Aslan Shand, deputy editor
Often people see religion as providing a moral guide on how to live their lives.
It can provide a basis for deciding what is the right or wrong action to take.
But this is not the only way to approach ideas or issues in our lives and the way we might respond to them.
Ethics education for children in NSW primary schools is an alternative to lessons in scripture or just hanging out in supervised care.
The ethics classes give children the opportunity to look at and examine their lives, how we live and the actions we take.
By being introduced to reasoned arguments, values and principles rather than appealing to religion and cultural norms, children are able to develop skills to identify ethical issues.
It can enable respectful discussions.
‘The children can be very engaged in the topics we are talking about,’ said Cindy Alice who volunteers to teach ethics at Mullumbimby Primary School.
‘The kids became really excited about discussing if voting should be mandatory, and at the moment we are discussing punishment and if people would still do the right thing if there were none.’
Ms Alice said sometimes the children have become so engaged in the topics they are discussing that they’ve asked to come back in at lunch time to continue the debate.
Ethics classes help children develop the skills needed to make their own judgments about whether something is good or bad, and explain why, using evidence and reason to support what they think is the case. The teachers are trained not to teach the children their own personal ethics and values.
There are six local schools currently teaching, or about to start teaching, ethics.
‘Demand for ethics teachers always exceeds the supply of teachers,’ said Lee Marges who co-ordinates the ethics classes at Mullumbimby Primary School.
‘People from both the school community and the wider community are welcome to become volunteer ethics teachers,’ she said.
In early May, there is a training session for ethics teachers locally and they are currently looking to recruit more volunteer ethics teachers, so if you have the time and inclination, apply online at www.primaryethics.com.au or call Ms Marges on 0421 336 802 to explore the idea of what ethics teaching might involve.
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