Since 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis has called for Civics Excellence in education, aimed at making Florida “the national model for cultivating great citizens.”  We understand that what made the Founding Fathers great citizens, in part, was their education in the Western spiritual tradition.  It was this tradition that inspired them to build a country based on treating people fairly and equally and improving the  greater good.  

Our children, immersed in the TikTok echo-chamber of likes and followers, need a similar education that will help them to understand the ethical concerns that all humans should struggle with and the foundational values that can help them to assess a path forward.  We believe we can make our own children great citizens by immersing them in these same ideals.   Like the Founding Fathers, they will need to find the best solutions for contemporary challenges facing our communities, our state and the world–whether it be the ethics of artificial intelligence or the rights of Parents in light of Big Tech and social media.

Our curriculum draws on the core teachings of these spiritual traditions to give students moral clarity and vision.  These teachings inspired our nation’s Founding Fathers and great world leaders, and we believe they have the power to help our children too become great leaders and great citizens.  

We recognize that we live in the 21st century, and while America has become the melting-pot envisioned by our Founding Fathers, there are also divisions and discord in our society just like there was at Independence Hall as the Declaration of Independence was being drafted.  Our curriculum teaches students similar values as they appear in a multitude of faith traditions, including Moslem, Buddhist, and Native traditions.  Exposing children to this variety of ethical sources will help them develop as moral thinkers, appreciating the nuances of the moral issues involved.  It will also help them develop as global citizens, who can appreciate and respect cultures other than their own, and thrive in diverse environments.

Florida has already taken significant steps to include character education in the curriculum.  Florida State Senate Statute 2001:1003.42 requires district school boards to develop or adopt a “character development program in the elementary schools, …[which] shall stress the qualities of patriotism; responsibility; citizenship; kindness; respect for authority, life, liberty, and personal property; honesty; charity; self-control; racial, ethnic, and religious tolerance; and cooperation.” At a high school level, it also requires instruction on leadership, interpersonal skills, and conflict resolution. 

These values are a powerful basis for cultivating “great citizens.” Our curriculum explores in detail how to live out those values by exploring fundamental questions of living a life with kindness and integrity, including:

• When do I need to help a fellow person?

• How do I build and maintain healthy and peaceful relationships?

• When and how do I need to stand up for what is right?

• When is forgiveness appropriate or not appropriate?

“Spiritual Ethics” will offer teachings drawn from the same books that guided our Founding Fathers when they built American democracy.  Students will learn the wisdom that these spiritual traditions have to offer regarding ethical questions and contemporary life, and they will explore how that wisdom would apply to their own lives.  Students will thus not only learn approaches to ethics, but they will become better informed world citizens, and perhaps inspired as well to learn more about these traditions.  

“Spiritual Ethics” does not advocate for a particular religion, or for or against any particular ideas about God, and it is not dogmatic about ethical teachings. Students are never asked about their beliefs about God, nor are they ever required or encouraged to adopt any particular belief. The goal is for students to become aware of the spiritually based ethical principles which are foundational to America and Western Civilization, and which can lead us forward on a path to a harmonious society. 

Starting in 2024-2025, “Spiritual Ethics” will pilot a prototype of 30 sessions, each consisting of a 45 minute unit for grades 6-8. These units can be incorporated into the framework of existing classes. We will gather feedback based on the prototype, and continue building up to a 3-year curriculum of character development with 1 session/week (i.e. 3 levels, 30 lessons/level).