*H-175
GoodWork in Education: When Excellence, Engagement, and Ethics Meet
(Formerly titled Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet)
Howard Gardner
Which personal, social, and cultural factors affect whether a worker (e.g., doctor, journalist, actor, or teacher) or a field of work (in this case education) exhibits "good work", work that is excellent, engaging, and ethical? Such "good work" is at a special premium today in light of the fast pace of change, new communication, and information sources (e.g., the Web); other technological innovations; transient employment patterns; and the assertion of powerful market forces in the relative absence of once powerful ideological, religious, or governmental counterforces. While focusing on education in this course, we examine how "good work" occurs in various domains, including established professions (e.g., medicine, higher education), aspiring professions (e.g., K-12 education, journalism), non-professions (e.g., business, the arts), and blue-collar work. We explore the role of professionalization, morality, expertise, intelligence, and creativity in supporting or thwarting "good work." Our point of departure is the GoodWork Project, a large-scale, national empirical study of professionals' success ("good work") or failure (compromised work) in realizing the desired blend of excellence and ethics. The class entails two hours each week of lecture, discussion, and exercises as a whole group, accompanied by occasional one-hour sections for smaller group conversations and targeted exercises. The primary assignment is an independent analytic paper or empirical research project, which will be developed, with guidance, over the course of the semester. Students interested in taking the course should browse the web site goodworkproject.org as well as three recent books: Good Work (2001), Making Good (2004), and Responsibility at Work (2007). Permission of the instructor is required.
Visit the course Web site
(Some resources on the course Web site may require a Harvard PIN number)