Our individual virtues serve as a foundation for our civic virtues. Virtues such as empathy, respect, service, compassion and honesty provide a strong footing for developing a more cohesive society.

Civic virtues support citizenship and community. Civic virtues enable us to collaborate and contribute to our communities to form a stronger more vibrant community.

As teachers, leaders, and citizens - there is a collective responsibility to foster, develop and teach civic virtues to allow for all citizens to flourish. The community grows when we all have a shared sense of purpose that transcends our differences.

This space has been created to provide shared content, activities, and discussion questions that we can further develop and use to teach the importance of civic virtues

Is it possible to love someone without agreeing with them?

Here's how it works. I will provide an example of ways to engage your students in civic virtue dialogue (I welcome feedback).

I am encouraging all of us to do the same. Just add your post or activity in the category or ask questions.

Let's fill the page with ideas and any ways that we are trying to spread the message.

Do you feel that outside influences can cause us to ignore the internal desire to do good?

What 3 questions would you ask? Why would you ask these questions?

Do you hold others in high regard?

How about your struggling students or employees that report to you?

How about those who do not have your same beliefs?

Can we define high regard?

^10 lHumble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

^11 mDo not speak evil against one another, brothers.⁴ The one who speaks against a brother or ⁿjudges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is only ^oone lawgiver and ^pjudge, he who is able to save and ^qto destroy. But ^rwho are you to judge your neighbor?

https://youtube.be/KZBTYViDPIQ?feature=shared

Christianity: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12, NIV).

Islam: "No one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself" (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book 73, Hadith 13).

Buddhism: "Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful" (Udana-Varga 5.18).

Hinduism: "This is the sum of duty; do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you" (Mahabharata 5:1517).

Judaism: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary" (Talmud, Shabbat 31a).

Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" (Analects 15.23).

The Golden Rule is a universal principle that emphasizes the importance of treating others with kindness, respect, and empathy. It encourages individuals to consider the feelings and perspectives of others and to act with compassion and understanding.

Dr. Laurie Santos is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Yale University. Her research provides an interface between evolutionary biology, developmental psychology, and cognitive neuroscience, exploring the evolutionary origins of the human mind by comparing the cognitive abilities of human and non-human primates.  To have a more dynamic natural understanding of how a leader becomes a leader and why others want to follow the leader is at the forefront of her research.

Knowing your character strengths and virtues that drive you brings you closer to being a leader.  Watch her video discussing the basics of virtues and virtue development.  Share your thoughts.