Ethics-and-Us

2009-03-09T19:54:00.001-02:00

In this play, we have experienced how a “girl” (at the beginning) could find the way of feeling better when she started to make choices for her own life, and become a “woman” who is ready to take control over it.
Everything in Rita’s life has changed: her personality, her personal circumstances, her culture and also the people who surround her.
After all, I think that Rita has gained as a result of her education. She has learnt that she is able to choose what she wants for her life and what is better for her. She doesn't need to accept things as they come anymore and furthermore, she is not afraid of making mistakes. She knows now that she is the only person who is able to change her life through the decisions she will take in the future.
I cannot imagine when somebody suffers as a result of studying. Every little experience of studying something gives you growing. I totally agree when Willy Russell says: “education gives you a choice”, because not only it implies an educational experience but also a change in people’s personality.

The goal has been achieved!

2009-03-04T21:12:00.001-02:00

The final scenes of the play show us both Frank and Rita about to embark on new stages of their lives. Frank is leaving the University where he met Rita while she has passed her exams successfully. Now, Rita is ready to take charge of her own life.
Rita hasn’t only learnt about Literature but also about making decisions for herself, a very important issue that has to do with everyday life.
While Frank is packing all his things, he gives Rita a dress he bought her some time before. He said that he bought it for an educated woman and when he chose it, he put rather more emphasis on the word “woman” than on the word “educated”.
I think that, after all, Rita has gained experience, confidence and control over herself. The change she was looking for brings more new experiences and challenges for her, who is ready to face a number of choices about the direction her life is to take.
I believe that the dress Frank gives her symbolizes the end of a challenge for him. As if it was the last detail that was missing to let Rita go away from him.

"I want to change everything"

2009-03-02T12:26:00.001-02:00

Rita is not a hairdresser anymore. It seems that Rita is not interested in boring details so she doesn’t tell Frank about it.
Rita works in a bistro now…but what’s the difference between working in a bistro from a hairdresser’s?
To me, there is not any difference because when you are proud of what you are, you can work wherever you want. Stupid and boring rubbish details are everywhere so it’s up to you to manage them the better way you believe. But I also think that there is something more important than that.
Maybe, she feels that being a hairdresser does not match her appearance of being a “proper student”, an interesting wise woman, who does not care about a room full of junk as a hairdresser could be to her and in which she was surrounded by old ladies.
Now, she loves working in a bistro because she meets other students who are passionate about things that matter, just like her.
I believe that Rita is keeping up appearances; she is doing what people expect her to do. That’s why she cannot work as a hairdresser anymore.

“…I can do things on me own more now…”

2009-02-27T19:57:00.001-02:00

It is startling to see how Rita’s personal development has increased. She dares to speak her mind when talking about books with Literature students she meets on the lawn. She is able to understand literature and write essays without consulting Frank all the time. But why does she change her way of speaking?
I think that Rita doesn’t want to leave a trail of what she was; even in her way of speaking. It seems that she is trying to imitate what she called “the proper students” at the beginning of the play, those who she wanted to be when she decided to study.
In turn, Frank finds it difficult to cope with this “new” Rita.
First of all, it is because he wants her to be the spontaneous girl he met, with her flaws and virtues. Secondly, when he finds out that the opinions in her essays are merely objective ones, because they don’t follow her instincts but they are led by different authors she read to make an opinion.
Frank is partly responsible for what has happened. He has asked Rita to be objective when writing or speaking about literature and not to involve her feelings when she had to give an opinion. That’s what Rita has done.

Ladies and Gentleman…this is Rita….!!

2009-02-26T20:54:00.001-02:00

Rita has come back from London; she has been at the Summer School so she seems to be renewed. She has met new people, visited theatres and pubs and she has also been immersed in her work.

Rita has changed a lot during this time and Frank can see how her character and attitude show a different woman. She has dared to talk in public without caring less what people thought about her.

It was not in vain when Innocence and Experience by Blake is quoted in the play by the author. I believe that it shows how the experience of doing new things drives away the very spontaneity (innocence) Rita could express through her behaviour at the beginning of the play.
Frank, who was greatly surprised at her changes, did not seem to be glad to see Rita looking so well. Maybe, he felt he got stuck and Rita has developed into a secure woman, the one who feels good about herself.

