Ethical RE - NATRE · the Pope and the Dalai Lama are all equally valuable (or useless). There’s...
Transcript of Ethical RE - NATRE · the Pope and the Dalai Lama are all equally valuable (or useless). There’s...
Ethical RE e
thics right and wrong good and evil commandments precepts
d
ecisions dilemmas
m
orality
religion happiness self-sacrifice values
virtu
es com
mitm
ents
lov
e
Edited by Lat Blaylock
Ethical RE 11/08.indd 1 8/12/08 12:11:49
This book is about the ways in which religious education provides for learning about ethics,
especially in relation to religious ethics, and pro-vides opportunities for the moral development of any pupil. It’s the ninth and last in RE Today’s series ‘Engaging with Secondary RE’. Each book in the series takes a current curriculum issue that teach-ers face, and addresses it through numerous well-worked practical activities for the classroom. We want to enable pupils to learn about ethics in RE in ways that are profound, broad minded and open hearted.Here you will find classroom activities that use visu-al learning, thinking skills, writing frames, contem-porary case studies and methods from philosophy, sociology and religious studies. We have included examples of lessons on prejudice, justice, peace and conflict, the sanctity of life and the green ethi-cal issues. These are not new issues for RE, but we have provided new ideas about how to teach them.Wouldn’t it be good if pupils really understood for themselves the challenges of thinking about ethics and trying to do what they think is good? We hope these pages will help you to make that sort of RE happen in your classroom. Lat BlaylockSeries Editor
ContentsPage Section
2–4 Ethical RE: frequently asked questions
5 Ten aspirations for ethical RE
6–11 Steps towards respect: can discrimination and prejudice be replaced with tolerance and mutual understanding?
Lat Blaylock
12–14 Responses to injustice:learning ethics for 11–14s in RE
Leila Hedges
15–19 Exploring global issues of peace and conflict
Joyce Mackley
20–25 Ethical questions from acase of conjoined twins
Stephen Pett
26–32 Wealth, poverty and climate change: a million little actions might just save the world
Anne Fayter
Ethical REIntroduction
1
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2
Ethical RE: frequently asked questions
1. Will RE make young people behave well? Should it?‘Teaching the difference between right and wrong’ is an oft-quoted aim of moral education, but it isn’t simple. RE teachers know that forming ethical views is a very subtle process. To listen to some commentators, you would think that teachers the whole nation over are busy peddling an absolute relativism in which Mystic Meg, the Pope and the Dalai Lama are all equally valuable (or useless). There’s no differ-ence between the merits of learning the Sermon on the Mount, or the vitamin list on the cereal packet, or the lyrics of Britney’s latest. In fact, the business of draw-ing alongside young people, getting their restive questions in one hand, and the treasures of some of the great religions of the world in the other, and bringing these together, is a subtle but possible task. Doing ethical RE brings its own reward: young people thinking profoundly about what is true, what is good, what is worthy of love. In RE, we don’t teach pupils to be good, but sometimes the subject shows them what it means, and helps them be clear about the good that they seek for themselves.
2. What is ethics?Ethics is, by one account, that part of philosophical enquiry which is concerned with the meanings and applications of ideas about good and evil, right and wrong. In another significant sense, ethics is a practical enquiry about what we ought to do, and for some it’s a dimension of religion. Others suggest that ethics is about action, doing what is good rather than merely talking about it. In RE, all these views of ethics are significant, but the curriculum especially uses dilemmas that might be close to the lives of learners to enable critical and personal reflection on different views about right and wrong, good and evil. It is sometimes helpful to distinguish ethics – a study of principles and alternatives – from morality – the more practical application of ideas about goodness to life.
3. How is ethics related to religions?‘In various different and complex ways’ is the only possible answer here. For ex-ample, in Buddhist tradition, there are ‘skilful means’ to approach enlightenment, including for instance the practice of compassion. This looks like ethics to ‘West-ern’ readers, but inside Buddhist traditions the word is not often used. Atheist critiques of religious ethics often attack them for being rule-based, authoritarian and dogma-dependent, but the expression of Christian love, for example, can be an experience of freedom for the believer. Theistic religions often make strong links between their teachings about God and their visions of ethics, but it is also per-fectly possible to develop an ethical understanding of human life without religion. One slogan that the British Humanist Association likes to promote is ‘good with-out God’. The relationships between beliefs about humanity and the transcendent and ideas about ‘the good’ is always contested. However, by long practice, and by natural linking, RE is one of the most important areas where ethics is studied in the curriculum, precisely because all religions offer their followers some ethical ideas to pursue.
