Education

Primary Ethics discussion rules

This year, the six ethics class rules have been replaced by five discussion rules. In this short video, trainer, ethics teacher and curriculum author Kelby Mason talks us through those rules.

First some important context: these discussion rules are for stages 1, 2 and 3 (which is Years 1- 6). They aren’t for Kindy or secondary students (who have separate rules and guidelines).

Why have we updated the rules?

We now call them discussion rules as they are primarily a roadmap for the type of discussion we want to see in all ethics lessons. This name will help students see how they’re different to the school rules and any classroom behaviour rules you might have.
We’ve reduced them to five to help students focus on what’s most important.
We’ve clarified the language to make it as meaningful as possible to today’s children.

The rules are displayed in every class and referred to regularly throughout the lesson.Why’s that?The rules are our important grounding tool and roadmap for helping create a genuine community of inquiry.

When teachers notice a student – or the entire class – veering off course, they can point their attention to the relevant rule and remind them to follow it. If necessary at any point, teachers can start a discussion about a particular rule and our reasons for following it.

What are the ethics discussion rules?

Only one person speaks at a time.
Pay attention to the person who is speaking.
Build on other people’s ideas.
Speak to other students, not just to the teacher.
No put downs.

Kate Sawtschuk writes: When I decided to volunteer to be an ethics teacher at our school almost four years ago, I received a serious and foreboding warning from my then eight-year-old daughter: “Teaching kids is tough.” Luckily, I was not discouraged!

Since then, I have taught ethics classes across all ages at Denistone East Public School and am now the ethics coordinator. I could never have imagined how much I would learn and how many rewarding moments it would bring.

Previously, when I had seen Ethics listed on our school Scripture form, I thought it sounded like a class that taught kids about what was right and wrong and what they should think. When a friend of mine became an ethics teacher and actually described it, I found out this could not be further from the truth!

Ethics classes give children a chance to practise skills like taking turns to speak, listening carefully to other students and forming and expressing their own ideas. Lessons are designed to enhance critical thinking and ethical reasoning skills, helping children make decisions based on logic and evidence rather than out of habit or due to peer pressure.

Upon first hearing this, I had two thoughts. The first: I want my own kids to be in ethics classes! The second: I wonder if I could become a volunteer ethics teacher and be involved in teaching them and other kids? I felt it would be the perfect way for me to contribute to the school community, given my limited availability, and would also allow me to become more engaged in the education my children are experiencing.

I enjoy teaching ethics because I find the topics fascinating; the lesson materials really make me think (as well as the children). Over the years, topics I’ve taught include empathy, fairness, being similar and different, good reasons, voting, punishment and vanity. It is incredible to be in a role where I can be around children and hear what they think. Their insights and thought processes can be impressive, surprising and often hilarious!

For example, this year my Stage 3 class began considering the concept of a fair society. They thought critically about discrimination, equality of opportunity and the moral responsibilities of society. There was a lot of lively discussion and many moments when their depth of understanding and innate compassion made me feel very reassured that the future is in their hands.

My Stage 1 class have looked at the concept of pride: what it means, when it is okay and if we can be too proud. They love providing examples to explore the topics and building upon the ideas of their classmates. We have moved on to talk about what makes a good reason and the concept of laziness.

It’s not always easy, as my daughter warned, but I also love the challenge of engaging the kids and encouraging them to think more deeply about certain topics.

The classes provide a safe and friendly environment in which kids can express themselves and question ideas they may just normally take for granted – to think about the reasons they hold certain views or opinions and to listen and build upon the often differing views of their classmates. It’s skills for life, really!

The ethics classes are quite a different experience for kids because there is no right or wrong answer. I think they really enjoy being heard and feeling that what they think is important.

I cannot recommend volunteering to be an ethics teacher highly enough! It’s a fantastic and practical way to not only to contribute to and support the school but to also develop your own skills in facilitation, communication and active listening – and as a bonus, in the process you get to witness the next generation mature in confidence and wisdom. What more could you ask for?

So I encourage those who can to seize the opportunity that is literally a life changing experience for all those involved – parents and kids alike. Kate Sawtschuk

@Home bulletin for parents Term 4 2022

Our @Home bulletin aims to let you know what your children are discussing in their ethics lessons this term. We hope they’re talking about it with you at home too!

You can subscribe to our @Home email bulletin here.

Below we outline the topics that classes would be up to if they started at the beginning of the year. However, not every school started their ethics program then – some started in Term 2, some in Term 3, even some this term!

