Abstract:

In this paper, we report the development of a methodology for learning ethical decision-making through the Arts in both physical and virtual environments. In the document, we firstly describe said methodology and the elements of the experience or user journey we designed in order to achieve participants’ full engagement. Secondly, we deepen in the conditions of the learning environments it is designed for: museum-based experiences and virtual reality. Finally, we describe the results and participants’ experiences during our pilot testing phase and comment on next steps.

Our world is ever changing and that means we are constantly facing moments in which we have to make decisions, some more complex than others. Research suggests that our youth is “conflict averse”, alarmed by ethical dilemmas and “reliant on people to tell them what they need to do”(Hershatter & Epstein, Berger & Reber, Winograd & Hais, Chobi, cited in Curtin et al., 2011.) But we want our students to be able to make difficult decisions with integrity in the face of complex challenges. Ethical decision-making is a fundamental life skill.

The World Economic Forum states that “an understanding and acceptance of shared human values is critical for a world facing challenges, moreover integrating these values into business, government and civil society engagement can change human progress as suffering from a catastrophic setback experience to a positive transformation in the future. Values can shape the critical global systems.” (2016, p.5) and that is where the Arts come in. They are a universal experience well-known for inspiring and connecting us with our humanity. They are also proven to be a profound and creative way to promote thinking dispositions (Richhart, 2015), to reflect and create dialogue on complex topics (Greene, 2012), to develop collaborative skills (Acaso, 2017), and to foster understanding (Goodman, 1976), leading us to integrate our shared human values in different spheres of life.

As a consequence, we designed a methodology whose goal is to teach ethical decision-making through the Arts. It is composed of three stages: In the first one, participants immerse themselves in an experience that enables them the possibility to explore a scenario through the Arts, ask questions, and discover how the topic relates to their lives. In a second one, they explore the topic more deeply by getting immersed in a dilemma and the different choices around it. They have to solve it during a guided conversation with their peers. Finally, participants confront their choices and propose next steps and actions for themselves and their communities.

After pilot testing the methodology with a group of college students, preliminary results and reflection on our process suggest the following:
1) this method of teaching can foster a disposition towards intentionally approaching complex topics;
2) it provides a framework for critically analyzing ethical dilemmas and identifying actions for changing current realities;
3) it provides the opportunity to reflect upon important topics such as climate change, migration and citizenship, peace, ethics in technology, and the future of work.

Keywords:

Arts, ethics, decision making, learning, technology, virtual reality, critical thinking, life skills, youth.