Doing good with resolution...

The best way to fight evil is resolute progress in good.

Lao Tzu

What to do to respond to this invitation from Lao Tzu?

Three ethics can be mobilized

Virtue ethics

To respond to this invitation, we can begin by focusing on positive actions to take in our daily lives. Virtue ethics invites us to seek to cultivate habits and behaviors that are beneficial to ourselves and others, such as kindness, compassion, and generosity.

And the good news is that this can be learned, so neuroscientist Richard Davdison has shown that "people practicing regular meditation activity have more intense activation of their left prefrontal cortex than their right prefrontal cortex which allows them to better control their thoughts and reactivation."

Meditating would open us up to be less reactive and more open to others, to be more empathetic. This is what the monk Mathieu Ricard regularly tells us or what Aristotle invites us to do

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is therefore not an act, but a habit."

The ethics of responsibility

If man is condemned to be free as Jean-Paul Sartre asserts, he is also condemned to be responsible. At the same time, with the ethics of responsibility we can avoid negative or destructive behaviors that can cause harm to oneself or others such as violence, hatred, envy, jealousy, anger, greed and malice.

Positive psychology and positive education are real resources for planting the right reflexes in our lives. To illustrate the deep springs of positive psychology, Martin Seligman (Lecomte, 2014) uses the English acronym PERMA to help us progress

• P for positive emotions: the goal is to value and cultivate our tendency to positive emotions.
• E for engagement: we are invited to be truly present to what we are experiencing
• R for relationship: acceptance and learning with others is inspiring
• M for meaning in life: it is about the meaning we give to our life
• A for accomplishment: it is about the accomplishments we value and the challenges we want to achieve

The ethic of beneficence

This is about learning new things, especially by listening to others' opinions with an open mind. It is an opportunity to work on oneself to become a better and more compassionate person.

Emmanuel Kant summarizes the ethic of beneficence as follows

"Act in such a way that you treat humanity, both in your own person and in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end, and never merely as a means."

Resolute progress in the good involves continual personal growth and a commitment to constantly improving one's understanding of the world and of others. The growth mindset is a concept developed by psychology researcher, Carol Dweck. For her, our mind is on a scale between a fixed mind or growth mind polarity. For those with a growth mindset it is easier to adapt and acquire new talents over time, others will most often see difficulties preventing them from moving forward. It is by setting oneself in motion that each person activates the problems to be faced and gradually discovers ways to solve them.

Practices for Advancing the Good in Adult Pedagogy

With regard to andragogy (the art of teaching adults), growing the good can be applied in different ways such as with thejoy pedagogy or the appreciative inquiry. The former is about accompanying energy and living and the latter is about looking for and imitating what works best. For an educator it is possible to

• emphasize the strengths of learners rather than focusing on their weaknesses or deficits. By being valued and encouraged in their strengths, learners are more likely to feel confident and motivated, as fear decreases there is less room for defensive behaviors.
  
  
• Teachers can encourage learners to think critically about themselves and their actions, and to take responsibility for their own choices and decisions. This can help learners become more aware of their actions and the effect they have on themselves and others.
  
  
• Encouraging learners to work together, share knowledge, and learn from each other is one way to grow otherness. By encouraging collaboration and cooperation rather than competition, learners are more likely to work toward a common goal. Limiting opportunities for competition, stress, and fear eliminates the risk of withdrawal. Doing unto others as we would have them do unto us is the best way to bring about the expected collaboration.

Practical learning opportunities also allow learners to apply their knowledge and skills in real-life situations. This can help learners better understand how their actions affect the world around them, and find ways to contribute positively.

Advancing the good by focusing on living things

By focusing on living things, it is also possible to better understand the mechanisms that govern life. This knowledge can be used to improve our impact on the planet and the other life forms that inhabit it. For example, by studying biodiversity, we can understand how different species interact in a given ecosystem. This understanding helps us to better protect ecosystems and preserve endangered species.

Teachers can incorporate ecological concepts into their teaching, such as biodiversity, sustainability, water conservation, waste management, etc. Learners will better understand their role in protecting the environment and will know how to take concrete steps to preserve living things. In doing so they will feel more attuned to life and more alive themselves.

It is possible to go further, as teachers can encourage learners to engage in concrete actions to protect living things, such as recycling, planting trees, participating in environmental clean-up campaigns, etc. This can help learners become aware of their power as individuals and act responsibly to protect living things.

Promoting self-awareness in life or educational spaces is probably the best way to move decisively toward the good, as it amounts to reevaluating our place in living things and activates our desire to care for them.

Sources

Growth mindset https://www.groupe-partnaire.com/fr/le-growth-mindset-une-affaire-de-management

Positive Psychology https://www.lapsychologiepositive.fr

Thot cursus - The Pedagogy of Joy https://cursus.edu/fr/23294/la-pedagogie-de-la-joie

Huffingtonpost. Training your brain for compassion may be possible according to a study
https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/life/article/entrainer-son-cerveau-a-la-compassion-ce-serait-possible-selon-une-etude_27881.html

The difference between pedagogy and andragogy https://youtu.be/Umlbhss33nU

Lecomte, J. (2014). Introduction to positive psychology. Dunod.
https://www.decitre.fr/ebooks/introduction-a-la-psychologie-positive-9782100707546_9782100707546_9.html

Seligman, M. E., & Cohen, L. (2012). The power of optimism. Pocket.
https://www.decitre.fr/livres/la-force-de-l-optimisme-9782266198066.html

Thot Cursus edu. 50 tips for changing pedagogy
https://cursus.edu/fr/10554/appreciative-inquiry-50-questions-pour-changer-de-pedagogie