Education Germany Project #21882

Provide education in ethics (Ethical Literacy)

by Ethica Rationalis e.V.

Provide education in ethics (Ethical Literacy)

Project Report | Sep 24, 2018
Provide education ethics and sustainability Q3/18

By Randy Brown | Project Leader

In our attempts to support ethical literacy with very hands-on initiatives and events we had the following two main events in Q3 of 2018:

PhiloBrunch „Stoicism for everyday life“ with Julia Kalmund
another event "In total confidence"

1. Philobrunch:

On July 21st we held another PhiloBrunch with Julia Kalmund. This time the topic was „Stoicism for everyday life“.

One might think that the teachings of the "old" philosophers have little to do with our livestoday, after all, that was more than 2000 years ago. The Philobrunch 'Stoicism for everyday life' with Julia Kalmund, founder of Street Philosophy, offered participants an opportunity to study the thinking and maxims of the Stoics. It quickly became clear how up-to-date the stoic approach is and what a great tool it can be for people oftodayto handle life's difficulties.

Ms Kalmund reminded us that since ancient times the claim of philosophy has always been a practical one, as Musonius Rufus, a Roman stoic, emphasized: "Philosophy is justified when one combines rational teaching with rational action." Epictet, one of the The main representative of Stoicism even said, "But what is philosophy? Does it not mean to prepare us for anything that may come? "

The term Stoic goes back to the Greek term "stoa" - the Greek word for colonnade or arcade. Zenon of Kition began his teaching around 300 BC and founded a school in the colonnade of the Agora in Athens named after the Stoa. 100 years later Stoicism came to Rome and became much more practice-oriented. The three best known representatives of the Stoic school in Rome were Epiktet, Seneca and Marc Aurel. Ms. Kalmund based her statements on their teachings and maxims.

Stoicism is not just a dynamic, trade-oriented philosophy, it also emphasizes that only a person who is virtuous and ethical can lead a good life.

Unfortunately Stoicism has "gone out of fashion" because it is falsely equated to asceticism and renunciation. 'Askêsis' in Greek means exercise, training, task. This is very much in keeping with the basic idea of Ethica Rationalis, because we are convinced that if anybody wants to live or "practice" a virtue, he needs willpower and a sound sense of reason. These qualities are needed to make rational decisions that also help progress self-knowledge, and take a step towards the ideal of virtue (second nature). Repetitive practice in the midst of society (applied ethics) is essential.

The impetus comes from the desire to better know ourselves and therefore to act more deliberately, because as Marcus Aurelius says "Our soul has the color of our thoughts". Ms. Kalmund emphasized that philosophy does not claim to have an answer to everything. Rather, we must learn to stay in the questions. Our experiences make us stronger if we manage to reflect upon them. We must learn to sharpen our perception, and use our free will and intellect with courage and wisdom to make the right choices.

How do I perceive people and events around me? When we learn to distance ourselves from our emotions, it allows us to be more mindful and take better action, always asking ourselves: are our decisions and actions ethically justifiable?

For the Stoics a key requirement for a successful life, was the ability to recognize what we can influence or change, and what lies outside our power. Our perception of things, not the things themselves, determines whether we feel happy or unhappy.

In the spirit of Aristotle, who said, "Excellence is not an action, but a habit. We are what we repeatedly do." and according to Epictetus, who admonished not only to be content with learning, but always to practice and train, Ms Kalmund conducted practical exercises with the participants, demonstrating that a happy, balanced life is not possible without one's own effort. Quite the contrary "Life is constant training without any time-out".

The participants confirmed that they thoroughly enjoyed another pleasant, exciting and invigorating Philobrunch.

2. "In total confidence"

After very successful events "In total confidence"earlier this year, we held another in this quarter. In a small group and in a protected atmosphere, participants can speak about experiences in their everyday lives and what moves them in their professional or private context. They also have the opportunity (if they wish to) to hear different perspectives from people who arealso dealing with ethical issues:

Which (ethical) conflicts currently exist in my (working) environment?

