What's the Right Thing to Do?

Selma Wassermann is a professor emerita in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Her books include An Introduction to Case Method Teaching: A Guideto the Galaxy (1994), This Teaching Life (2004), Teaching for Thinking Today: Theory,Strategies and Activities for the K-8 Classroom (2017), Teaching in the Age ofDisinformation: Don’t Confuse Me with the Data, My Mind is Made Up (2017).

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1- It’s a DilemmaTheoretical Foundations of Moral BehaviorChapter 2- Making Sense of a Complex World: What’s the Right Thing to Do?What Can Teachers and Parents Do?Chapter 3- Children as Decision MakersThinking and DecidingSome CaveatsFreedom to Choose and EmpowermentChapter 4- Introduction to the World of Moral DilemmasIt’s ComplicatedAdult-Child Discussions About Moral IssuesThe Value of Small Group WorkChapter 5- Stories, Mini-Cases, Books, Films and Classroom IncidentsWhat’s a Case?Twenty-two Mini-CasesInviting Children’s Stories About Their Own DilemmasChildren’s Books and StoriesFilms Chapter 6- Putting Moral Behavior into ActionCommunity ProjectsExtracting Meaning from ExperienceJournalsChapter 7- Discussion Strategies to Examine Moral IssuesLearning Discussion Skills by Observing the “How” in ActionThe Interactive DialogueThe Teacher/Parent in the ProcessNon-defensive Awareness of SelfChapter 8- Even Children Can Make a DifferenceChildren Who Make a DifferenceBibliographyAbout the Author

What’s the Right Thing to Do?: Promoting Thoughtful and Socially Responsible Behavior in the Early Childhood Years is clear, concise, and on target. This book is a valuable contribution to an important field. Indeed, what can be more important to our future than the moral education of the young?