PrimaryEthics@Home for Parents and Carers | May 2018
Welcome to PrimaryEthics@Home! This second edition for 2018 covers topics being taught in ethics classes in term 2.*
Visit the parents info hub for more about the program.
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*Please note: there will be variation from school to school in timing of topic delivery
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Early stage 1: kindergarten
Have you ever wanted to ask a question out loud but didn’t, because you were worried it would sound silly?
Supported, collaborative inquiry is one of the most effective means of bringing about understanding. But being curious and asking questions can take courage! Read about Secrets and a big important question.
Topic 3: Doing harm without meaning to
In this topic, we aim to encourage students to think for themselves about the difference between meaning or intending to cause harm and causing harm ‘accidentally’.
Max, for example, knows he’s not supposed to throw the ball to his dog Watson inside the house. But today it’s raining, and Watson really wants to play... Read more
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Stage 1: years 1 & 2
Topic 2: How important are the reasons?
 Why is it so important that our beliefs, decisions and choices (and the actions that flow from them) are based on good reasons? The obvious answer is that this strategy gives us the best chance of forming true beliefs and making the best decisions or choices, or in the case of moral judgments and actions, doing what is right. Read more
Image: In this topic, we hear about an echidna called Nod, who ends up in a sticky situation when he copies the behaviour of others without understanding their reasons at all.
Topic 3: Are you the same person you used to be?
Is seven-year-old Jack, who is 130cms tall and can run, play the flute and read chapter books, one and the same person he was at 10 months old, when he was unable even to walk or talk? If so, what is it that makes him one and the same? In this topic we invite children to begin to think for themselves about what constitutes a person’s identity over time. Is it established by physical continuity or psychological continuity? Read more
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Stage 2: years 3 & 4
Topic 2: Staring, Excuses and Reasons This topic is an exploration of a scenario, created by educator and philosopher Matthew Lipman, in which the character Pixie gets in trouble for staring at her sister Miranda. Firstly, we look at staring. We ask, is it ok to stare at something, like the moon? At emu chicks at the zoo? Why? What about staring at a person? When might it be ok to stare at someone – and when is it not ok? Read more
Topic 3: Disagreeing Respectfully
Disagreeing respectfully – what an important skill that is! We are not always going to entirely agree with our friends or partners, our children, our colleagues, on every issue. It’s an important skill to be able to put forward a point of view, and the reasons behind it, and to take part in the give and take of reasoned argument in a respectful and considered way. Read more
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Stage 3: years 5 & 6
In this topic we consider the important notion of human rights – what they are, where they come from and how they can be justified, and what obligations they impose on governments and citizens. And then we raise the question whether there are human rights that also extend to those animal species closest to us, namely the other great apes. Read more
Image: Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee, washing dishes (photo credit)
Topic 3: Fatalism
This topic invites students to think about the ancient notion of fatalism – the idea that our futures, our fates, are predetermined and that whatever we do, whatever action we take, we cannot change them. The topic starts with a journey back through time to Ancient Greece and the Oracle of Delphi. Read more
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Useful questions to help continue the discussion at home
The Primary Ethics approach encourages children to be curious and make their own discoveries so asking your child a question like 'what did they teach you in ethics class today' might draw a blank! Here are a few other questions that might help get the conversation started:
- Did you hear anything that surprised you in ethics class today?
- What stories did you hear?
- Did you change your mind about anything?
- Did you disagree with anything that anyone said? Why?
- What was the strongest argument you heard?
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Share in your networks
Do you know someone who might like to learn about the ethics option for their child? Please forward or share on social media (buttons below).
You might even know someone who’d like to volunteer or donate to help our program continue.
$50 supports two children in ethics classes for an entire year.
Thank you for your support!
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