earticle

영어

They say one is living in difficult times, locally and globally. The current social, cultural, and political turmoil of the world in which one lives is unprecedented in many ways. Zembylas warns that one lives in the crisis of pity, which leads to indifference toward the suffering of the other. The 21st century is in need of a new (or forgotten) moral virtue that could help restore fundamental lessons learned from the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s-1970s. This paper examines the possibility of how multicultural/intercultural educators can incorporate the ideal of compassion as a virtue into various local and global societies of which schools are a part of. A way in which one simply feels pitiful, sympathetic, and empathetic toward sufferings of distant others is necessary but not sufficient if looking for social change. Sustained interest and taking action are needed to identify root causes of social problems relative to racism, discrimination, and injustice. A biography of Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, who worked hand-in-hand with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is analyzed in search of key principles related to compassion-based multicultural/intercultural education. Father Hesburgh recognized and appreciated common humanity as well as the fragility of humans by insisting that civil rights are a fundamentally moral issue. Serving on the Civil Rights Commission for 15 years, Father Hesburgh demonstrated how globally compassionate educators should express themselves in relation to notions of the good life and human flourishing.