What is bothering me, what is bothering others?
How do others see my problem?

What strategies are there to solve my ethical dilemma?

How can I communicate my views and beliefs?

Which problems are typical for young professionals?

How can I learn from others?

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Jun 26, 2018
Provide education in ethics and sustainability / Activities Q272018

By Randy Brown | Project Leader

In line with our attempt to support ethical literacy with very hands-on initiatives and events we had the following three main events in Q2 of 2018:

The inauguration of the KonTEXT reading room and
two events "In total confidence"

Inauguration of the KonTEXT reading room on April 17, 2018

Until shortly before the beginning, additional chairs were being brought into the meeting room - with the title "Ethics in extreme situations" one had probably hit a nerve. "Assistance for young offenders" two projects that were presented this evening enjoyed great response. The Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, Prof. Dr. Markus Wessler, welcomed the visitors - in addition to external guests, mainly students from his faculty as well as from the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences. It has long been a common goal of the two faculties to interlink more closely. This was achieved with the KonTEXT reading room and this event, according to Dr. Wessler.

KonTEXT Reading Project for delinquent juveniles

Dr. Caroline Steindorff-Classen, professor at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, introduced the program. She runs the reading project KonTEXT, which she has developed together with students for delinquent youths. Juveniles who have been required by a juvenile court to participate in the reading project KonTEXT come to the university and read books together with students. The texts serve as a basis for exchange about the experiences of the fictional actors, give space for self-reflection and promote the mutual understanding for the world of others. Around 400 young people are now looked after in this way. KonTEXT has been honored with several awards in recent years, recently making the leap into the federal selection of 25 projects (out of 300 competitors) in the nationwide competition "startsocial", for the promotion of volunteer social engagement, which will be awarded in the Federal Chancellery in the summer of 2018.

It was a particularly touching moment when the speaker gave a very vivid insight into the life story of a currently detained youth, who once participated in the KonTEXT project years ago: He had agreed to share passages from his letters with the audience:

"I made the same mistake several times, getting drunk and and getting into fights afterwards, understandable that no one has any more leniency, but what the court does not see is how you are being treated as a criminal. Branded! Yes I did a lot of stupid things, but can't people change? I say yes, but my surroundings say no. If you can't get a job, because of a criminal record, you have no money, and you won't get anything from the welfare system anyway. And even if you do, you still don't 'get it'. At some point you just feel redundant. Some turn to alcohol or drugs, others become burglars or thieves. Others end up committing suicide, because there simply is nothing desirable left". The LEONHARD project was made for people like him.

The LEONHARD qualification program for offenders with an entrepreneurial mindset

Afterwards, Dr. Bernward Jopen told the exciting story of founding his social enterprise. In 2010, following a visit to a similar project in the US, he decided, together with his daughter, to launch the charity LEONHARD: "In 20 weeks, we teach students what a founder needs, why it is appealing to own a company lead and where dangers lurk. In addition, we provide a behavioral training in non-violent communication. Even if only 29 percent of the graduates start their own business, the rest learns through our training to distinguish themselves as an entrepreneurial employee in a company. "

And the stats speak for themselves: of the 152 graduates so far, only 13 percent relapsed, 60 percent were employed within 28 days after their release with the help of pro bono mentors and 29 percent became self-employed (as of Nov. 9th, 2017). This means that LEONHARD's graduates are well above average.

CONTEXT Reading room: A place of encounter

Dr. Angela Poech, professor at the Faculty of Business Administration and board member of Ethica Rationalis, officially closed the event, announcing the dedication of the KonTEXT Reading Room. Thanks to the support of the Dean, room U110 is now reserved daily from 5 pm for participants of the KonTEXT reading project. So the groups no longer have to meet in drafty corners or empty lecture halls, but in a familiar room with a relaxed atmosphere. The room U110 is one of the newly designed project rooms with flexible, modern furnishing - it offers retreats for group work, but can also be used for lectures. Ethica Rationalis agreed to continue to financially support the KonTEXT project as well as the KonTEX reading room. Ideas for future events are highly welcome!

