| CODE | EDS5010 | |||||||||
| TITLE | The Ethics and Politics of the Ethics Class | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Education Studies | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit focuses on the political aspects of the teaching of Ethics in schools drawing on their relation to ethical concepts and practices that have been raised by a number of philosophers, socio-cultural theorists and philosophers of education. The relevance of understanding the teaching of ethics in relation to politics will be the main context through which these ideas will be discussed aiming to demonstrate that notions of ethics are historical and culturally contingent and the circulation of predominant values are subject to power relations between human beings. Education is a powerful way through which particular values and ways of living are taught. The lectures will therefore raise issues as to the function of the teaching of ethics in schools and how it can avoid practices of colonisation and assimilation into dominant ways of life. The dangers of exclusion made possible through the idea of community, will be presented in a manner that reflects the practice of community of inquiry in the Ethics Class and how this can be rethought to create a pluralistic democratic environment in classes and in schools. The lectures will also explore the agonistic ( conflict oriented ) notions of politics within democracies to discuss their educational use and explain how teachers can draw on conflict and disagreements to enhance democratic spaces that enlarge thought. Another important related topic is that of transform schools and specifically the ethics class into a hospitable, caring space that prevents ‘othering’ as much as possible. The feminist distinction between responsibility and "response-ability will be drawn upon with reference to a posthuman ethical philosophy that attends to the inclusion of intra-activities between the human, nonhuman, material, bodies and objects. The lectures will focus on how teachers of ethics 1) becomeethical educational practitioners 2) the extent to which they use their power and authorityto create democratic conversations and 3) their engagement with an ethics of response-ability that emphasises the relational ( to other human beings and to the world) grounding of ethics. A number of critical issues that surrounde teachers’ pedagogical practices and situations in the ethics class will be discussed to highlight the importance of envisioning the teaching of ethics in engagement with the political and how differences can contribute to the broadening from the more conventional visions of ethics. Study-Unit Aims: The main aims of this study-unit are to help student teachers of ethics: - Acquire knowledge of the political and ethical theories in relation to ethics education; - Critically analyse notions of community and community of inquiry; - Think about the values of differences and the educational contribution of conflicts in class; - Discuss their roles in engaging with pedagogies of difference and agonistic oriented democratic set up; - Reflect on their responsibilities in creating caring, hospitable democratic pluralistic environments; - Identify the challenges in being response-able in relation to educational values arising from pluralistic environments that extend to the non-human. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Outline the relation between the political and the ethical with reference to theories on pluralistic democracies, education and ethics education. - Identify political and ethical complexities in the teaching of ethics. - Describe how to sustain fruitful and respectful pedagogical relations within agonistic oriented class environments. - Engage with pedagogies that challenge disparities related to forms of ‘othering’. - Appraise the abilities to respond to the human and non-human and their contribution to ethical practices in the ethics class. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Read and understand the literature relevant to the ethics and politics of teaching ethics. - Problematize ideas related to pluralistic democracies in the ethics class. - Draw their personal experiences of teaching and learning ethics to reflect on possibilities in transforming the class into a hospitable place. - Express their own pedagogical practice in teaching ethics orally and in writing. - Examine the different ways in which conversations can develop within the ethics class and the democratic value of conflict and disagreements. - Explain how to make use of student diversities as educational resources for the ethics class. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Young, I. M. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. - Ruitenberg, C. W. (2016). Unlocking the world: Education in an ethic of hospitality. Boulder, Paradigm. Derrida J. (2005) The Principle of Hospitality, Parallax 11:1; 6-9. Supplementary Readings: - Ahmed S. (2000) Strange Encounters. Embodied Others in Postcoloniality. London, Routledge. -Bozalek V., Michalinos Zembylas M., Tronto JC (Eds) (2020) Posthuman and Political Care Ethics for Reconfiguring Higher Education Pedagogies . London, Routledge. - Burbules, N. & Rice, S. (1991) Dialogue Across Differences: Continuing the Conversation. Harvard Educational Review. 61,4:393-416. - Butler Judith (2015). Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly (Mary Flexner Lectures of Bryn Mawr College). Harvard University Press . - Card, C.(1991). Feminist ethics. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. - Jones A. (1999) The Limits of Cross Cultural Dialogue: pedagogy Desire and Absolution in the Classroom. Educational Theory, 49, 3: 299. - Galea, S. (2013) Educating the Migrant Girl. A Politics of Difference. Malta Review of Educational Research, 7 (2). www.mreronline.org - Tronto J (2010) Creating Caring Institutions: Politics, Plurality, and Purpose, Ethics And Social Welfare, 4:2, 158-171. - Tronto, J. Who Cares?: How to Reshape a Democratic Politics. Cornell University Press - Todd S. (2009) Toward an Imperfect Education. Boulder, Paradigm. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Fieldwork | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Louise Chircop Simone Galea |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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