Conference Registration

Registration Deadline: October 11, 2002

FEES

Registration categories and fees appear below. All fees are in U.S. dollars. To qualify for student status, verification (copy of student ID) must accompany your registration form.

Full-conference registration fees include:

• One-year membership in the Association for Moral Education (starting January 2003) with a one-year subscription to the Journal of Moral Education
• Attendance at all conference sessions
• Conference materials

One-day registration fees include:

• Attendance at that day's sessions
• Conference materials

Workshop registration fees include:

• Attendance at one of the following concurrent 3-hour workshops
• Workshop handouts
• Refreshments

Workshops:

A. Fostering Competencies of Moral Reasoning and Discourse through Dilemma Discussion
Presenter: Dr. Georg Lind (University of Konstanz, Germany)
     This workshop will introduce into the Konstanz version of the method of moral dilemma discussion, which has been developed over the past 20 years on the basis of the methods of Moshe Blatt, Lawrence Kohlberg, Marvin Berkowitz and Fritz Oser, as well as on modern psychological research on learning and instruction. The method of dilemma discussion provides an integrative approach to moral and character education, by integrating both the affective and cognitive and also the technical and ethical sides of human thinking and behavior. For demonstration, a real dilemma discussion with the participants will be run. Afterwards, the rationale of this method will be explained and information will be given on how to use this method in educational contexts across all ages and subject matter. While this workshop will not suffice to become proficient in this method, it may help to make an informed judgment on its usefulness. For experienced users of this or similar methods, this workshop may give new ideas and help to make teaching more effective. For more information on the Konstanz version of dilemma discussion, see Dr. Lind's web-site: http://www.uni-konstanz.de/ag-moral/.

B. Rules Right and Wrong and Children: Domain Appropriate Classroom Interactions
Presenter: Dr. Elsa Weber (Purdue University - Calumet)
     The underlying assumption of the session is that moral education takes place in the whole context of children's lives at home and at school. Teachers and others are invited to consider ordinary procedures and social interactions that occur in classrooms from a social domains perspective. Pinpointing key aspects of social interactions may suggest possible directions for helping children to see themselves as valued classroom members whose ideas are important, whose own desires may sometimes be set aside for the good of the group, and who take responsibility to ensure fair practices for all. The session will consist of a brief overview of research on domain distinctions that children make, followed by discussion of examples drawn from practice with preschool children, research with elementary school children, and from examples contributed by participants.

C. Moral, Conventional, and Personal Considerations of Anti-gay Violence Work in Schools: A Model for Making Schools Safe from Anti-gay Violence
Presenters: Dr. Stacey Horn (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Laura McAlpine (Coalition for Education on Sexual Orientation)
     This workshop will draw upon research on peer harassment of GLBT youth, as well as research on how adolescents evaluate and reason about issues of exclusion, teasing, and bullying to provide educators with a more complete understanding of the scope and nature of anti-gay violence in schools as well as the implications for positive youth development. During this workshop we will look at the different levels at which strategies can be implemented (individual, interpersonal, classroom, and institutional), and how these strategies might be infused into regular curricular or school activities and policies. We will go beyond "character education" to think, share, and discuss the ways in which anti-violence strategies can be implemented in developmentally appropriate and effective ways.

D. Promotion of Attitudes Pro-peace and Pro-nature through Dilemma Discussions
Presenter: Dr. Angela Biaggio (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
     This workshop aims at acquainting participants with an adaptation of Blatt and Kohlberg's dilemma discussion technique with elements from the "just community" approach in order to promote attitudes favorable to the environment and peace, in adolescents. As theoretical background, it is assumed that morally more mature youngsters will have more favorable attitudes toward nature, as found by Biaggio's earlier study. Peace should also be related to more mature levels of moral judgment, according to Piaget, Kohlberg, and Lourenço. Our adaptation of the two techniques consists of motivating teachers, usually science teachers, for the ecology program, and language and social sciences teachers for the peace program. Sets of dilemmas with ecological or peace content are provided.

E. Teaching Morality-Fostering Innate Wisdom, Health and Resiliency
Presenter: Dr. Elena Mustakova-Possardt (State University of West Georgia)
     This workshop brings to the theory and practice of moral education a new and still relatively unknown understanding of the nature of innate wisdom, mental health and resiliency, which sheds light on the delicate balance between teaching and facilitating morality. It elucidates the link between morality and releasing the power of innate health in people, and offers practitioners and theoreticians in the field both a conceptual and an experiential understanding of the microdynamics of the moment-to-moment, and the more permanent expressions of wisdom, equanimity and conscience. The experiential training develops a clear capacity to discern the moment-to-moment fluctuations in and out of wisdom in oneself and one's students, and to know when explicit moral education is appropriate, and can take hold.

Note: Workshops are subject to cancellation if minimum enrollment numbers are not met.

Awards Banquet Tickets

Tickets for the awards banquet on Friday are not included with any conference fee. Tickets can be purchased in advance when you register for the conference. Please see the Registration Form.

Because catering guarantees must be made several days prior to the banquet, only a very limited number of tickets may be available for purchase on site. If you plan to attend the awards banquet, it is strongly advised that you purchase a ticket when you register.

PAYMENTS

Payment may be made by check or money order payable to University of Illinois (U.S. dollars only), or by credit card (MasterCard or Visa). No vouchers, purchase orders, or phone registrations will be accepted. For security purposes, please do not submit credit card information via the Internet. There is a $25 service charge for all returned checks.

To obtain exact equivalents in other currencies at current exchange rates, please use the XE.com Personal Currency Assistant.

TO REGISTER

For your convenience, registration forms are available in two forms, MS Word and PDF:

MS Word registration form (open and fill out using MS Word, then print)

PDF registration form (open and fill out using Acrobat Reader, then print)

Mail or fax your completed registration form with payment to:

UIC Office of Conferences and Institutes (MC 265)
322 South Green St., Suite 212, Chicago, IL 60607-3544, USA

Fax: +1.312.996.5227 (accepted with credit card payment only)

We encourage you to register as soon as possible, both to ensure your participation and to assist us in planning for this conference.

REFUNDS

All refund requests must be confirmed in writing to the UIC Office of Conferences and Institutes. Registration fee refunds are subject to a deduction of $50 ($25 student) for requests received by October 11. No refunds will be issued for requests received after that date, or for non-attendance.

QUESTIONS

If you have any questions about conference logistics or your registration, please contact:

UIC Office of Conferences and Institutes (MC 265)
322 South Green St., Suite 212, Chicago, IL 60607-3544, USA

Phone: +1.312.996.5225
Fax: +1.312.996.5227
E-mail: uicci@uic.edu