Education For effective agency
Jennifer Morton, in her work "Molding Conscientious, Hard-Working, and Perseverant Students," attests that the goal of education should be to ensure that the children are able to obtain effective agency as a result of their education. Effective agency is what she calls the ability to achieve one's goals. She says the tools necessary to do include not only cognitive skills, but also non-cognitive skills. Cognitive dispositions or skills are those aimed at the truth or the acquisition of true beliefs, and non-cognitive skills are those dispositions or skills are those not aimed at the truth or the acquisition of true beliefs, in other words, 'soft skills,' personality traits, and social and emotional dispositions. The non-cognitive skills are measure by assessments including personality tests, self and other reports, and behavioral responses in experimental situations. She believes that non-cognitive skills are instrumental to effective agency and offers the "Crude Instrumental Argument" (below). She recognizes that inculcating these skills in children may jeopardize some components of liberal egalitarian theory because it is a unavoidable consequence that some of these skills or dispositions will be in misalignment or at odds with a student's home culture. In response to the potentiality that culture could be violated, which she acknowledges as unjust she puts forth that only those skills or dispositions pertinent to effective agency, which she identifies as those such as industriousness, persistence, and the capacity to delay gratification as well as some related to maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships, including empathy and respect for others. Skills that are important for effective agency or related to maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships can taught be without this risk presenting itself if it is put through the justice test and passes. To pass, it must be concluded the truth of the disposition does not depend on unjust background conditions or potentially justice undermining conditions. She then offers her "Justice Sensitive Instrumental Argument" (shown at the bottom of the page) as a revision of her "Crude Instrumental Argument" in light of the risk of injustice in indiscriminately teaching all skills or dispositions for effective agency in which she integrates her justice test. She leaves the question of whether to teach certain skills and dispositions important to educational and labor market achievement despite the potential threat of imposing the dominant cultural norms on minorities and acknowledges that injustice is an inevitable result of offering an equal opportunity to everyone in a non-ideal situation.
Crude Instrumental Arguement
1. Our educational institutions should develop the knowledge and skills in our students that will give them the opportunities to achieve their goals and lead a diversity of good lives.
2. In our society, employment and, increasingly, a higher education are necessary to achieve one’s goals and to lead a diversity of good lives.
3. Research shows non-cognitive dispositions X, Y, and Z lead to higher educational achievement, higher rates of employment, higher wages, better health, and reported life satisfaction.
4. Dispositions X, Y, and Z are malleable and can be taught.
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Conclusion: Our educational institutions should teach non-cognitive dispositions X, Y, and Z.
Justice Sensitive Instrumental Argument
1. Our educational institutions should develop the knowledge and skills in our students that will give them the opportunities to achieve their goals and lead a diversity of good lives.
2. In our society, employment and, increasingly, a higher education are necessary to achieve one’s goals and to lead a diversity of good lives.
3. Research shows non-cognitive dispositions X, Y, and Z lead to higher educational achievement, higher rates of employment, higher wages, better health, and reported life satisfaction.
4. Dispositions X, Y, and Z are malleable and can be taught.
5. Non-cognitive dispositions X, Y, and Z are broadly instrumental in leading a variety of reasonable good lives against a wide background of just conditions.
6. The truth of (5) does not depend on potentially justice undermining conditions.
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Conclusion: Our educational institutions should teach non-cognitive dispositions X, Y, and Z.
1. Our educational institutions should develop the knowledge and skills in our students that will give them the opportunities to achieve their goals and lead a diversity of good lives.
2. In our society, employment and, increasingly, a higher education are necessary to achieve one’s goals and to lead a diversity of good lives.
3. Research shows non-cognitive dispositions X, Y, and Z lead to higher educational achievement, higher rates of employment, higher wages, better health, and reported life satisfaction.
4. Dispositions X, Y, and Z are malleable and can be taught.
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Conclusion: Our educational institutions should teach non-cognitive dispositions X, Y, and Z.
Justice Sensitive Instrumental Argument
1. Our educational institutions should develop the knowledge and skills in our students that will give them the opportunities to achieve their goals and lead a diversity of good lives.
2. In our society, employment and, increasingly, a higher education are necessary to achieve one’s goals and to lead a diversity of good lives.
3. Research shows non-cognitive dispositions X, Y, and Z lead to higher educational achievement, higher rates of employment, higher wages, better health, and reported life satisfaction.
4. Dispositions X, Y, and Z are malleable and can be taught.
5. Non-cognitive dispositions X, Y, and Z are broadly instrumental in leading a variety of reasonable good lives against a wide background of just conditions.
6. The truth of (5) does not depend on potentially justice undermining conditions.
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Conclusion: Our educational institutions should teach non-cognitive dispositions X, Y, and Z.