Watch/listen to our Global Ethics Day webinar
Our webinar to mark Global Ethics Day 2026, Wednesday 21 October, put ethics education front and centre. Our Chief Operating Officer Laura Ramos opened the evening with this year’s theme: re-centering ethics. Laura reminded us that Primary Ethics has been helping students become ethical decision-makers for 16 years, reaching hundreds of thousands of students thanks to our trained volunteers and generous donors. Our speakers, in true ethics class style, examined what the evidence says and what it looks like in a real classroom – and in the Boardroom.
The evidence is in: ethics education works
Dr Geetanjali (Geet) Basarkod, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education at Australian Catholic University, started us off with her recently published meta-analysis. Her question was simple: does ethics education actually move the needle?
Geet and her colleagues examined 92 randomised controlled trials, involving nearly 13,000 students across 21 countries and 50 years of research. Nine of those studies focused on primary school students.
The news was good. Students who took part in ethics programs were better at recognising ethical issues, reasoning through what to do and why and prioritising ethical values. The overall effect was medium to large, which Geet described as “quite substantial and meaningful” in educational research. Evidence on character (actually acting on a judgement) is still inconclusive, with only two studies looking at it.
Crucially, format matters. Programs built around active discussion were effective, while those relying only on lectures showed no clear evidence of impact. That’s exactly the Primary Ethics approach: everyday dilemmas and stories, explored in discussions guided by trained volunteers.
Geet also suggested where we could go next: making sure most children take part, not just a confident few; highlighting a shared purpose rather than a race to the ‘right’ answer; modelling slightly more advanced reasoning through prompts and using the scale of our program to examine what really drives progress.
From the classroom to the boardroom
Primary Ethics Philosopher-in-Residence Kelby Mason then led a lively panel discussion.
Dr Tim Dean, Senior Philosopher at The Ethics Centre and a former volunteer ethics teacher, explained that our values often operate unconsciously until we stop and reflect on them. “We have to teach what is hard,” he said: pausing, listening and engaging in good faith. Those skills aren’t just taught in ethics classes; they’re modelled.
Martin Mulcare, a non-executive director, volunteer ethics teacher and instructor of new teachers, shared how two ideas from our training work in the boardroom. The ‘teacher persona’ helps everyone feel valued and heard and the community of inquiry brings simple questions like ‘what do others think?’ One difference: “We don’t do wrap-ups, we don’t do consensus” in the classroom. As Kelby pointed out, at the end of an ethics class, students simply head to the playground.
Curiosity over conflict
On polarisation, Tim noted that when the stakes are lowered and people don’t feel attacked, conversations open up. Geet added that research shows watching people disagree respectfully can help reduce polarisation and spoke about intellectual humility: being open to the possibility you might be wrong.
Tim also introduced the ‘disorienting dilemma’, a story that draws people in, then unsettles their first conclusion and shifts them into an open mindset. Stories, the panel agreed, are what students remember most.
Year 7 ethics student Charley, who has been doing ethics classes since kindy, brought it all to life. Asked whether ethics had changed how she communicates, she said: “I’ve noticed that I don’t get as upset when someone has a really strong opinion… I’m more curious to know why they think that.”
Keep the conversation going
Geet made a great case for more large-scale research into the impact of ethics education, a call we wholeheartedly echo. She also shared an insight from educational psychology: when students feel ownership of a conversation, they’re more willing to engage. That’s the experience our volunteer teachers create every week.
Thank you to our panellists and to the nearly 2000 volunteers who bring ethics classes to NSW public schools.