“Education can make people moral.”

So said Socrates and still there is much debate about this. As an educator/speaker/ trainer, I believe that this is true, IF…………

The premise of the education is based on the belief that learning links up to people’s experience and is objectively, substantially and reflectively presented and experienced. Only then can any “education” work or take hold.

The operative word here is “can”. Yes, education can, but so much depends on the “teacher” in taking the knowledge, which is the “stuff” and making it relatable in the hearer’s experience, which makes it wisdom. Wisdom only happens eyeball to eyeball! You can’t get wisdom from a book or the internet. That is only knowledge, and knowledge is the only starting point; wisdom needs to be the end result.

Think about this. Did you have many more “good “teachers or mediocre or “bad” teachers in your academic experience? I would bet, good teachers were far and few between and the vast minority for most of us. What made good teachers good? They, not only were well educated in their subjects,they made the subjects come alive, made the subjects relatable even in the midst of classroom rules: i.e. discipline was tough but fair, treated everyone fairly, had a sense of humor, was” there for you,” and was motivated by the belief that teaching the person, was more important than finishing the book, etc.

How is your ethics training initiative providing the environment, the” right” teacher” and a well educated, informed, thought-provoking, empowering, student focused approach?

If this is not an ongoing process by “teachers” that are specifically trained and educated in ethics, values, morals and virtue, then it is not being taught and/or experienced well and then education can’t make people moral.

There are those who are experts in law and compliance who do compliance training and rightly so. But compliance training can’t by itself make people moral or compliant. Who are your experts, educated and trained in ethics, values and virtues that are doing your ethics training. If you want people to be moral, how are you training them to be so?