So if your child says they aren’t talking about the topics below, please take a look for what they are discussing in the Curriculum section of our website.

What they’re talking about in ethics – Term 4

Here’s a brief look at what your children are exploring in their ethics lessons this term.

Kindergarten: Owning up
Is it important to own up to a mistake if we do something wrong – like breaking a window? Why can it be difficult to own up? Why might we feel reluctant to own up? Can avoiding owning up mean we lose an opportunity to reflect and learn – and does that matter?

Stage 1 – Years 1 & 2: Ownership
What sorts of things can we own? Can we own a shell we find on the beach or a sandcastle? Can we own a picture of someone else? Can we own animals – like pets and wild lizards? If we make something, do we own it? And what about the smell of food – can we own that too?

Stage 2 – Years 3 & 4: Breaking a promise
What is a promise – and is it different from simply saying you’ll do something? Is it ever okay to break a promise? How important is trust in friendships?

Stage 3 – Years 5 & 6: Are some things just wrong?
How important is it to have consistent moral values? Are some things just wrong (regardless of whether some cultures think they’re okay)? If so, how can we tell what’s right or wrong in a way that’s independent of culture?

Stage 4 – Years 7 & 8: From moon trash to migrant horses
Is it always wrong to litter? What about leaving rubbish on the moon – is there anything wrong with that? Should we always try to remove introduced species like wild horses? Does it matter how long ago they were introduced? What does it mean to be a custodian of the land – and is it compatible with owning land?

Ima and Mia Strkljevic are a mother-daughter ethics-teaching duo. Mia is only 18 and was inspired to become an ethics teacher herself having seen her mother in action over the years.

Here are their stories and a photo from the compulsory post-class staff meeting at the local café.

Ima’s story: It all started in early 2017 when a friend posted on Facebook about how rewarding teaching ethics at her children’s school was. I immediately got in touch with her, got informed about the induction process and within several weeks had finished all requirements and was negotiating classes with my children’s school, successfully overcoming the school’s initial inertia. So that is when I introduced ethics to Blakehurst Public School. I also took on the role of ethics coordinator. My daughter had just started high school and I had a younger son in year 4.

Being a health clinician and public health researcher, I’d known the importance and power of critical reasoning and ethical thinking. In the past five years I have enjoyed teaching children of all ages and was able to see what wonderfully inquisitive, imaginative, capable and open-minded people primary school children are.

Although my daughter just missed out on ethics in primary school, she became actively involved in my preparation of teaching materials every week as well as our family discussions following my son’s weekly lessons. She expressed a desire to become involved with Primary Ethics as soon as she could, after realising how wonderful it would be to give back to the community where she’d once achieved so much.

I took on the role of regional manager in 2019 and was also coordinating and teaching in another school to keep their ethics program alive, but then was unable to continue in multiple schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic and family-related issues.

I have dedicated myself to the Primary Ethics program even though I am no longer teaching my own children as my motivation is not to teach my children, but to ensure that my local school continues to offer and provide this invaluable curriculum to new generations. I have also realised the power of volunteering – the multi-faceted benefits for both volunteers and the recipients. I have been inspired by my involvement with Primary Ethics to research and promote volunteering of professional skills by health professionals to develop interventions for healthy ageing and health promotion in older adults.

Mia’s story: When my mother started teaching ethics when I was in high school, I became interested in the content of the lessons and loved the concept of group discussion and building on each other’s ideas as a way of learning. As a successful debater and public speaker and currently a medical science student, I believe inquiry is an integral part of learning and a healthy, argument-based discussion is the only way to progress and develop.

I also admire the volunteering aspect of Primary Ethics. I’ve been involved in multiple projects as a high school student in teaching, community and charitable volunteering activities. I felt the need to support this valuable program and where better to do it but at my own primary school. Blakehurst Public School is my local primary school where my brother and I, together with our friends and neighbours, created lifelong memories and achievements. This is where I will always feel like part of the family, always welcomed and accepted with warmth and gratitude.

I hope that my example will serve as an inspiration to many more young ethics teachers to come.

@Home Bulletin for ethics parents – August 2022

Our @Home bulletin aims to bring you up to speed with what your children are discussing in their ethics lessons this term – they might be talking about it at home too!

Subscribe to @Home here >>

Below we outline the topics classes would be up to if they started in Term 1 and haven’t had any delays. In reality, this is rarely the case. This year has been a challenging one for us (and for schools in general), with many ethics programs only commencing in Term 2. So classes at your school might still be discussing the second term topics.