Engaging with secondary RE: Ethical RE
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Engaging with secondary RE: Ethical RE
7. Shouldn’t RE be replaced by ethics in the curriculum?From the point of view of the contributors to this book, the answer is ‘no’. Here are three justifications.• Religions provide the raw material of diversity for ethical learning. Where
personal and social education goes wrong, pupils get the feeling they are be-ing presented with two answers to every problem, one right and the other both wrong and dangerous (sex, drugs, rock-n-roll – ‘just say no’ seems to be the mes-sage). In studying religious ethics, the diversity of human accounts of the good is always available to the learner.
• Religion is about more than good and evil. Transcendent beliefs, the pursuit oftruth, the exploration of human nature and community are not merely ethical. Dropping RE for ethics would exclude huge and vital areas of human experience. These biggest explorations of the meanings human beings make for life are them-selves part of the essential backdrop to ethics.
• For human beings, the will to do good is a far bigger issue than the judgementof what is good (Mark Twain: ‘It’s not the commandments that I don’t under-stand that are a problem for me. It’s the ones I do understand.’) Without being coercive, a religious education worthy of the name will take this seriously, and will show pupils how to think and live more carefully and ethically, in the light of the moral teachings and visions of some great spiritual figures and movements. Might it be good to explore the idea that religion can empower human ethics? What else does this? Should hypocrisy be on the curriculum (it is part of all reli-gions, after all, and even some Humanists fall short of the Golden Rule)?
6. Does RE promote relativism by taking the varied ethics of different traditions on board?Relativism is hard to define. Try this: ‘Moral relativism is the conviction that right-ness and wrongness are properly and inevitably defined subjectively or inter-subjec-tively, according to variables of time, place, context, perception and so on. Relativ-ism denies (as naive or doctrinaire) all claims to a universally accessible vantage point from which to morally judge actions or value systems. Relativists defend the claim that human beings make ethics, rather than discover them.’ (Thanks to Eliza-beth Templeton for this description.) If this description is as close as you can get in 70 words, then RE might promote relativism, and that might be no bad thing. The role of the subject, and the teacher, is more to try and be an honest broker be-tween ethical theories than a proponent of any one of them. And the trouble with ethical behaviour is that it comes in all varieties (though it’s always very different from unethical behaviour). In Christian and Jewish scripture, for example, Daniel refused the dinners cooked by foreigners, while Esther slept with a foreign king. Both are commended. The ethical action of each contributed to the salvation of a nation. Tricky.
4
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Ten aspirations for ethical RE
5
Ten
asp
irat
ion
s fo
r et
hic
al R
E W
ou
ldn
’t it
be
go
od
if p
up
ils
go
t m
ore
RE
like
this
?
Enla
rgin
g m
ora
l im
agin
atio
n: R
E sh
ould
sho
w p
upils
the
won
derf
ul t
hing
s th
at fl
ow f
rom
bei
ng g
ood:
goo
dnes
s m
akes
fri
ends
, mak
es h
arm
ony,
mak
es
love
. It’
s ne
ver
easy
, but
eth
ical
com
mit
-m
ent
can
enla
rges
the
hum
an s
piri
t an
d bu
ild u
p hu
man
hap
pine
ss.
Eth
ical
RE
sho
uld
cla
rify
th
e m
ora
l is-
sues
an
d p
rin
cip
les
invo
lved
in h
um
an
life
and
exp
erie
nce
: So,
for
exa
mpl
e, w
e m
ight
get
pup
ils t
o us
e st
illne
ss t
o m
edi-
tate
on
a ba
r of
fai
rly
trad
ed c
hoco
late
an
d an
‘ord
inar
y’ b
ar. C
hoco
late
look
s lik
e ju
st c
hoco
late
, unt
il th
e et
hics
, so
ofte
n hi
dden
by
mar
kete
ers,
are
exp
osed
. Whe
n so
me
pupi
ls in
the
‘Woo
dcra
ft F
olk’
stu
ck
a po
ster
on
the
scho
ols’
cho
cola
te m
a-ch
ine
sayi
ng ‘D
ead
baby
wit
h ev
ery
bar.