Now, she was not an innocent girl anymore and it seemed she could spread her wings and fly wherever she wanted. The experience of being alone in London has helped her become more independent than she was and it has also helped her lose the innocence that led her to meet Frank

I want to change everything

2009-02-25T12:10:00.003-02:00

After having been invited to Frank’s dinner party, Rita finally decided not to go to his house.
First of all, her husband did not go with her and they had a big fight about that. In spite of this, Rita decided to go there all the same. As she arrived to Frank’s house, she could see them from outside the house that Frank and his guests were enjoying the dinner, laughing and talking. So she came back to the pub where her family was.
To Rita, everything was a problem; she did not know how to dress up to go to the party or what wine they would like them.
I think that Rita was not prepared to join in another group of people that wouldn’t be her family or her “community”.
Although Frank showed her other strengths she had, it was not enough for her, and that is what made her finally say the reason for not going to the party.
Maybe, she made excuses for not saying what she really felt about it. She felt that, after all, everybody was going to laugh at her because of her way of speaking and behaving.
I think that when you are not satisfied with yourself, with your whole life, you do not feel well anywhere except when you do something you really like and want to.
It is better for Rita to continue looking inside her for the change she needs to be happier.

They know all about that…do I know anything?

2008-11-02T20:01:00.002-02:00

This scene shows Rita excited about the play she went to see to a professional theatre. It was so exciting that she decided to tell Frank about it, maybe because she felt he was the only one who could understand her feelings about the play.

Although she found the play very interesting, she could not go into thinking deeply about it. That’s why Frank made her notice other things which were difficult for her to think about or did not realize about that play, she said she was not used to thinking like this.

After that, Rita went over to the window, where, I imagine, she could see the “proper students” and said, “all them out there, they know all about that sort of thing, don’t they?”

I think that despite the fact she is studying, improving and determining to go on, maybe she feels that she has not improved enough to know all, as people surrounding her at the University.

I think that Rita suffers from low self-esteem and need to build it up again. I believe she feels she would not be able to keep an open mind when thinking objectively. Perhaps Frank, studying and her own willpower to want to improve her thoughts may boost Rita’s self-esteem so she will not talk about “them” but “us”.

Once again, I understand Rita’ feelings.

Rita won’t go to the pub with Frank

2008-10-13T20:25:00.005-03:00

After having a difficult situation in her house, Rita couldn’t hand in the essay Frank has asked her to write about.

Her husband feels jealous about her going to University so he burns Frank’s books and what she has written.

Frank thinks it is better to talk about Rita and her husband’s problems so he considers the possibility of missing the class for this time and goes together to have a drink at the pub but Rita refuses to go. She does not want to go to the pub but goes on learning.

I believe that one of the reasons she does not want to go for a drink is that she does not want to waste time in talking about Denny, her husband. He hurts her in the way that he is meddling with her things, which make her happy and which she is determined to continue. Although he has burnt Frank’s books and her essay, she knows that what she has already known is hers and nobody can touch or burn it, fortunately.

Another reason she won’t go to the pub could be because she may do it with her husband and it is precisely what she does not want to for her life, because the fact of going there would not feed her inside. She feels alive now she finds out what she really likes doing.
If I were Rita, I would think: “please, let me be, Denny”.

“It makes me stronger coming here”.

2008-10-11T15:21:00.005-03:00

This is what Rita feels since she has started studying at University. She also realizes that although she might buy a new dress and have a lot of money, she has nothing after all. Because what she really needs for her life is to enrich her culture with something more important than a simple dress.
Having started to study feeds her inside. I think that what she wants to explain is that studying makes her free to make decisions, to feel autonomous when choosing what is better for her life. Studying feeds her inside because she feels motivated as she has her own opinion about things.
On the contrary, she decides to go ahead despite her husband does not support her. He does not like her studying and tries to persuade her, inviting her to go on having the same vulgar life she does not want to have it anymore, she wants to break away and has her own life, that is to say, she wants to do what she really makes her happy.
I totally agree with Rita when she says that her husband is frightened of her going to study.
He knows that, whether he likes it or not, Rita would not be the same woman he met some years ago.

Rita and Frank

2008-09-29T23:11:00.005-03:00

The relationship between Rita and Frank takes place in Frank’s book-lined study.
Rita thinks that Frank’s room is what she would like to have it in the future.
Although she thinks it is a mess, she feels that everything have been put to fit there.
She seems to be very comfortable in his room because she likes walking around, going to the window and back to his desk, maybe she feels free there or just because she is doing something for herself.
When she goes to the window, she can see from the window what she calls the PROPER STUDENTS. She believes that they are the ones who spend their lives reading and studying and are well-dressed. A dream that she could not achieve when she was at primary school because for her studying was just for those who had the chance to do it.
She feels that if she had studied, she would have become different from her mates and family, and maybe, she did not do that because she wanted to go on belonging to her group of people and did not make upset anyone around her due to a significant change education would bring about her.

