What ought one to do? Socrates
I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it. Albert Einstein
A quiet conscience makes one strong! Anne Frank
Do you believe Australia has great need of more systematic teaching of philosophy, particularly philosophical ethics, to all children in our schools?
At every level of Australian society there seems to be an urgent need for more ethical behaviour, especially from leaders in government, business, organisations and religious institutions. In a democracy it is crucial that citizens hold leaders to account for unethical behaviour and individuals need these, highly analytical skills, to be explicitly taught.
The good news is that children and young people love the opportunity to explore philosophical ideas and do so already in many areas of the school curriculum. The bad news is that this not taught systematically, or named, as ‘philosophy’ or ‘ethics’ very often.
Why do we need ethics education?
An informed, well-educated citizenry is key to any functioning democracy. In a climate of ambiguity and spin, it is essential that individuals are able to think rationally about the issues of the day and not blindly accept the moral authority of any ideology, leader or the media, without independent thought. A democracy cannot function ethically without citizens who are able to wrestle with the contradictions and challenges of contemporary life.
Many believe that religion provides moral and ethical certainty for children and the not so young. I am sure that is often true but it is not right to leave this instruction, in a school context, to organisations that have supernatural beliefs and systems that will not change in light of scientific understanding or changed social mores. It is especially difficult for any religious organisation, that will not permit females to hold positions of authority, to dispense advice to our children, especially our young women, that seems ethical in a contemporary society. I say this as the father of two young daughters and someone concerned at the ongoing societal disadvantages women have that are enshrined in our community structures.
The recent revelations about the failures to address the horrors of institutionalised child sexual abuse, particularly in religious organisations where often unquestioning obedience is valued more than other trait, suggests that all our children need to have the skills to think more formally about what is right or wrong. Assisting students to be able to look objectively at the moral authority wielded by any individual, group or institution and think – about what is right? what is ethical? what is moral behaviour? – is needed desperately. These same children will go on to take their place in our society able to make better decisions, more ethical decisions, than others who have been complicit in the abuse or corruption (too often these individuals are in secular positions of authority as well).
The Opportunity of Primary Ethics Classes
There is a difference between moral instruction and ethical enquiry. In moral instruction it is a simply a matter of telling people what to do…there is a place for that but what we aim to do is to allow children to explore the reasons for why something might be right or wrong, good or bad by directing them to issues which relate to their lives. Dr Simon Longstaff
The St James Ethics Centre (follow on twitter here) has assisted in developing the curriculum for ethics classes in NSW state schools since 2011. In this short period of time the numbers have “grown to over 1,000 volunteers with almost 700 teachers delivering ethics classes to around 11,000 students in more than 230 schools”.
As a parent and an educator, I believe that differentiating between moral instruction and ethical enquiry is essential and that students should have the opportunity to do this in formal lessons. I am certain that many parents who happily send their children weekly to Special Religious Education would love them to also attend ethics classes. Why does it have to be one or the other? Surely our community would benefit from a more explicit teaching of ethics in the curriculum that did not just have to rely on a volunteer group.
Community members interested in participating, as a teacher or co-ordinator, can access information from the FAQs or at the Primary Ethics site. There is also a twitter account to follow and a great introductory video to view:
Travelling and living in Europe, especially Paris, it was evident from even the most glossy, popular magazine, that philosophy was a more mainstream pursuit than it is here in Australia. I have often blogged about my admiration for Danish society and noted last year that Denmark was ranked as the least corrupt country in the world. It seems obvious that a more concerted, structured approach to exploring philosophical ideas at school would be beneficial to individuals and society. It is great to see that Australia does have a new (and its only) philosophy magazine, New Philosopher, that just commenced publication last year (you can follow on twitter here).
Understanding religious tradition is essential to understanding many aspects of history, art, literature and culture. Indeed, it is an important part in the development of ethical philosophy. For many students, and I was one of them over thirty years ago, trying to understand the world while being forced to blindly accept an unchanging viewpoint, is just too difficult to intellectually process as fair or true. The opportunities afforded by questioning beliefs and challenging ideas leads one to a more complete understanding of many topics. Ethics classes provide a perfect opportunity for students to explore their worlds. What else makes sense in our multi-faith, ethnically diverse, post-modern Australian culture where the young are going to be charged with the considerable population, social, technological, scientific and environmental challenges of the 21st century?
I know that for the last 5 years my own children have had no instruction at school while weekly Special Religious Education was held. They happily read their books, wrote stories and drew. I’d prefer if families who do not have supernatural belief systems and send their children to state schools had ethics classes to attend.
It would just seem ethical!
Featured Image: Screenshot from the Primary Ethics Website.