslims do. Christians only go to church once a week. Look at World History, most of the wars through-out history have to do with "religion".

What should an Educated Citizen Be Able to do?

An educated person should:

1. Be able to make conscious, informed decisions in the public sphere and in their private lives and be able to explain their reasons for the decisions.

2. Understand and evaluate their own and other''s decisions.

3. Understand their values and moral beliefs and how and why they may differ from those of others. Be able to accept and address criticisms of his/her values and beliefs.

4. Be able and willing to regularly engage in questioning the forces, institutions, and belief systems that shaped not only his or her own values and beliefs, but those of teachers and classmates, the university and larger community as well.

5. Be able to think for himself/herself.

6. Be able to engage in discussions about political and economic issues that affect his or her community.

7. Be able to lead.

8. Be open-minded.

9. Be able to communicate and listen effectively.

10. Be able to conceptualize a problem and solve it.

11. Be able to consider ethical issues thoughtfully.

12. Understand that learning is a continuous lifelong process.

13. Be able to think critically, creatively, and independently.

14. Be flexible in order to adapt to changing economic and social conditions, new workforce needs, and the demands of a multicultural society.

15. Be able to explain and use the ideas and principles underlying the major areas of modern knowledge.

16. Be a good citizen based on their knowledge of democracy.

The above items were taken from "Summary of Comments Made on the Educated Citizen List Service, Fall 2003" Some of those items were taken from the California Education Code 66050 and 66070, also from an article in September/October issue of Change: "Teaching students to think."

I will continue the Blog going through each of the above trying to give examples for easier understanding.