So if your child isn’t familiar with the topics below, please take a look for what they are discussing in the Curriculum section of our website.

What they’re talking about in ethics – Term 3

Here’s a brief look at what your children are diving into in their ethics lessons this term.

Kindergarten: Disagreeing
Is it okay to tell someone you think they’re wrong? Are there good and bad ways to go about voicing disagreement? Are there times when it’s really important for us to tell someone they’re wrong – for example, when someone might get hurt? One of the goals of this curriculum is to support children in evaluating their own ideas and the ideas of others. To evaluate an idea, it’s valuable to consider the arguments of those who disagree. This curriculum therefore frames (respectful) disagreement as an important part of the collaborative process that underpins ethical inquiry.

Stage 1 – Years 1 & 2: Courage or being brave
What does it mean to be brave? Are you brave if you are fearless? Or is it when you act despite being afraid? And is being courageous a desirable thing? Should we all strive to be brave?

Stage 2 – Years 3 & 4: How should we treat living things?
Is it okay to chop down a living tree? What about poisoning some caterpillars that are killing a tree – is that okay? Is there a difference between how we should treat insects – like caterpillars – and other animals – like dogs? And when deciding how to treat different animals, does it matter how long they live? How big they are? How intelligent they are? How few of them are left?

Stage 3 – Years 5 & 6: Drugs in sport
Athletes do lots of different things to get an advantage, but what counts as an unfair advantage in sport? Loading up on carbohydrates before a race? Drinking coffee? Training at special high-altitude camps? Wearing a special swimsuit? Taking performance-enhancing drugs?

Stage 4 – Years 7 & 8: Friendships
What is the value of friendship? Is it better to have a few close friends than lots of casual friends? Do we have a responsibility to stay someone’s friend? Is peer pressure always bad? What about when we encourage someone to do a good thing?

A new award for ethics volunteers – please nominate someone you admire!

We’ve launched a fantastic new award, which brings substantial prize money of $4000 to go to the winner’s chosen school and public appreciation for the often-unsung efforts of our wonderful volunteers.

We invite you to nominate someone you admire – an ethics teacher or coordinator – for the new Kinghorn Award (or more than one person, as there’s no limit to how many people you can nominate). This award will honour an ethics volunteer who is an inspirational role model for other volunteers – and for their school and community.

Read all about it and please nominate the inspirational ethics volunteer at your child’s school >>

There’s no ethics without parent volunteers!

The best way to make sure there’s an ongoing ethics program which reaches all ages at your children’s school is to volunteer yourself.

Or you could suggest volunteering to a friend or family member. Volunteering with Primary Ethics can start at age 18 and is a valuable experience for tertiary students.

It’s not too late in the year to start – or you can get ready for next year. There are a wide range of online times and days to choose training courses from.

Take a look at the steps to becoming an ethics teacher >>

Managing anxiety in the ethics classroom

Is anxiety on the rise amongst our students? How should we as ethics teachers respond to incidents of anxiety or distress in our class – whether related to the topic under discussion or not?

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition for adults and young people alike. It was on the rise before COVID, but the disruptions of the pandemic, alongside a string of natural disasters, have exacerbated the stresses for many families, in some localities especially.

We are getting feedback via your very valuable post-class reports of some students being triggered by some ethics topics; or children coming into a class upset by previous incidents unrelated to the ethics lesson.

Here are some tips for maintaining ethics as a calm, supportive space for all students in the class, for looking after yourself and for managing specific incidents if they arise.