Educating Rita by Willy Russell

2008-09-06T21:56:00.002-03:00

Rita is a twenty-six-year old hairdresser who has taken the decision of enrolling on a literature course at the Open University, where she met her tutor, Frank.
I think that Rita wants to study because she feels she would be able to become a better person than who she actually is.
She wants a change in her life which makes her feel she is alive and free to choose what she wishes for her life. She feels ready to meet the challenge of studying what she desires. Besides she wants to learn “everything”, she needs to fulfil herself to succeed as a person.
I believe that this change, maybe, would also contribute to her not being influenced by people’s feelings or thoughts so it is not going to be others’ beliefs but hers.

Forever and ever…

2008-08-17T20:08:00.007-03:00

Once again, in his last chapter, Savater still makes us reflect on his words…
He says that although time goes by, there are certain things that do not change: as human beings, we are born, love, fight and die. And as time goes by, we tend to share our life with people who have the same feelings, thoughts, or appearance and the one who thinks differently or is different to us becomes a danger.
I believe that if everybody had thought the same, or had been identical, this world would have been very boring and therefore, you would not have had the oportunity of going on learning from others, this is what I think it is the most important part.
As teacher, we should teach our students that judging by appearances will not lead them to know the real essence of people. Our reasoning power is of no value if our conclusions are based on faulty assumptions.

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye.

Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. (John 7:24)

Think about it!

2008-06-30T20:57:00.002-03:00

After all, I’ve reached to the end of Savater‘s book… I feel that I’ve learned more than in many years and it has helped me to find a way to understand the reason for people’s reaction.
Ethics is not only what is right or wrong for me and others, but to reflect on our decisions responsibly in order to become everyday a bit more free.
I’ve learned that we need to get our priorities right although we are in a seemengly hopeless situation. And I’ve also learned that although we are frightened to make decisions, it is worth it. Because it means you are alive and kicking, and trying to choose the right path, that is to say, looking for what is convenient for you.
I’ve also found out that as a teenager, I wasn’t totally wrong when I thought that we learn from our own experience because nobody can replace us. Maybe our parents, for example, may help us but experience is unique and nontransferable.
As teachers to be, we should pass all these messages on to our students, in order to contribute to their success of their lives.

Politics and Ethics

2008-06-15T21:56:00.005-03:00

Two issues that bear a close relation when we talk about being free to choose or take decisions, for example.
Politics pursues the aim of organizing a peaceful coexistence between human beings in a country so everyone can choose what it is convenient for them.
I think that in order to make an opinion about POLITICS you have to know a lot about the political history of a country, that’s why I can not make an opinion about which one was better than other or why we are going through this current situation in our country.
Savater takes into account two aspects:
The Political System of a country has to respect citizen’s freedom of speech, expresion and choice.
And it also has to guarantee assistance of those who need help or suffer financial problems.
Taking these aspects into account I think that there are many examples in which politicians are not taking conscious decisions about what is ethically correct for us as a society.
Although we live in a “democratic” country, sometimes it seems as if we are under a dictatorial regime where nobody feels free of choosing what it is convenient.
Moreover, we don’t have to watch the tv to see that there are many people from the North who have nothing to eat, we just travel by train and you’ll find many poor, dirty children asking for money.
That’s why I wonder where politicians study ethics, why they can’t do anything to solve our problems, why they vigorously pursue their interests and their needs or the needs of few rich people.
Would it be because the ones who voted for them were not responsible at all?

Simple Pleasures

2008-06-09T12:21:00.001-03:00

Talking about “pudding” in my last post, it was what it makes me think when I talk about “PLEASURES”, not only because I like eating it, but also because I love preparing it. Cooking is my favourite hobby and it gives me great pleasure to invite others what I cook. Sometimes, when I am not having a good time, I look for something in the cupboard to start cooking. It is what it makes me feel joy.
Sometimes, we don’t want to waste time in doing what we like it because of our work, our studies or our responsiblities, so we finish delaying what is pleasant for us.
Or course, we need to know that doing only what we like it is not healthy.
In this chapter, Savater says that the happiness of doing what is pleasant for us brings pain, death and life and it is bad for us if it doesn’t let us live well. That is to say, when pleasures end and vices begins, nothing is the same.
Let’s enjoy the little things life gives us ( when we could…):
Appreciate beauty
Connect with nature
Laugh
Have simple pleasures
Connect With People
Learn
Rethink your mornings and evenings
Celebrate your successes

"Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead."

