Thomas Hobbes motivates the Social Contract Theory by asking as to imagine The State of Nature. The point being that we would naturally want to escape this condition and the way to do so is by the creation of a social contract that allows for cooperative living. Generally, the discussion gravitates towards questions of political governance. However, one SCT strengths its versatility. We can form social contracts for many kinds of scenarios. You might think of the employer/employee, spouse/spouse, and roommate/roommate relationships as various kinds of social contracts. Another one to consider is the classroom dynamic you are participating in now.
For this weeks assignment I would like you to create a social contract for the classroom. Imagine you are in a sort of “State of Nature” with regards to learning and you would like to escape this by coming up with a series of rules for governing the classroom. The rules should be sensitive to trying to meet the following need:
With this standard in mind feel free to create rules that according to which you feel the classroom will run the best for every involved party. Some questions to consider include the following:
Should all the rules/structure of class be decreed by the teacher?
Should students have any voice in how the class runs?
Do students have any inalienable rights, such as the right to receive additional help from the teacher when they don’t understand the right to express their opinions without fear of ridicule from other students?