Prepare: Read, annotate and perhaps rehearse the lesson with your students in mind; think about classroom management in terms of your students’ wellbeing.
Maintain clear class routines and rules and a reliable, supportive, fair teacher persona: The ethics teacher has an important role in creating and maintaining a protective learning environment for every student:
– keep to calm, clear routines and rules (eg set up a routine for how the children enter and leave the space, regularly reinforce the 6 ethics rules)
– use grounding circuit breakers (eg deep breathing for 20 seconds; get them to focus on the external senses, such as ‘find something in the room that is orange’; make time for positive quiet reflection, eg ‘think about something you are looking forward to…’)
Stick to the script and use all the techniques of procedural questioning, with a focus on thoughts and reasoning rather than feelings.
– Eg, invite differences of thinking eg ‘what would be an argument for this?’ This creates a certain distance for the students from any potentially upsetting subject matter and is a valuable aid to self-regulation for them.
Think about your classroom management strategies in terms of the wellbeing of each student.
– Remember not to press any student to share their thoughts – being forced into the spotlight can cause anxiety. It’s fine if they just want to sit and listen.
– Be aware that putdowns can be subtle. Watch for any negative interactions between the students and use your behaviour management techniques to prevent or stop them.
– Again, if you notice heightened feelings, expressed verbally or non-verbally, use circuit breakers to bring the room back towards emotional equilibrium.
Know what to do if a student is explicitly distressed during the lesson.
– Acknowledge their emotion (‘thank you for sharing’ – this calms the amygdala) but don’t invite or press them to go any further.
– Don’t attempt to ‘explore their feelings’ or counsel them.
– Ask them if they want to stay or take a break. Alone or with a friend? Your school may have procedures in place (eg, a pass or time-out cards) which allow students to leave the circle or leave the lesson.
– Make sure that school procedures and any special needs of students in your class have been explained to you.
– Know what the procedure is for informing the classroom teacher, school SEE coordinator or front office staff if no one is in the room with you. If they are in the room, immediately refer a distressed child to them.
Let the Department teacher manage the student’s distress away from the class.
– Don’t take it any further yourself. That isn’t your role.
– Your responsibility is to continue the scripted lesson with the rest of your class – use a circuit breaker to help the others refocus when resuming the lesson, then remember to anchor….
If, based on what a child has said in your class, you suspect they are subject to abuse, you must later report that to the principal, as you have learnt in your Child Protection training with Primary Ethics.
Check in with yourself too – look after your own wellbeing following a difficult incident.
– While maintaining student privacy, you can talk generally to others about your own discomfort or upset.
– Contact our Classroom Support Team (via EVIE) for an empathetic ear and advice for the future.
In the following lesson, don’t refer back to the incident. Don’t draw any attention to the student who was distressed by asking them – or others – how they are this week.

Diana Dagg’s journey into ethics.

“I have the great pleasure of volunteering as an ethics teacher with my granddaughter’s class at her local primary school in southern Sydney for 30 minutes each week.”

I’m one of thousands of volunteers from all walks of life and all ages who teach ethics in schools across NSW during term time. I initially had some anxiety about taking part, since I hadn’t taught before. Hearing that Primary Ethics offers free training, full lesson materials and ongoing support encouraged me to take that first step to apply. My confidence was boosted during the excellent and thorough training (you can do in-person workshops or online sessions). The ethics curriculum is prepared by experts and reviewed by the Department of Education for age appropriateness.

After passing the assessment and completing Working with Children and Police checks, off I went, with a clear curriculum to follow – but still some nerves. I found, though, that following the advice included with the lesson scripts helped me enormously. And the Primary Ethics team as well as the school made it clear they were always there to help – and they have! A school classroom teacher sits in on my lessons should I need support or advice.

It’s important to me that my grandchildren and their friends have the tools to listen and think carefully about the information and opinions bombarding them from every direction in today’s digital world. These are essential skills as they grow up in our complex and pressurised world. I expect that the skills they’re learning in ethical reasoning will help set them up for life.

My role as the ethics teacher is not to make judgements or give my own opinions, but to encourage questions and reflection by the children themselves. It’s so heartening to watch my Year 5/6 class sharing, thinking, reflecting and listening respectfully to each other on issues such as:

Should we always respect the beliefs of others?
What’s the difference between harmless and harmful teasing?
The nature of knowledge – how do you know what you know?
Are there some things all humans need in order to live a good and satisfying life?

I’m proud to contribute to my young students’ commitment to consider some huge issues seriously, to listen and accept the range of views held by their peers. The great surprise for me has been that I get as much out of ethics lessons as the children clearly do. I’m constantly learning, as I prepare for my class by reading the background notes and reflecting on my own approach to these issues.

For example, at present I’m taking my class through four lessons on Authority. It’s all about encouraging students to consider whether it’s okay to question a rule or advice or opinion given by someone who is seen as an authority. The students are devouring this topic with great enthusiasm. And I’m proud to announce that it’s helped me to be more analytic and assertive in my everyday life as well.

Another unexpected delight is that the other ethics volunteers at the school and I meet regularly for coffee or after lessons to share and consult and have a laugh. I love feeling part of this team.

