Rose Tomassi at St. Joseph High School launched a philosophy unit, Person and Polis, with a strong foothold in two of our three Civic Education pillars:
Civic Belonging and Civic Skills
Students are delving into the concept of law by examining:
- How do laws insure safety?
- How do laws support citizens’ happiness?
- Are safety and happiness mutually exclusive?
- How do we create language for amending laws?
- How do we question the law?
- Does a committee need a leader?
Civic Belonging: Anchored in their reading of Lois Lowry’s The Giver, students will serve as elected members of the “Committee of Elders” tasked with designing laws for their new village.
Civic Skills: Committees will convene to analyze and evaluate each other’s laws. They will use a probing protocol intended to help each group think more deeply, and possibly amend, their law.
Probing Protocol:
- Write up as many questions as you can about laws of your classmates’ cities.
- Each law should have one clarifying question or reason for objection.
