Putting American pragmatism to work in the classroom

The pragmatic inquiry process used in the Corporantes Pathfinder Notebook ( CPN) enables students and others to discern their gifts, find purpose and d irection in their lives, and seek a FIT between their values and various co rporate cultures before making extensive commitments in their field of stud ies and their employment. Based on Peirce's theory of Pragmatism the CPN fo sters investigation, interpretation, and action resulting from reflected na rratives written in response to a series of questions in the CPN. The CPN w as used successfully as a framework in a Business Ethics course for connect ing career decisions to their personal lives. Other pedagogic activities we re used such as case studies, role playing, service learning, team projects investigating ethical climates of corporations, as well as Socratic questi oning and discussions of moral dilemmas to develop ethical sensitivity and understanding of ethical challenges and decisions. The CPN also has been us ed successfully by senior executives in over fifty applications.