More recently I joined another Primary Ethics group, the Classroom Support Team, whose role is to provide support, advice and encouragement to the many ethics teachers. We’re always looking for new Classroom Support Team members. We’d be very happy to talk through this volunteer coaching role with anyone who’s interested.

Both positions are immensely rewarding for me. It’s heartening to know that by encouraging respectful discussion in the classroom, I’m contributing to the ethical growth of the next generation, thus leaving a legacy for the future.

Best of all, it’s simply fantastic when students come up to me after the class and say things like: ‘That was the best lesson ever’ or ‘Can we talk again about this next week?’

Makes me a proud nanny!”

Alexa Stuart loved her ethics lessons when she was in primary school. A decade on, the 18-year-old is back at her former school teaching a new generation of ethics students.

In April, I taught my first ever ethics lesson! I had a gorgeous bunch of Year 2 kids at Lambton Public School, and – despite my nerves – it went really well. But actually it wasn’t my first ever ethics lesson. My first was in that very same school, in 2012 when I was just eight years old.
Our school was one of the earliest schools in Newcastle to start teaching ethics so for the latter part of my primary school years I was able to attend ethics classes. I remember loving it so much, I think I used to annoy my friends because after class I would just want to keep talking about the ethical dilemmas. I had so much to say and there was never enough time in ethics, so I just kept talking as we went out into the playground. And then when I got home, sometimes I would keep talking about it to my family over dinner.

One of my most vivid memories of ethics was in Year 5 or 6 when our ethics teacher stepped out of the circle and allowed us to moderate the discussion ourselves. She watched us as we tried to navigate how to take it in turns without putting up our hands. We were forced to talk to each other rather than just the teacher. I remember feeling so mature and that our teacher really respected us and trusted us.

Ethics lessons were a highlight of primary school for me. Last year I graduated from high school, and this year I’m taking a gap year, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to volunteer and become an ethics teacher!

When I started doing my ethics teacher training, I started remembering a lot of the topics and scenarios that we did when I was younger. I remembered talking about palm oil and the orangutans, about performance-enhancing drugs and whether it’s OK to hunt sharks after they have hurt humans. Back then, I thought that if I just thought about it hard enough, I could figure out the “correct” answer to all these tricky questions. Now I realise that the whole purpose of ethics is to learn the skills of
critical thinking and ethical problem-solving that help you to come to your answer, not the answer itself. It’s about the journey not the destination.

When I went back to my old school for my first lesson, I spoke to some of my old teachers. It was lovely to see them again and chat to them about what I’d been doing over the past few years. It felt so strange and nostalgic to be back at my primary school and I was very nervous, but once in the classroom I was surprised at how well the students listened to me. I was a bit worried that because I’m so young I would lack some authority and I was worried that the kids wouldn’t be fully engaged. But I needn’t have worried because they all seemed to have a great time. A lot of hands went up whenever I asked a question and despite them being a bit wriggly at times, they gave some very thoughtful (and cute!) answers.

It’s been strange to experience the other side of ethics classes, this time as the teacher. Having to remain neutral and lead the discussion rather than contributing my own thoughts can be a challenge. I feel very lucky to have experienced ethics as both the student and the teacher, and now I’m trying to convince some of my friends to volunteer, it’s such a great experience for young people!

Next year I’ll probably go to university, I think I will do development studies as I’m interested in social justice, development and inequality. Hopefully I’ll still have enough time to keep teaching ethics!

New Primary Ethics volunteer Zoe Wright’s first lesson went swimmingly.

I walked out of my first class already in love with ‘my’ kids and excited about the rest of the year. Although I was nervous beforehand, everything went swimmingly. I was very lucky to have a great classroom teacher present, who unobtrusively lifted an eyebrow at the right kids at the right moment to support me. Before the class I had an opportunity to speak to the teacher and made sure I asked about the classroom rules and behaviour management and how he normally got the kids’ attention. During the think-pair-share activity I used the same signal and it worked a treat – the class was already very used to it so I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. Now that the introduction is done, I’m looking forward to getting stuck in to the topics!

Category: Education

Primary Ethics discussion rules

Kate’s story: Providing life skills to our children

@Home bulletin for parents Term 4 2022

A mother-daughter ethics-teaching duo

@Home Bulletin for ethics parents – August 2022

What they’re talking about in ethics – Term 3

A new award for ethics volunteers – please nominate someone you admire!

There’s no ethics without parent volunteers!

Managing anxiety in the ethics classroom

‘That was the best lesson ever!’

Former student turns ethics teacher

Teaching my first ethics class