Boyc
ott
Nes
tle’
, sho
uld
they
get
a c
erti
fi-
cate
of
mer
it o
r be
exp
elle
d?
Incr
easi
ng
aw
aren
ess
of
the
linke
d a
nd
cr
eati
ve t
ensi
on
s b
etw
een
th
e sp
iri-
tual
an
d t
he
mo
ral:
We
know
tha
t th
e H
uman
ist
visi
on o
f au
tono
mou
s et
hics
ca
n tr
ansf
orm
hum
an li
fe, a
nd s
o ca
n th
e pa
th o
f th
e Bu
ddha
or
the
Ten
Com
-m
andm
ents
. How
can
thi
s in
sigh
t be
m
ore
thou
ghtf
ully
sha
red
wit
h pu
pils
, so
that
the
y se
e th
at d
iffer
ent
belie
fs c
an
lead
to
insp
irin
g be
havi
our?
Enco
ura
gin
g a
su
btl
e d
is-
crim
inat
ion
an
d a
war
enes
s o
f m
oti
ves,
act
ion
s an
d c
on
-se
qu
ence
s: W
heth
er p
upils
pr
efer
con
sequ
enti
al e
thic
s, o
r so
me
syst
em o
f th
e ru
le o
f lo
ve,
the
abili
ty t
o se
e th
e ot
her
side
of
an
ethi
cal a
rgum
ent
is p
re-
ciou
s, a
nd b
oth
side
s ne
ed t
o le
arn
to d
o it
.
The
dee
per
exa
min
atio
n o
f al
tru
ism
in it
s va
rio
us
form
s,
incl
udin
g th
at o
f M
othe
r Te
re-
sa, G
andh
i and
Mar
tin
Luth
er
King
(th
e RE
tea
cher
s’ T
rini
ty?)
, bu
t al
so t
he c
lose
-to-
hom
e re
c-og
niti
on t
hat,
for
man
y, it
’s m
y m
othe
r w
ho li
ves
for
othe
rs in
a
way
tha
t I c
an in
tim
atel
y ob
-se
rve,
and
she
’s t
he o
ne w
ho
insp
ires
or
chan
ges
me.
The
exp
lora
tio
n a
nd
dev
elo
pm
ent
of
mo
ral c
ou
rag
e am
on
g le
arn
ers:
To
will
wha
t is
goo
d, t
o pu
rsue
it w
ith
com
mit
men
t, is
mor
e im
port
ant
in
relig
ion
than
to
know
it. A
s M
arx
says
‘t
he p
hilo
soph
ers
this
far
hav
e on
ly
inte
rpre
ted
the
wor
ld. T
he p
oint
is t
o ch
ange
it.’
Shou
ld t
his
idea
ani
mat
e m
oral
dev
elop
men
t in
RE?
Bal
anci
ng
co
oln
ess/
ob
ject
ivi-
ty w
ith
pas
sio
n/e
ng
agem
ent:
G
ood
ethi
cal R
E do
esn’
t pr
o-du
ce s
tuff
ed m
inds
and
em
pty
hear
ts, b
ut r
athe
r en
cour
ages
m
oral
gro
wth
and
pas
sion
, on
the
basi
s of
rat
iona
l und
er-
stan
ding
and
wid
e sy
mpa
thy.
Gre
ater
aw
aren
ess
of
bo
th c
on
text
an
d u
niv
ersa
ls: H
ow c
an w
e en
able
le
arne
rs t
o se
e w
hy a
nti-g
ay r
ap m
u-si
c ha
ppen
s in
Jam
aica
, and
is lo
ved
by s
ome
16-y
ear-
olds
, as
part
of
the
cult
ure,
but
is w
rong
eve
ryw
here
? RE
m
ust
aspi
re t
o ex
plai
n et
hica
l con
text
s.
Why
isn’
t th
eir
sens
itiv
ity
to a
nim
al
crue
lty
mat
ched
by
man
y in
the
adu
lt
Chr
isti
an c
omm
unit
y? W
hy d
oes
it fi
nd
an e
cho
in H
indu
ref
eren
ce f
or a
ll lif
e?