"In total confidence"

After a very successful event "In total confidence" earlier this year, we repeated it twice in this quarter. They took place on May 24th and June 13th

In a small group and protected atmosphere, participants speak about what they experience in their everyday lives and what moves them in their professional or private context. They also have the opportunity (if they wish) to hear different perspectives from people who are also dealing with ethical issues:

Which (ethical) conflicts currently exist in my (working) environment?

What is bothering me, what is bothering others?

How do others see my problem?

What strategies are there to solve my ethical dilemma?

How can I communicate my views and beliefs?

Which problems are typical for young professionals?

How can I learn from others?

Given the confidential nature of these events, we cannot share further details.

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Mar 29, 2018
Provide education in ethics and sustainability

By Michael Winkler | Project Leader

A Life With Limitations - Authentic Insights

Major event in Q1, 2018 was the "Study Week on Inclusion"

With its slogan "rational – universal – applied" Ethica Rationalis promotes the exchange and discussions about ethical issues in everyday life. One focus is on the topic of "Practical ethics and the path to inclusion". Dr. Angela Poech, professor at the Munich University of Applied Sciences, hosted an exciting event in cooperation with Ethica Rationalis, in which students were asked to develop "business ideas for people with handicaps" during a one-week seminar. Ethica Rationalis not only engaged a top-notch speaker for this event, but also organized two excursions, characterized by the combination of economic and responsible action.

Responsibility and entrepreneurial success – a contradiction?

The week started off with a highlight in itself: an opening lecture by Thomas Heymel (a graduate in geography and has worked for several years in a leading position in an international industrial group). Since 2009, he is head of Corporate Development of the Munich Foundation Pfennigparade, one of the largest organizations for the promotion of people with physical disabilities. Ethica Rationalis has been cooperating with Thomas Heymel for several years now, and we were very happy to secure his participation.

The students learned first hand from a well-known, experienced manager of a social company the specific characteristics of a marketing approach for non-profit organizations.

Thomas gave valuable impetus to the participants, who then, during the course of the week further developed these ideas within their teams.

Excursion 1 (Feb. 8^th):

The students visited JR Holding in Ingolstadt, a staffing agency, founded in 2009 by Jürgen Ragaller, board member of JR Holding. The successful founder and his team took an entire day for the students and offered exciting insights into his experience as an entrepreneur. The audience was fascinated by the strong growth and professionalism of his young company – a company with flat hierarchies and "no titles on the business cards".

The participants were thrilled by the strong corporate culture and they learned that the orientation towards values such as respect and appreciation and the maximization of profits need not be a contradiction. Rather, the young listeners were shown that taking responsibility is the key to success of Jürgen Ragaller's company, because the real "product is the person" and "every employee is an entrepreneur". According to Ragaller, the target is to provide personnel on-demand, but linked with social responsibility for the people who he employs. Each employee is accompanied by a JR holding employee on his first working day at the customer's company. There is a strong commitment to the promotion, training and further education of all employees and so far he has already been able to place more than 24,000 people.

After the exciting insights into the company, there was an exercise on the culture of the company: during the lunch break, the students discussed the "artifacts" of JR holding and then presented them. The majority of students were fascinated that the focus was truly on the human being at JR Holding. One student commented, "You have shown us appreciation by the way we were hosted." Subsequently, the students presented their founding ideas in a pitch. For example, the „Teamclusion“ group presented "The Luck Finder, a Facebook for people with special needs". Another group developed a frame which would allow people to use the escalators with their wheelchairs. The students were enthralled by the excursion. This was not only due to the excellent hospitality, the friendliness of the staff and the giveaways, but above all because of the openness and honesty of Mr Ragaller and his colleagues.

Excursion 2 (Feb. 9^th):

A Life With Limitations – Authentic Insights

The following day the students went to the Pfennigparade Foundation, as invited by Thomas Heymel. At the beginning, students had the opportunity to take part in a guided tour of the institution. One employee presented the "accessible website" project, where the Pfennigparade Foundation advises companies on the accessibility of their websites. Participants also got insights into the workplaces of people with physical disabilities.

