Response to Michael Sandel's Lecture regarding Ethics

As a student in Christian Ethics this semester I found this lecture given by Michael Sandel incredibly interesting.  Sandel did a great job of using both abstract and concrete examples to discuss difficult issues in ethics.  I think that there are a few teaching lessons to learn from a very prominent Harvard Professor.  First, I was impressed by his authenticity and ability to be personable throughout the lecture.  He remembered the name of every individual who participated in discussion.  Granted that is partly a gift, teachers can realize that taking a genuine interest in students is incredibly important, even if it just means calling them by name.  Another thing that he did well was to use what students said in order to prove a point.  Never did he seem to be stretching what someone said in order to prove a point, he always just used what was said.  I think that often times as teachers it is easy to 'fish' for answers from a class when in reality we should ask open-ended questions in order to promote meaningful academic discussion.  I have seen Dr. Sandel give a similar lecture online but it wasn't identical.  He raised many of the same questions but was able to be flexible because he knew his information incredibly well.  I think that all aspiring teachers can learn from Dr. Sandel that authenticity and preparedness are incredibly important in order to promote stimulating intellectual discussion.