Media Relations
News Releases
For Release Upon Receipt - April 9, 2007
Contact:
Erin Whipple, 617-358-1688, ewhipple@bu.edu
BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION HOSTS ANNUAL SPRING INSTITUTE: THE ETHIC OF CARING
Boston - The Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character at Boston University’s School of Education is hosting its annual Spring Institute, April 12-13. This year’s event, entitled The Ethic of Caring, is an opportunity for educators and students to participate in discussion and reflection focused on caring, a fundamental concept in the teaching profession.
“School is the students’ second home,” said Bernice Lerner, director of the Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character at Boston University and an Institute presenter. “They spend hours each day, ten months a year, in the classroom. Teaching toward standardized tests tends to overshadow other forms of caring and teaching about caring. We are offering a forum that will enable educators and aspiring teachers to explore a basic, yet critical dimension of education.”
“Our goals are for teachers to return to their schools reinvigorated and for prospective teachers to gain understanding of the many facets of caring involved in this work.”
The Institute program will feature presentations by esteemed scholars from disciplines across Boston University. The five plenary sessions will be focused on the topics of Caring: A Complex Virtue, The Art of Learning, Plagiarism: A Matter of Ethics and Caring, Teachers and Students: Images of Caring in the Buddhist Traditions of Asia and Ethical Decision-Making: The Difficulty of Balancing Theory and Practice.
Further, there will be two luncheon speakers and a panel presentation titled Who Cares and Why? Theological Perspectives on Caring which will include seven members of BU’s widely diverse community of chaplains and campus ministers. The panel discussion will be held on Thursday, April 12, 1:00 – 4:00 PM and is free and open to members of the BU community. RVSP (617-353-3262) is requested.
The Institute is dedicated in memory of Sheila Lynch from Quincy, Massachusetts, who imbued her young life with meaning before her death last summer from a brief illness. Exemplifying the virtue of caring, she was committed to helping others through volunteer work. Projects she became involved in included rehabilitating housing developments in Chicago, building and repairing houses in Appalachia and New Guinea, organizing fund-raisers for breast cancer research, and serving as an active member in the organization Best Buddies which pairs volunteers with intellectually disabled individuals. Sheila’s sister, Elizabeth Lynch, a math teacher at Boston College High School who formerly served as a volunteer teacher on Chicago’s West Side, is a luncheon speaker on Friday, April 13.
The Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character Spring Institute is a stimulating retreat designed to cultivate the intellectual lives of educators, inspire them to embrace a renewed sense of responsibility and dedication to the art of teaching and instill in them a deeper understanding of how to educate for character. The presentations by Boston University scholars seek to explain relevant philosophical principles and demonstrate how sources of wisdom can be mined for enduring lessons.
This two-day Spring Institute will be held April 12-13, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM at Boston University’s School of Management, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, 4th Floor. The fee for educators is $390.00, and includes continental breakfast, lunch and materials. BU students can sign up to attend the Institute as a 2-credit course. For more information and to register, please call 617-353-3262 or email caec@bu.edu.
The Boston University School of Education provides comprehensive teacher preparation to students in more than 20 concentrations and maintains a variety of collaborative agreements with school districts in the greater Boston area. SED is one of Boston University’s 17 schools and colleges. Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized institution of higher education and research. With more than 30,000 students, it is the fourth largest independent university in the United States. For more information, please visit www.bu.edu/education.
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