They were very impressed by Mr. E., who controls the computer only with his voice and his mouth. He demonstrated how he asesses the accessibility of a website. The students were fascinated, as he confidently navigated through the homepage of the Munich University of Applied Sciences, using only his voice and a stick, which he controls with his mouth.

Wrap up of the "Study Week on Inclusion"

Thomas Heymel took plenty of time for the students and gave valuable feedback on the presentations of their founding ideas. The students‘ impressions were then discussed and everyone agreed that inclusion was very important and that more needs to be done in this area. They were also very grateful to have come into contact with Mr Heymel and thus to the topic of inclusion.

Ethical questions discussed „Entirely in Confidence“ (Feb. 22^nd)

Based on feedback from various recent events Ethica Rationalis invited to a chat with the title „Entirely in Confidence“. In order to have the right degree of intamacy we chose a snug room in a cozy Bavarian restaurant with a small group of participants and provided appetizers.

In a protected atmosphere participants were able to speak about their experiences in their everyday lives and what moves them in their professional or private environment. They also had the opportunity to hear different views ... from people who deal with similar ethical issues.

Guiding questions were:

• What (ethical) conflicts do I currently have in my (working) environment?

• Where worries me, what bothers my counterparts?

• How do others view my problem?

• What strategies are there to solve my ethical dilemma?

• How can I communicate my opinions/convictions?

• What are typical problems at the beginning of a career?

• How can I learn from others?

Further support for KonTEXT

Another activity in Q1 was supporting the KonTEXT project (a non-profit organisation with whom Ethica Rationalis has been supporting for a number of years)in applying for project support (Google contest).

KonTEXT’s mission is the promotion of delinquent and otherwise challenged juveniles through the Contextual Reading Project that consist of a host of offers, including:

reading groups (more than 100 per year),
text workshops,
a library,
a special program for class skippers,
as well as educational measures

to promote tolerance in the prisons systems of Munich and Landshut (especially the juvenile detention institutions).

KonTEXT supports fulfillment of court sentences of reading from the district courts of Munich and Fürstenfeldbruck (approx. 400 individually supervised youths per year). They also promote the planning and implementation of accompanying measures for the contextual reading project, as well as the development of multimedia material and-the implementation of scientific studies to reseach the preventive effects on crime and the conditions for efficacy of reading projects.

This time around Ethica Rationalis’ support consists of helping KonTEXT apply for funds for creating an App that would provide content for the juveniles during their commutes to the reading activities.

The App

Together with the Munich University of Applied Sciences, Munich Ethica Rationalis (who have already been providing support in the digitalization of the borrowing and return of books) would provide some of the application development. The University of Applied Sciences in Munich would be the other development partner, with 2 key supporters:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Olav Hinz

More than 30 years of practical experience in software development in the fields of engineering, financial services, security and monitoring systems as well as public administration. The core area of his courses are agile and creative approaches, prototyping and integration of development and system operation.

Prof. Dr. Caroline Steindorff-Classen

Chair of the regional group Southern Bavaria of the German Association for Youth Courts and Youth Court assistance. She represents at the Munich University of Applied Sciences, among others, the fields of juvenile law and justice-related social work and has been leading the reading project context with over 4000 participants for seven years now.

Key success factors for the App are of course an engaging technology and equally important high quality, engaging content. Detailled requirements have been collected from the experience and research of the KonTEXT program, as well as from participants in the program.

The main effect of the App is to further motivate the juveniles in completing their “reading sentences”, while at the same time providing them with valuable content during their transit times to their sessions as well as providing data for the further reasearch in this area. The App will be another building block for the overall KonTEXT program, but it could also be used in other, similar programs.

We wish KonTEXT good luck in the contest and look forward to continuing supporting them.

More information: https://kontextleseprojekt.wordpress.com/

Ethical questions Entirely in Confidence"

Further support for KonTEXT

"Study Week on Inclusion"

Links:

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