The aim of the workshop is to get the participants in the Dutch Philosophy Olympiad to think more deeply about the concept of care.
Lesson plan
Enacting caring democracy: a school-focused workshop
A unique workshop on the ethics of care by prof. dr. Joan Tronto for the Dutch Philosophy Olympiad 2020. This edition of the Olympiad was organized with the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and carried the theme 'Moral Markets'.
| Author / creator | Curator | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Joan Tronto | Floris Velema | 04/2020 |
Aims and objectives
Content
Joan Tronto's keynote lecture offers an introduction to the concept of care, and shows how it can be used to imagine an alternative society. The excerpt 'A Little Utopian Thinking' from Tronto's book 'Caring Democracy' (2013) enumerates concrete criteria to evaluate our institutions from the standpoint of care. The workshop applies this concrete approach to the school environment.
Learning activities
During the workshop, the participants are asked to apply the concepts of care to their own school environment, by answering the following questions:
1. What needs for care are currently unaddressed, or addressed badly, in the ways that schools are organized?
2. Who/what is responsible for this situation?
3. If responsibilities were to be re-allocated, who would do what?
4. How would we know if caring were improved?
Materials and resources
The programme booklet, including the full text of the keynote lecture, a description of the workshop and an excerpt from Joan Tronto's 'Caring Democracy' (2013) can be found under 'downloads'. See p. 20-35 for Tronto's contribution.
Location
The Dutch Philosophy Olympiad 2020 was scheduled to be held at the Internationale School Voor Wijsbegeerte (ISVW) in Leusden, The Netherlands. The event had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Time
The workshop takes about one hour and can be attended by 18-25 participants. The section 'A Little Utopian Thinking' from Joan Tronto's 'Caring Democracy' (2013) is required preliminary reading.
Grouping / classroom
Students are divided into small groups to work through the four questions mentioned above.