Overview Statement
“In the Australian Curriculum, students develop ethical understanding as they identify and investigate the nature of ethical concepts, values and character traits, and understand how reasoning can assist ethical judgment. Ethical understanding involves students in building a strong personal and socially oriented ethical outlook that helps them to manage context, conflict and uncertainty, and to develop an awareness of the influence that their values and behaviour have on others” (Australian Curriculum, n.d.).
Ethical Understanding helps students become:
•Confident
•Creative
•Informed Citizens
•Honest
•Resilient
•Empathetic
•Respectful
Technology in education has created a global picture for students in the classroom. Students are exposed to issues of a global context that test their ethics.
Issues include:
•Human rights and responsibilities
•Animal rights
•Environmental Issues
•Global Justice
“Building ethical understanding throughout all stages of schooling will assist students to engage with the more complex issues that they are likely to encounter in the future, and to navigate a world of competing values, rights, interests and norms” (Australian Curriculum, n.d.). Teachers should aim to create a classroom environment that causes the students to create and consider their own personal ethics. Teachers should give students opportunities to evaluate and consider their ethics and the global consequences of their choices.
General Capabilities in the Australian Curriculum
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