CRITICAL INCIDENT JOURNAL ON THE FIRST TOPIC
Students’ Names:
1.1 The Tale of Anne, The Teacher’s Daughter
Ever since we were unceremoniously and without warning dragged out of the most comfortable
and safe home we knew (mummy’s womb), protesting, kicking, screaming to no avail: we are
told to “Be a good boy or girl.” Over the years, I was frequently perplexed and at the same time
confused by the meaning of the term “good” as I helplessly watched adults ruthlessly and
seemingly seamlessly shift the goal posts on what and who they considered good or bad.
Looking back at a cool apparently uneventful evening at a private primary school in rural
Kenya, I found myself in yet another such conundrum. It was “games time” as we called it back
in the day- a time to let loose, run with the wild horses and forget that at some point that day
the math teacher had wondered rather loudly in a class full of your peers whether the
intelligence gene in your bloodline had skipped a generation.
We were just winding up a great time of fun and games in the field and I was chatting up my
newly acquired friends as we chided and exchanged stories with reckless abandon. Little did I
know that this would soon be a scene I would be forced to enter into the journal of nightmares.
As I was tying up the laces on my snickers, I noticed an old crumpled up fifty-shilling note
glaring at me in the grass.
I picked it up and alerted my good friends of the find, suggesting it could be some poor child’s
us fare back home. I decided to take it to the teacher on duty according to school protocol for
him to find the probably desperate owner who I could picture frantic, distraught, or even
weeping to
entially in a corner somewhere. Anne (not her real name), quickly offered to do it
since she knew the teacher on duty. Anne was a daughter to a teacher on staff and according to
my novice mind and inexpert judgement in hindsight, a good girl. I agreed and handed the note
over to her without a second thought, wishing them a nice evening and looking forward to more
play time the following evening.
As only God can set it up, I bumped into a little girl searching who was beside herself, searching
desperately for something in the grass. Curious, I asked what she was searching for in the field
at such an hour. She explained to me that she had lost her bus fare and described the very note
I had picked up earlier. Imagine my elation and the grin that swept across my face as I told her
that I had found it and handed it over to Anne, being careful and insistent on mentioning that
it was Anne the teacher’s daughter, and she was taking it to the teacher on duty. After
showering me with more gratitude than I knew what to do with, I walked to the school
dormitories with a prance in my step knowing I had done at least one verifiable good deed that
day. Had I?
My innocent eleven-year-old mind was not prepared for the events that followed. I was dragged
out of class to the teacher on duty’s office early the next day. As I scu
ied over, I could not
imagine what I could have done. As I pushed the office door open, the creaking hinges seemed
to provide an ominous soundtrack, as my gut churned with the anticipation of evil foreboding.
I was shocked out of my boots to see the girl who had lost her money kneeling on the ground
with one of my companions from last evening’s awesome play date. Towering over them was
the enormous frame of Mr. Destar the foreign French teacher, flashed red hot and seething with
an unquenchable fury, cane in hand. Standing next to him, was Anne the teacher’s daughter
weeping and sniffling in between quiet sobs.
I was ordered to kneel down immediately, obeying without question as a cold rather unwelcome
sweat beaded my forehead. Mr. Destar (not his real name) proceeded to spew out an avalanche
of accusations that culminated into one statement “You are a liar!” I quickly explained the
events of the previous evening as fast as I could with the other girl, my only witness
co
oborating my story. Anne the teacher’s daughter
oke into a crescendo of wails and sobs
worthy of an Oscar accusing us of taking and spending the money and falsely inculpating her.
My jaw dropped open, and my mouth went dry. What was happening? I could not believe it.
We were each whacked thoroughly on the palms of our hands. It felt like a thousand miniscule
shards of glass were bu
ing their way into my skin-it stung, piercing even into the depths of
my soul and shattering my heart and all I knew of the world. We were dismissed with a stern
warning to desist from tale baring- fake news, especially about a good and honest girl like
Anne, the teacher’s daughter. Speechless, we stared blankly at each other for what seemed like
days, then quietly walked back to our classes trying to process what had just transpired. I could
not believe it! I thought Anne, the teacher’s daughter was a good girl, was she not?