Gro
win
g r
atio
nal
ity
in t
he
exp
lora
tio
n o
f et
hic
al q
ues
-ti
on
s so
tha
t RE
mov
es a
way
fr
om ‘p
ool y
our
igno
ranc
e’
disc
ussi
on o
f bu
llyin
g, a
nd
enab
les
the
sam
e ri
gour
in
mor
al e
nqui
ry t
hat
scie
nce
asks
for
in s
cien
tific
enq
uiry
, an
d a
grow
ing
unde
rsta
nd-
ing
of e
thic
al t
heor
y.
Incr
easi
ng
sen
siti
vity
to
th
e p
lura
lity
of
mo
ral e
xper
ien
ce: A
s m
y Je
wis
h Bi
ble
prof
esso
r pu
t it
, mor
al b
ehav
iour
com
es
in d
iffe
rent
for
ms.
Dan
iel w
on’t
eat
the
Ba
bylo
nian
s’ lu
nche
s, w
hile
Est
her
slee
ps
wit
h th
eir
king
. Bot
h ar
e co
mm
ende
d by
Jud
aeo-
Chr
isti
an s
crip
ture
. But
mor
al
beha
viou
r is
cle
arly
opp
osit
e to
imm
oral
, se
lfish
and
des
truc
tive
beh
avio
ur. M
aybe
w
e ne
ed t
o lo
ve t
he m
oral
que
stio
ns in
th
eir
ambi
guit
y fo
r a
whi
le b
efor
e w
e ca
n fi
nd t
he a
nsw
ers.
Ethical RE 11/08.indd 7 8/12/08 12:11:57
Nine steps up towards a fairer society: where are you on the stairs?
Stairs to respect: how far up are you?This helpful diagram shows that people can be more or less nega-tive, and more or less positive, about other groups. Think of some-one you know from the world of the movies who is prejudiced. Where on the stairs would they fit? How about Hitler? Or Nelson Mandela? How about you? Hans Olssen, a Swedish sex and relationships educator, suggested in 2005 that the process of building tolerance and respect could be represented on his ‘stairs of tolerance’. This picture is based on his writings.
Steps towards respect
7© 2009 RE Today ServicesPermission is granted to photocopy this page for use in classroom activities in schools that have purchased this publication.
Ethical RE 11/08.indd 9 8/12/08 12:11:58
Attitude
Celebration of diversity
Mutual understanding
Respect
Acceptance
Tolerance
Dislike
Prejudice and fear
Discrimination
Hatred and violence
‘I’m enthusiastic about all the varieties of people on the planet. I’m com-mitted to diversity: it is inspiring, challenging and fun. We’re all different, but we’re better off together. I’m not better than others, just different. That’s cool.’
‘Having learned from members of groups different from myself, I know that the differences between us are real. I think I understand where they are coming from, and I want them to understand my point of view too. Both sides need to “get it”.’
I have a positive regard for the viewpoint of the other group. I can see that their experience is valuable. I can see that as people they deserve their own rights and space. I don’t want to be anyone one else, but it’s fine that they are different.’
‘I don’t always think these people are doing things right, and I’ve got my arguments with them, but I can see that “live and let live” is a fair way forward. We’re all human beings, after all.’
‘I am fine putting up with this group of people. I don’t want to be like them, or spend time in their company perhaps, but there they are: each to his own. Some people might say that’s a bit grudging. Well, maybe it is, but it’s how I see it.’
‘I don’t like this group of people. They’re different, and I wish they weren’t. This is a private attitude. I’m not out there doing anything about it, I won’t hurt them. It’s just the way I am. I don’t like any of them.’
‘I think these people are all the same, and they always want things their own way. They are trying to take over, and that’s scary stuff – why should they? They all seem the same to me, and there’s nothing you can say to change my mind. That’s how I see it.’
‘If it’s down to me then I would make sure members of this group don’t get on particularly well. Actions which make life harder and more difficult for them seem fair enough to me, though I might keep them secret, to keep a clean image.’
‘This group are dreadful. They only cause problems for me and others like me. I can’t stand them. Nothing will change my view. We should kick these people out. Nothing’s too bad for them, they deserve everything I intend to do to them.’
What does this mean? (A matching activity)
Engaging with secondary RE: Ethical RE
8 © 2009 RE Today ServicesPermission is granted to photocopy this page for use in classroom activities in schools that have purchased this publication.
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