Scottish Proverb

In your shoes, In my shoes…

2008-05-31T16:07:00.005-03:00

I think that trying to put ourselves in somebody’s shoes is one of the best way of humanizing when we want to live a better life. To be in somebody’s shoes is to understand why a person does or does not do something.
Non-one else can say what its value to him/her is - only we can be the judge of the decisions we take.
However, It is sometimes very easy to judge somebody when you are not involved in the situation or from what you simply see.
Sometimes there are some people who behave or react as they can be, and not as they want to, because everyone is different and every human being has a different life.
When a friend ask me to put myself in her shoes, I try to think objectively without thinking she is my friend, if not I’ll be influenced by my feelings.
So don’t judge a book by its cover, the proof of the pudding is in the eating…

Your mind is made up you won’t even try

You didn’t even cry this time

You say that we could never see eye to eye

And one of us just must be blind

We have our differences

We’re still the same

See what we want to see

But you take a second look

And maybe things wouldn’t seem the same

If you could see what you mean to me

Put yourself in my shoes

Walk a mile for me

I’ll put myself in your shoes

Maybe then we’d see

That if you put yourself in my shoes

You’d have some sympathy

And if I could only put myself in your shoes

I’d walk right back to me

You’re gonna keep walkin’ and you’re gonna pass me by

You say you don’t even care

But I could always recognize a real good-bye

And I know your heart’s not there

We’ve had our differences

We’re still the same

Hear what we want to hear

Now I’m head over heels in the lost and found

It’s a cryin’ shame

I thought we made the perfect pair

Put yourself in my shoes

Walk a while walk that mile for me

I’ll put myself in your shoes

Maybe then we’d see

That if you put yourself in my shoes

You’d have some sympathy

And if I could only put myself in your shoes

I’d walk right back to me

By Clint Black

Blame and Remorse, Conscience and Responsibility

2008-05-19T10:57:00.006-03:00

Four single words that have to do with our every day life… who hasn’t ever felt remorse because of something we did or didn’t do? Do we shoulder the blame for what we did or didn’t do? Are we conscious of our acts? Do we assume responsibilities?
This time, the chapter has many topics to talk about, but I’m going to reflect on some quotes that called my attention.
When we talk about blames, sometimes we behave in two different ways: if it is something that has gotten a positive result, we are the first that sing our praises, and we expect everybody to congratulate us. In this example, we don’t call it “blame” but we say, “it thanks to me”.
If it is something that has showed a negative result, we sometimes tend to put the blame on somebody because we don’t want to assume the responsibility of feeling like failers.
It is not from our parents or friends but our own responsibility to live a good life. A person who is reponsible from his/her beahviour is conscious of his/her real freedom, that is to say, he is able to take decisions for his/her own.
What is really important is to know that, from here on, if you take responsibilities, you’ll build up your identity and develop your personality. Every decision will leave a mark on your life or on others.
If you are used to behave well, it will be difficult to behave in the other way about, and vice versa. For example, if you are not used to tell lies, you will be very dissapointed with yourself because it doesn’t really show the way you are and besides, it will go against your feelings.

DON'T BE AFRAID OF TAKING RESPONSIBLITIES, IT WILL HELP YOU GROW...

Wake up and smell the coffee!!!

2008-05-19T10:57:00.005-03:00

In this modern world, where it is more important to get “things” more than act as human beings, we forget about the fact that the more we relate to others, the more we humanize ourselves.
I cannot avoid to connect this chapter in the normal way teachers sometimes treat children when they work at school so many hours.
I’ve met many teachers that work in many schools and have lots of students in order to get a higher salary and live more comfortable so they are always tired and treat their students as things, or numbers to remember them.
They do not get to know them or do not pay attention to their social backgrounds or needs but they’d rather increase their bank account.
As teachers, we have to consider that we work with human beings, and we are responsible for our acts.
Respect is reciprocal. When we give respect, we also get respect in return. This is true in our relationships with our children as well.