1.2 Through the Lens of The Five Types of Good
Good is simply defined as a conformity to a certain standard. The Oxford dictionary
ings in
the dimension od morality by defining good as that which is morally right or righteous or a
enefit or advantage to someone or something. Morality is way of living, acting, deciding
according to what one knows as good, behaviour. As an adjective, it is defined as that which is
to be desired or approved of or having the qualities required for a particular role. Seeing as
good ought to be subject to a certain set of standards, the five types of good will help me clarify
my confusion as to whether Anne, the teacher’s daughter was good.
According to the criteria of being which denotes existence, Anne was good, because she existed
and as far as I could tell she was physically whole without any deformity or missing body parts.
in terms of doing, Anne was biologically good because she did not suffer from any obvious
illnesses, sicknesses or injuries (Although at some point I might have thought of remedying
that!) Anne was smart and intelligent, evidenced by her progress in school, her acting skills
and impressive ability to lie. Apparently, according to some studies, lying in children is a sign
of intelligence. Well, yes it takes a certain kind of mental disposition and aptitude to lie
effectively, which
ings me to the final type of good-moral behaviour. Anne chose to both
steal and lie and even manipulate an adult into cooperating with her in her lie. Her behaviour
was immoral. Anne scores a 4 out of 5. Was Anne good? If you had asked my eleven-year-old
self then, most definitely not! Almost does not count and Anne was most definitely not a good
girl.
Well, I have grown a bit taller and smarter since then, and in conclusion Anne was a good girl
who needed continuous moral education before she grew into a sociopathic delinquent and
maybe join the drama club to put her impressive acting skills to better use. Wherever she may
e today, I hope she found the right path.
1.3 What do Others Think About Humanity and Good?
Ethics is not only about the morality of particular courses of action, but it's also about the
goodness of individuals and what it means to live a good life. Virtue Ethics is particularly
concerned with the moral character of human beings. According to an article on good versus
ight, the author defines good as that which has benefits stating that something that benefits
something or someone else is called good for that thing or person. He argues that we can think
of this instrumentally or biologically. Biologically, air, water, and food are good or beneficial
for living beings. Instrumentally, what is good for a thing enables that thing to serve its purpose.
To make sense, an instrumental usage of the term “good” requires reference to somebody's
purpose or intention. The instrumental usage is expressed in terms of usefulness, of utility for
achieving a purpose or intention. The biological usage is further expressed in terms of health
and well-being. His definition and argument though valid lack the multidimensional
component which is fundamental in capturing the true essence of the complexities of humanity.
On this, he concludes, “I am very sceptical of claims there exists something absolutely good,
that is, something alleged to be good without reference to its effects. Certainly, on my definition
of “good” such a concept makes no sense. Also, there is no end to the chains of goods and
ends, no summum bonum (highest good) in which all chains culminate or from which all goods
are derived. The world is a web, not a hierarchy. The only ultimate good would be the good of
the entire universe and all that is within it, not an abstract entity or concept apart from it.
(Sumner, 1979)”
A question that often arises and arose at least where the five types of good is concerned is the
question of the goodness and human nature. In an interesting article highlighting a
psychological experiment on this, a group of scientists ventured into the unknown to find out
whether we are innately good or bad.
For millennia, philosophers have argued whether we have a basically good nature that is
co
upted by society, or a basically bad nature that is kept in check by society. Psychology has
uncovered some evidence which might move us closer to putting this debate to rest. They
decided to look at the mind and behaviour of babies who according to their analysis had little
to no environmental and societal influence and co
uption. Their results suggest that even the
youngest humans have a sense of right and wrong, and, furthermore, an instinct to prefer good
over evil.
These experiments ca
ied out at Yale university led them to conclude that, at minimum though,
it shows that tightly bound into the nature