News - Primary Ethics

Conference 2019: Reflecting on past challenges, planning for the future

As the world grapples with major economic, political and environmental change, our hope for the future lay in the ability of our emerging leaders to make well-reasoned decisions on issues with far-reaching consequences. This was the message Dr Simon Longstaff of the Ethics Centre had for the 160 attendees at Primary Ethics State Conference held on Saturday October 26.

On a personal level, we all benefit from the ability to think critically and to reason. Education in ethics is crucial in helping us, regardless of our age or stage in life, be better equipped to tackle the various challenges we face.

Not-for-profit group Primary Ethics’ second state conference was generously hosted by Western Sydney University in Parramatta. Ethics volunteers from around the state converged to participate in a day of ideas about the work they are engaged in and the path that lay ahead.

Keynote speaker Verity Firth, head of UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion and former Minister for Education, revisited the challenges leading up to achieving legislative change in 2010 that permitted ethics classes to be delivered in NSW public schools alongside special religious education classes. Almost 10 years later, Primary Ethics represents the largest ethics education movement in Australia.

So where to now? Renee Bilston from Farmhouse Montessori spoke about the benefits of ethics classes to her school under the recent partnership with Primary Ethics. Primary Ethics’ Elizabeth Allen spoke of the workplace volunteering project that has seen 14 UNSW staff trained and supported to deliver ethics classes in schools near the university’s Randwick campus, not simply to engage and contribute to local community, but as a mechanism for staff wellbeing and meaning.

Meaning was a theme developed by Mitra Gusheh, Executive Manager, Social Impact at UTS in her presentation of the study by Dr Gianni Zappalà on the outcomes of volunteering in the lives of Primary Ethics volunteers.

Curriculum author Dr Sue Knight and philosopher Kelby Mason discussed the philosophical framework behind the Primary Ethics curriculum, with Classroom Support Manager Coral Sturgess and Trainer Sophie Patterson exploring implementation of the program in the classroom and its underpinning of 21^st century skills.

The value of applied ethics was reflected upon in a lunchtime screening of The Final Quarter and a talk by 13-year-old Belle, who explained how ethics classes had helped her to have conversations with people with differing views on complex topics such as climate change.

In 2019, 45,000 children participated in weekly ethics classes in 500 schools across the state thanks to the contributions by donors and a team of 2800 trained volunteers.

Complaint demonstrates overall success of ethics

It takes a village to raise a child – and many of those who enrich our children’s lives do so as volunteers.

P&C committees, canteen, reading groups, garden club, uniform shop, sport coaches, Scouts, Guides, playgroups – volunteers make a huge contribution to children’s lives and are being celebrated in Volunteer of the Year Award ceremonies held this month around the state.

“Yes we are volunteers, but we take this role very seriously,” said Suzan Fayle, who has facilitated ethics classes for the past six years at Orange Grove Public School.

Ms Fayle is one of 2800 Primary Ethics volunteers who help 45,000 students each week to think for themselves and develop the skills to disagree respectfully with others. Lessons based on philosophical ethics give children skills in critical thinking and ethical reasoning.

The children who complained about the teacher at Dulwich Hill Public School (“Ethics teacher stood down for saying Stolen Generations due to bad parents”, Sydney Morning Herald, September 9) used just those skills and should be commended.

“I’ve taught all levels and cannot recall a time where the script has allowed me to voice my own opinion. Our training is very strong on the point that the lessons are written by highly experienced educators and the lesson works without any extraneous input – or leaving anything out – by teachers,” said Ms Fayle.

Primary Ethics emphasises in all aspects of our training for ethics volunteers that their role is to facilitate discussion using the approved curriculum without omission or addition. Our shorthand for this is ‘follow the script’.

Two weeks ago we immediately stood down the ethics teacher when we were notified he had breached our policy that ethics teachers must not introduce their own opinion into discussions in ethics classes.

The requirement for volunteers to not voice their own opinion is clearly and consistently communicated in:

candidate interviews
initial online training
two-day face-to-face training.
signing the terms of engagement and agreeing to the volunteer code of conduct
continuing professional development
supporting resources such as the Ethics Teacher Handbook and Guidelines for Volunteers
our classroom support team services which routinely observe ethics classes and provide mentoring

Many of our volunteers are retired Department of Education teachers or those in part time positions (full time employees are not permitted by the DoE to volunteer) or have experience in early childhood, tertiary or workplace education. But as the role is to facilitate discussion among the students, it differs from that of a traditional teacher who is seen by students as the main source of knowledge in the classroom. Objectivity is a key criteria when determining suitability of candidates for the ethics teacher role and volunteers from a range of backgrounds are a good fit.

This incident is a rare occurrence among the 8300 volunteers who have been trained by Primary Ethics since the program’s inception in 2011, and Primary Ethics has acted quickly and in accordance with our publicly available complaints policy.

The benefit of ethics classes, and the efforts of our many terrific volunteers, should not be reduced to this flawed example by those who see ethics classes as an inconvenience to their efforts to remove Special Religious Education from schools.

The fact that these students were able to identify and challenge the comment of their ethics teacher is a sign that the program is working.

The Diversity Project for Primary Ethics

Primary Ethics has embarked on a project to ensure that our curriculum is inclusive of the diversity in our target audience – NSW school students.

In order to make sound, best-practice adjustments, we are undertaking a project with the following phases:

Phase 1 Research best-practice and scope the diversity review.
This phase is now complete.

Phase 2 Review lesson materials to gain a full understanding of current state of curriculum.
This phase is now underway and we’re asking for assistance.

Phase 3 Determine appropriate changes and update lesson materials.
This will commence when Phase 2 has been completed.

We want to incorporate best-practice inclusion and representation into our lessons and we plan to achieve this by modifying existing lessons where required, altering the characters and stories to provide positive diverse representation both within each topic and across the full curriculum.

