Moral Decision Making: Teaching Students to Weigh In on Current Events

As young people learn the steps of the process, they discover that decision making is both a skill and an art, with numerous factors contributing to any moral dilemma. With current events challenging us all to weigh in on the pro or con side of an issue, students can utilize the LISTEN process to formulate authentic, values-based responses to news reports.

The LISTEN acronym represents the steps in this decision-making process: Listen, Investigate, Synthesize, Think critically, and Evaluate. By employing these steps, students can hone their moral decision-making skills by wrestling with moral dilemmas drawn from news reports.

Teachers can help students apply this process to situations they face in their own lives, as well as offer it as a tool for working with current events. This article provides a critical review of school leaders' data-driven decision making (DDDM), highlighting the potential tension between DDDM and moral decision-making.

The LISTEN process is introduced in textbooks, such as Saint Mary's Press's 'Growing in Christian Morality,' which uses this framework to guide students through the decision-making process. Additionally, a framework for analyzing moral issues using five different approaches to values – utilitarianism, rights, fairness or justice, common good, and virtue – can be applied to help students evaluate complex moral situations.

By teaching students the LISTEN process, educators empower them to make informed, morally sound decisions in response to current events. This not only helps students develop important critical thinking skills but also fosters a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in moral decision making.

Moral decision making