"One treats others with courtesy not because they are gentlemen or
gentlewomen, but because you are." (H.G. Hendricks)

Living happily

2008-05-13T15:53:00.006-03:00

Doing what you want and face the consequences is not a strain when you are a teenager, because you do not take much care about it, but, is it easy to be aware of what you really want at that age? And if Ethics is about discovering how to live better or how to have a good life, why don’t we study ethics at school, when we are younger? Do all parents teach their children how to have a good life? Why isn’t there a book about how to live correctly as it is about Geography or Maths? So, we start learning how to live good, step by step...
When you become an adult you consider the consequences and know what you want, you also must respect people are around you. If you treat a person as if he was a furniture you will find out that the same will happen when somebody treats you. This is what Savater reflects on in this chapter. So, it is not only important to live a good life but make others live a good life, too.
The problem is that sometimes we do not achieve our own aims because we spend our time thinking about what will make feel happy to others.
I couldn’t think about this until I became an adult, I’m still looking for the best way of living, all the time. I’ve just realized that I’ve been scared of taking decisions just because I’m interesting in making others live a good life.
Taking all this into account, I believe that life is about learning to build a balance between what is convenient for me and the people who is around me, what makes them feel happy, without forgetting my own happiness.
As teachers, we should teach our students to find in their feet what makes them feel joyful, respecting others and of course, themselves as human beings.

Let me be...

2008-04-26T15:52:00.004-03:00

When I was a teenager, I wondered so many times when I was going to do what I wanted. So much, that I asked to a Psychology teacher: “when am I going to become independent?”
I remember she answered, “when you would be financiary independent”. But I have to tell you that she didn´t give me a hand. I think that she couldn’t understand what I was talking about. I was talking about of taking decisions freely. It was as if I was always looking for my parents’ disaprroval.
Today, I wonder what would have happened if Savater had been my dad and had told me, “do what you what”. It would have been a disaster!!. Because as a teenager, I wouldn’t have thought twice before making a decision and many of the results wouldn’t be convinient for me or for others. But thinking this twice I wonder what have have happened?? Who knows….
Now, as an adult, I wish I was a teenager to have the same energy to decide on issues without being scared of (bad) consequences.

When choosing is sometimes so difficult…

2008-04-14T21:27:00.004-03:00

There are times when we are tired out of deciding which is the best for our lives, we think that there’s no solution for some problems so we feel we are in a dead end.
According to Savater in chapter 2, our behaviours on deciding on such things are conditioned by “orders”, “customs” or “whims”.
Orders come to our life when we are children, parents do not tell us why we have to do it, but just do it! Customs are born with us and it is just like that, we cannot choose anything. Both orders and customs come from the outside, that is to say that we are not free to choose.
But on the other hand, whims are what we like, or we prefer to do, we have no reason to do it. Sometimes we react in a way in some siuations in oder to go against others.
Reflecting on this, in difficult situations we cannot indulge our whims but try to do what is convenient for us without forgetting others.
We have to learn to think twice before we make decisions that can change our life forever.

What is there between right and wrong?

2008-04-07T09:37:00.004-03:00

As human beings, we are free to choose what is advisable for us. This is what Savater insists on in his first chapter: De qué va la Etica.

We are free to fulfil our destiny as long as we are sure what we want for our lives. It depends on our force of will to achieve the aims we have in mind without disturbing other people's lives.

Being free to think critically is to get involved in what we believe is ethically correct.

But, what happens if we get involved?

Sometimes we want to be liked so as to belong to a group of people and we say "YES" when actually we really mean "NO". We do not want to run the risk of failing because we are afraid of not belonging to that group anymore. It is easier to keep our thoughts to ourselves than to speak our mind.

Although it is more difficult, as teachers, we have the opportunity to commit ourselves to working hard and leading our students to the correct path.

As Savater says,

Ethics is the art of
living.
So, let's give it a try!!

What’s ETHICS for you?

2008-04-01T23:40:00.005-03:00

There is no time when we are caught in this dilemma of being ethical in every aspect of our lives. We always need to consider the moral consequences of our actions and the ethical choices we make.
At the very beginning of Savater’s book in Etica para Amador, he reflects on how moral principles are a essential part in regards to education.
He tries to explain his son, Amador, what ethics is about for giving him the freedom of thoughts and choices of what is ethically right and wrong. It will make him think critically and voice his opinion.
It is his intelligence which will allow him to do his best when choosing what to do.
Reflecting on this, we know that our parents are our first educators, as teachers we share with them the responsibility of building students personalities and to make them think intelligently.