| CODE | EDE5024 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Philosophy for Children and Ethical Living: Comprehensive Tools for Teaching and Learning Ethics in Schools | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Education Studies | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit is structured into ten sections, each focusing on a specific aspect of teaching ethics through various methodologies. The initial lectures introduce the foundational P4C methodology, including the Community of Inquiry (CoI) approach. Subsequent lectures expand on this foundation by integrating creative, critical, and reflective thinking strategies, as well as practical tools like case studies and cross-curricular integration. 1. Introduction to Philosophy for Children (P4C): Establishes the foundational principles and practices of P4C, setting the stage for subsequent lectures. 2. Implementing Community of Inquiry (CoI) in Ethics Education: Provides practical guidance on facilitating CoI, fostering collaborative and reflective dialogue. 3. Analysing Stories and Texts for Ethical Content: Teaches how to select and evaluate texts for ethical discussions, which is crucial for engaging students with relatable content. 4. Designing Lesson Plans for Ethics Education: Equips teachers with the skills to create structured and practical lesson plans that incorporate P4C and align with learning outcomes. 5. Creative Thinking in Ethics Education: Explores methods to stimulate creativity in ethical inquiry, making learning more engaging and dynamic. 6. Critical Thinking Skills for Ethical Inquiry: Focuses on developing students' analytical skills to critically assess ethical dilemmas and arguments. 7. Reflective Thinking and Ethical Self-Evaluation: Emphasises the importance of self-reflection in moral development, teaching strategies for fostering introspection among students. 8. Case Studies in Ethics Education: Demonstrates the use of real-world scenarios to teach ethics, providing practical examples for classroom discussions. 9. Integrating Ethics Across the Curriculum: Shows how to incorporate ethical discussions into various subjects, promoting a holistic educational approach. 10. Developing Teaching Resources for Ethics Education: Guides teachers in creating their educational materials, ensuring they have the resources needed to support their ethics curriculum. Outcomes and Impact By the end of this study-unit, prospective teachers will have a thorough understanding of various methodologies for teaching ethics and be able to implement these strategies effectively in their classrooms. They will be adept at creating lesson plans, facilitating discussions, and developing teaching resources that foster ethical thinking and behaviour among students. Study-Unit Aims: This study-unit aims: - To Introduce the Philosophy for Children Approach: Equip prospective teachers with a thorough understanding of the Philosophy for Children (P4C) methodology, including its principles, practices, and the Community of Inquiry (CoI) approach, to foster ethical inquiry and moral development in students; - To Develop Critical, Creative, and Reflective Thinking Skills: Provide teachers with strategies to cultivate critical, creative, and reflective thinking among students, enabling them to analyse ethical dilemmas, think independently, and reflect on their values and decisions; - To Design and Implement Effective Ethics Lessons: Enable teachers to create comprehensive lesson plans and teaching resources that integrate P4C and other methodologies, aligning with learning outcomes and effectively delivering ethics education in schools; - To Analyse and Select Appropriate Ethical Content: Train teachers to select and analyse stories, texts, and real-world scenarios for their ethical content, ensuring suitability for various age groups and educational contexts; - To Foster a Community of Inquiry in Classrooms: Prepare teachers to facilitate a Community of Inquiry, encouraging collaborative and respectful dialogue among students to explore ethical issues deeply and thoughtfully; - To Integrate Ethics Across the Curriculum: Equip teachers with the skills to incorporate ethical discussions into various subjects, promoting a holistic educational approach that enriches students' overall learning experience. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Arrange the steps involved in facilitating a Community of Inquiry (CoI) in an ethics classroom; - Define the key principles of Philosophy for Children (P4C) and its significance in ethics education; - Describe the role of reflective thinking in the moral development of students; - Explain how critical thinking skills can be applied to ethical inquiry and decision-making; - Identify suitable stories and texts for teaching ethics to different age groups and educational contexts; - Discuss the philosophical foundations of ethics, including contributions from key philosophers such as Matthew Lipman and John Dewey; - Illustrate how creative thinking exercises, such as hypothetical scenarios and role-playing, can enhance ethical discussions; - Recognise the importance of integrating ethics education across various subjects to promote a holistic learning experience; - Report on the strategies for designing effective lesson plans that incorporate P4C and align with learning outcomes in ethics education; - Translate complex ethical concepts and theories into classroom activities and discussions that are accessible and engaging for students. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Administer a Community of Inquiry (CoI) session to facilitate ethical discussions among students; - Apply the Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach to develop lesson plans and classroom activities; - Choose appropriate texts and stories for ethical analysis and classroom discussions; - Conduct reflective thinking exercises to help students explore and understand their own values and decisions; - Demonstrate techniques for critical thinking to guide students in evaluating ethical dilemmas and arguments; - Employ creative thinking strategies, such as hypothetical scenarios and role-playing, to make ethics education engaging and dynamic; - Implement cross-curricular integration of ethics education, linking ethical discussions to various subjects; - Interpret philosophical concepts related to ethics and translate them into accessible classroom activities; - Roleplay ethical scenarios with students to help them understand different perspectives and moral choices; - Solve practical issues in ethics education by designing and utilising effective teaching resources and materials. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Gill, S., & Thomson, G. (Eds.). (2020). Ethical education: Towards an ecology of human development. Cambridge University Press. - Lone, J. M., & Burroughs, M. D. (2016). Philosophy in education: Questioning and dialogue in schools. Rowman & Littlefield. - Philip, C. (2020). Teaching Ethics in Schools: A new approach to moral education. Supplementary Readings: - Haynes, Felicity. 鈥淭eaching Children to Think for Themselves鈥�: From Questioning to Dialogue.鈥� Journal of Philosophy in Schools 1.1 (2014): 131鈥�146. Web. - Huseb酶, D., Skeie, G., Allaico, A. K. T., & Bj酶rnevik, T. H. (2024). Dialogue in an upper secondary school and the subject religion and ethics in Norway. In Possibilities and Limitations of Religion-Related Dialogue in Schools in Europe (pp. 101-114). Routledge. - Peterson, A., & Arthur, J. (2020). Ethics and the good teacher: character in the professional domain. Routledge. - Pike, M. A., Hart, P., Paul, S. A. S., Lickona, T., & Clarke, P. (2021). Character development through the curriculum: teaching and assessing the understanding and practice of virtue. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 53(4), 449-466. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Online Learning | ||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Joseph Giordmaina |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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