A review of academic literature as part of Phase 1 shows that it is appropriate to consider Primary Ethics curriculum as children’s literature in the context of child development. It also shows the curriculum to be a legitimate and appropriate mechanism through which to represent diversity to primary school-aged children.The report states:

The positive outcomes of a diversified curriculum on child development are two-fold. First, children with minority identities can see themselves represented in their standard school day, which encourages a sense of belonging and improves both school performance and mental health (Montgomery 2001). Second, children with majority identity are presented with a representation of the world that reflects the diverse reality, which establishes a solid foundation for tolerance and respect of difference later in life (Montgomery 2001; Ramsey 2004).

Research shows the importance to child development of establishing a classroom setting that is welcoming of difference, and how this fosters an attitude of awareness and acceptance of diversity that extends to the entire community and lasts throughout the child’s life (Towbin et al. 2004; Montgomery 2001; Sciame-Giesecke et al. 2009; Ramsey 2008). Montgomery (2001) specifically cites cross-cultural literature and traditional stories that authentically depict diversity, along with co-operative learning groups and informal group discussions as important components that help children feel welcomed and valued. Marsh and Hart (2011) advocate the use of stories as a powerful tool in multicultural education, while Potter et al. (2009) tells us that children’s literature is not limited to formal books that are read to or by children, but rather encompasses a wide range of materials through which children glean a view of the world. Thus, it is appropriate for this review to consider the Primary Ethics curriculum as children’s’ literature in the context of child development and a legitimate and appropriate mechanism through which to represent diversity to primary school-aged children.¹

A diversified curriculum would also enhance the experience of the community of inquiry structure on which ethics classes are modelled. In ethics classes, students are encouraged to voice their opinions and ideas, listen to others, engage with opinions that may be different from their own, develop empathy and understanding and build on each others’ ideas. Optimising the characters, stories and scenarios for inclusion also helps to support participation in ethics classes by children from all backgrounds.

By diversifying the stories and characters that are used and presenting them in a way that positively reflects those being represented, Primary Ethics is also directly facilitating the objectives of several NSW Department of Education policies.

There are many compelling reasons for undertaking this project and we are indebted to Macquarie University PACE (Professional and Community Engagement) internship program participant Susan Barnes and supervisor Rebecca Sheehan, Program Director Gender Studies for their generous support of the research phase for which Susan was awarded the Judyth Sachs PACE Prize.

The dimensions of diversity identified for inclusion within the curriculum update are:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content
Caring unit structure
Disability
Gender
Race, religion and cultural background

The resistance of stereotypes and inclusion of intersectional representation, where characters experience more than one dimension of diversity, have been put forward as recommendations for implementation.

For now, we are seeking assistance from individuals with a few hours each week to volunteer to assist with the Diversity Review.

Content analysers will work from their own home, at their own pace, and in the timeslots that suit their personal circumstances.

Group meetings may be held, either face-to-face or online, for training or quality assurance purposes. Training and ongoing support will be provided. Read more about the role.

¹Curriculum Update Scope Report by Susan Barnes

Why pilot ethics classes for year 7?

Primary Ethics is the single approved provider of special education in ethics (SEE) to NSW Department of Education public schools. While our primary focus is primary schools, we’ve fielded many requests over the years from high school principals, parents and students themselves, who have sought a secular alternative to Special Religious Education that helps young people make sense of the world. In those early years, it was not possible for us to act on those requests. 2020 will mark the tenth anniversary of Primary Ethics and we’re pleased that next year we will be able to offer high school communities the opportunity to participate in the program, when we pilot ethics classes for year 7 students.

An ethics program for year 7 students will:

support students to develop skills in critical thinking, respectful discussion and ethical reasoning – skills which are transferable to the key learning areas of the secondary curriculum
support students in making the transition from primary to secondary school,
assist with development of interpersonal and decision-making skills as well as the consideration of ethical dilemmas that can loom large in the adolescence years
give choice to families by providing a high quality and valued secular alternative to SRE
promote lifelong interest and learning through providing a foundation in philosophical ethics that may assist students to undertake philosophy as a secondary elective or as part of a tertiary course of study

By undertaking a pilot program for year 7 students in a small number of willing high schools, we expect to gain important insights into the secondary school learning environment. In particular, the pilot’s purpose is to assess variations in delivery at secondary schools, such as length or frequency of lessons, and also to ensure the additional training ethics teachers will receive is best practice for managing a community of inquiry with students aged 12 and 13. The pilot will focus on Year 7, but once established, the secondary program will be made available for stage 4 (both years 7 and 8) students.

The pilot program, and any subsequent classes that are delivered after its review, would only be run in high schools where there is an existing weekly or fortnightly special religious education (SRE) program.

The pilot will only be run in schools where there is:

school support for SRE/SEE
family support for SRE/SEE
trained volunteers available to facilitate the discussion-based classes

Current legislation gives parents of all NSW public school students the right to seek ethics classes for their children, and it would be unjust to deny parents the choice of SEE while SRE is present. In high schools where religious education is woven into the fabric of the school community, we cannot sit on our hands waiting for a change in legislation that may never come. There is an opportunity to provide valuable education for students, and Primary Ethics is dedicated to supporting parent choice wherever possible.

If, during the course of the pilot program or subsequent delivery of ethics classes, there is legislative or policy change around the inclusion of SRE/SEE in the secondary curriculum, we would negotiate with individual schools and the Department of Education on an outcome that best meets the needs of the students and considers the needs of the school community and Primary Ethics volunteers.

We are currently seeking expressions of interest from high school staff, parents/carers of students who will be in year 7 in 2020 and existing or previous volunteer ethics teachers who are interested in participating in the year 7 pilot program.