Teaching Ethics: How to use these resources
What are these resources?
Here you will find exercises and ideas for teaching ethics. They are presented in the form of strategies for small group teaching. You can use the ideas as they are, or be inspired by them to create your own resources.
Who are these resources suitable for?
These resources are for teachers and educators, not for students. You may benefit from these resources if:
- You are an experienced teacher in your subject area (e.g. Primary/Middle/College teacher or medicine, law, business etc lectuer), but you are new to teaching ethics.
- You are a philosopher, but you are new to teaching or new to teaching ethics.
What is ethics?
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy which deals with questions such as: what kind of life should I lead, what kind of person should I be, how should I behave, what is the right choice, what should I do in this kind of situation, etc. Ethical theories give an account of what is right or what is good, they are action guiding, they explore moral responsibility, moral choice, values and virtues.
How is ethics taught?
Teaching ethics, like teaching any aspect of philosophy, is not about what to think, but rather how to think. The educational objective is to teach students to think for themselves, to reflect on their values, to challenge their preconceptions, to expose them to different points of view and to help them develop their critical thinking skills so that they can think clearer and construct more convincing arguments.
What can I expect from these resources?
These resources will help you help your students think independently and critically. Instead of giving the students the answers, these resources guide the students through the arguments. The best way to understand how this works is by trying one of the exercises.
Where do I start?
Start anywhere you like.
