Teaching controversial issues in Ethics education

The recent controversy about the way the subject of abortion was dealt with at the national sports school in Pembroke highlights how much Maltese society has changed in the past few years.

Until some time ago, no one would have thought to question whether it is appropriate for a pro-life lobby group to show students graphic footage to “teach” them about abortion. The outcry showed clearly that parents and students are not comfortable with anyone presenting the “facts” from a clearly one-sided point of view.

When they were made aware of this, the authorities quickly pointed out that the official advice given to teachers is to present sensitive issues in an objective and age-appropriate manner. 

A MaltaToday survey in March 2016 indicates that 31% of Maltese people agree with abortion in the case of rape, while 53% agree with euthanasia for terminally-ill patients suffering from unbearable pain. This shows clearly that although both abortion and euthanasia are unconditionally banned in Malta, it doesn’t preclude them from being contemplated by Maltese citizens.

This is especially true now that the world is becoming increasingly more globalised, and people are influenced not just by local media. In fact, an important skill that one should possess in the 21st century is that of media literacy; of being able to analyse and assess the complex messages that we receive from multiple streams of media. This in turn requires people to think critically about the information that they encounter in the different media.

The Ethics programme in schools aims to promote critical thinking through the analysis and discussion of various moral issues such as the ones mentioned above.

Although by nature these issues are often controversial, we must not shy away from discussing these issues in class, because if we were to do so, we would be short-changing our students.

Ethics education aims to teach children to think critically, not dogmatically, about such topics, presenting different contrasting positions and helping students navigate complex moral issues in their everyday lives. Ethics teachers are specifically trained to deal with such issues in class. In fact, even the way the subject is assessed moves away from the traditional model of rote learning and memorisation and regurgitation of facts, even at SEC level.

Although the Ethics programme is a recent phenomenon and not yet available in all schools, a recent survey (November 2016) among Maltese parents/guardians found that 54% would want their children to follow Ethics lessons if they were offered in their school.

The Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education regularly sponsors a one-year postgraduate course at the University of Malta for teachers who want to teach the subject. This ensures that teachers of Ethics are sufficiently trained in the kind of methodology that is required to teach such controversial issues. Furthermore, practising teachers undergo further training through courses and events aimed at their continuous professional development.

The current cohort of students being taught this subject in schools will sit for an SEC exam at the end of their secondary schooling in 2018. We hope the pedagogy employed in teaching this subject will help students think critically, not just when dealing with academic subjects, but also when making choices in their daily lives.