Noncognitive Justice: A Case for Teaching Assertiveness

• In Event: Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: Noncognitive Dispositions: A Philosophical Analysis

Abstract

Non-cognitive dispositions such as persistence, conscientiousness, and self-control have recently attracted attention from educators, reformers, and researchers. Some of these traits are correlated strongly with academic and workplace success, providing a case for fostering them in students throughout K-12 education. Assertiveness is a disposition that has received relatively little empirical attention. However, whether or not assertiveness is linked with better school or employment outcomes, social justice demands that we teach students to be assertive in appropriate public contexts.

Author

• Jeremy Lent, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor