Tuesday, we talked about the social contract theory, which states if people existed in a state of nature, not governed by ideological laws, that would be a state that people would not want to live. We learned that this theory has two viewpoints: all people are fundamentally good and will place the group over the individual and all people would work to survive out of self-interest. As I summarized in the précis for today's scheduled class, following a social contract presumes that we are free beings who are willing to give up some aspect of that freedom in order to gain more freedom. Recall that during class, the honor code was used as an example of a social contract. Many of us had never thought of the honor code in such a way. Then the question became, "Would the honor code work at other places?" For instance, would it work in less privileged environments? Those who went to private high schools said they remember having an honor code, but others who went to public high schools did not have honor codes. I went to White Station High School, one of the top public high schools here in Memphis. Even though we did not have to actually sign an honor code, I feel that White Station used an implicit honor code system. More specifically, those of us who were in the Honors/Optional program used this understood system. We had so many classes with the same people that we became comfortable enough to let our guards down and trust that classmates would not invade our space by taking our belongings.
I currently work at The Soulsville Charter School, which is located in the heart of South Memphis. Soulsville operates totally different from that of other schools within the city, from its heavy workload to its strict policies. I work with the recruitment specialist, and around this time every year, we are working to admit new students for the next school year. Before each student is even enrolled into the school both the student and his/her parents must sign a Commitment to Excellence Contract, which basically states that they will comply to the rules of The Soulsville Charter School. I see this as a social contract because the student must give up a vast amount of freedom with the anticipation of gaining more freedom. Soulsville is not the typical academic community, and although it is not the school for everyone, its Commitment to Excellence Contract helps to keep it above the curve, along with the compliance of the students.
If you want to read the contract, here's the link:
http://www.soulsvillecharterschool.org/title-1-compliance.html
Do you know of any other instances in which a social contract is used? What are your thoughts about the issue of some people giving up a lot to gain a little, while others give up a little to gain a lot?
Have a great weekend!
I’m still skeptical on the possibility of placing a social contract in high schools. While I see the benefits of such a program, there are other issues that could conflict with its success. There is a difference between private and public schools having a social contract. One reason being that people choose and pay to attend private schools. Public schools are free and they determine their student body based on zoning from the state. So if a student fails to adhere to the contract and the school terminates him, where does he go? What if there are no alternative schools that the student can afford to attend.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stanton. I read the soulsville school contract, and it is definitely a lot more extreme than our honor code. The question is to what extent are people going to be willing to give up these freedoms for a potential greater good? One primary issue is being "forced" to sign such contract, or willingly sign it. Not everyone has to attend a private school, so there in its self the contract is optional. But in public schools, everyone must attend, therefore the contract would not technically be optional but mandated. This could cause people to become uneasy, unless it was something the public voted on. I think a "lite version" of a honor code should be implemented in public schools. Which the parents should sign most likely, to make sure they are following all of the requirements, but I think steps should be made with the students to teach ethical behavior and develop a since of a more sophisticated honor code. I think this would help a lot of the school to prison pipeline issues, which that is what Stanton is talking about here. Which I think this is a failure of the schools, which they are not adequately dealing with misbehavior, they are simply terminating students and treating them like criminals rather than treating or educating them.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that the Soulsville Charter School commitment to excellence form is a social contract. It seems that they see a system of accountability as more important than socioeconomic status and privilege as a precursor for having the privilege of a social contract. When we draw a parallel to society as a whole, the Rhodes honor code is one based in an environment where really, only those who can pay to attend the school are able to attend. As a result, they are also playing of a system of historical economic privilege that can't simply be fixed by racial projects. Rhodes society is very similar to America as a whole and provides a great education. We can also say that Soulsville Charter School provides a great education on their ability to get every student college ready. Now, both of these institutions have social contracts geared toward restricting freedoms to gain a greater freedom. I am especially anticipating the progress of the Soulsville graduating class as I think we are all searching for a way to remove the idea that the privilege of having an honor code or social contract is only for the privileged. If Soulsville students are successful down the line, then their social contract may provide an alternate to defining success and growing compassion for others that isn't reliant on privilege, which may inspire similar social contracts for society as a whole.
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ReplyDeleteI too agree that the Soulsville Charter School's Commitment to Excellence form is indeed a social contract, just as the Honor Code here at Rhodes. I actually like the idea of having social contracts in schools, whether private or public. I understand that people pay to go to private schools and I definitely do not believe that all schools have to have a social contract as strict as Soulsville, however, I think a social contract may help students to better understand the value of honesty and communal togetherness when everyone in the school is working not to violate their societal contract. I know that when students get into the real world, there are not always societal contracts to guarantee that all people are honest or treated fairly but I think a social contract may help to train up the future citizens that will make up and run our country one day. I think that if the students knew that teachers and staff held them to a higher standard, they would work harder to try to live up to their potential. If they choose to violate the social contract, then they must suffer the consequences. That is no different from if the violated an implicit rule at a school with no societal contract because they would still get in trouble if they cheated on a test, stole, and so forth.
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