Category: education

Professor Dame Marie Bashir a guest of honour at Primary Ethics class

Professor Dame Marie Bashir is indefatigable in her grassroots support of Australian communities and last Wednesday, March 7, her attention was on ethics classes in public schools.

Despite the loss of her husband Sir Nicholas Shehadie in recent weeks, Professor Bashir continues to dedicate an incredible amount of energy and time to supporting communities build on essential areas as education, health and international relations.

Professor Bashir joined former NSW Premier Nick Greiner and his partner Carolyn Fletcher to participate in an ethics class at Marie Bashir Public School. Continue reading →

Ethics class in Earlwood a lesson in fairness

An ethics class in Earlwood yesterday had some extra special guests.

Shadow Minister for Education Mr Jihad Dib MP, along with former Premier and Minister for Education The Hon Nick Greiner, sat in a colorful classroom at Earlwood Public School and listened as volunteer ethics teacher Marta Tordi facilitated a discussion on fairness using the story of the Little Red Hen.

Nick Greiner Jihad Dib visit ethics class

The Hon Nick Greiner and Mr Jihad Dib MP were welcomed to the school by school captains Andrew and Poppy.

 

Children explained their reasons as to whether they thought different animals should get larger portions of bread depending on, for example, whether they had helped to sow or mill the wheat, or according to their size, or whether all portions should instead be divided equally. It was not entirely dissimilar to the current debate around school funding.

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Four reasons why ethics teachers won’t give your child a treat this Easter

Ethics classes are run in NSW public schools by parents, grandparents and other trained volunteers from the school community. The classes are held in the Special Religious Education/ Special Education in Ethics timeslot, and exist as a valuable learning opportunity for children whose parents have opted them out of SRE.

In the lead up to Easter, we sometimes hear that it’s not fair that children in ethics class miss out on the chocolate eggs and other Easter-themed treats that are handed out in some of the religious instruction classes.

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Out now: PrimaryEthics@Home

For parents and carers | First edition | March 2017

2 kidsWelcome to PrimaryEthics@Home! This first edition for 2017 introduces the topics covered in ethics classes in term 1, plus gives background reading and activities designed to help further ethical discussion with your children at home.

Every day parents, families and teachers help children form their own opinions about ethical issues. Other factors, like media and culture, have an influence too. In ethics classes, children can articulate their ideas and explore ethical issues together by listening to each other, discussing respectfully and applying critical thinking skills like using reason and evidence and evaluating arguments.

Our skills based program is designed to support the important work of parents and teachers by giving children the confidence and skills to talk about ethical issues with those around them. These are important life-long skills aimed at helping children make well considered decisions rather than acting out of habit or peer pressure.

Continue reading primaryethics@home.