Teaching of Ethics in Schools in Poland: Main Challenges

Author(s):

Joanna Madalinska-Michalak(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching

Format:

Paper

Session Information

27 SES 12 B, Schools and Identities Narratives

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-25

09:00-10:30

Room:

K3.05

Chair:

Meinert Arnd Meyer

Contribution

Over recent years, the question of the place of religion and ethics in public life has re‐emerged in Europe, in societies which are increasingly multicultural and in search of meaning and their identities. The issues of teaching religion or/and ethics at schools in different European countries take on a whole new meaning when seen in the larger perspective of educating citizens (Pepin, 2009; Madalinska-Michalak, Jezowski, Wieslaw, 2017).

This paper focuses, broadly speaking, on the ethical education at schools in Poland and its challenges. The paper reports on an study on the place of ethics class in schools in Poland and practice of teaching ethics in schools in Poland. The study has been carried out between 2014-2016 within the project „Ethics in the Systems of Education in Poland and Selected Western Countries (Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, France, USA, Norway, Finland)”. The project was implemented under the National Programme for the Development of Humanities of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland. The project was conceived as a contribution to educational research and knowledge on teaching of ethics in the school system and to the building of ethics as a school subject in the school system in Poland. In the project it was assumed that due to the relatively short history of teaching of ethics in Polish schools, there is a pressing need on reflecting on the ethics as the school subject and its theoretical foundations. The project aims to gather and compare the experiences of the teachers, but also other individuals and institutions involved in the process of teaching ethics in selected countries of the western world. It is a unique one, as there has been no comparative study about the experiences of so many countries on such a large scale so far. Therefore, the project can establish a new quality in the literature of the subject, dominated by the analyses focusing on the experiences of single countries. In the project research is focused in particular: (i) English-speaking countries (USA, UK, Ireland); (ii) German-speaking countries (Germany - where ethics is taught in different ways in particular states); (iii) Roman culture countries (France, Spain, Portugal); (iv) Scandinavian countries (Norway, Finland).

In the paper the main research questions are formulated as follow: What is the place of teaching ethics in schools in Poland? What are the main challenges of teaching ethics for Polish teachers? In order to answer such questions special attention is paid on: 1) system, functional and teleological analysis of educational law; 2) assessment of the implementation of the ethics as subject in schools in Poland in the years 2006-2015; 3) description of the current status of teaching ethics and preparing teachers to teach this subject in Poland; 4) determination of the trends of teaching of ethics (the dynamics and directions of change); 5) the opinions of teachers of ethics on the existing core curriculum of ethics, recommended conditions and ways of implementing ethics classes at different levels of education, and evaluation of organizational solutions adopted to conduct ethics classes in schools; 6) identification of the challenges of teaching of ethics in school in Poland.

Research findings will contribute to the development of scientific knowledge about the place of ethics as a subject in the system of education in Poland and the needs of teachers who teach ethics at school.

Method

In order to answer the research questions and achieve specific research purposes, at first, a content analysis of legislation regulating the functioning of ethics in the education system in Poland and the analysis of data obtained from the Ministry of Education and the data commonly available from the Education Information System was done. In the analysis such indicators were took into account as for example: the number of schools implementing ethics classes, the number of teachers employed to teach ethics in schools, or the average weekly amount of time ethics teacher per one school. The study also sought to show the ethics as a subject in primary and secondary schools in the dynamic approach based on the analysis and interpretation of statistical data for the years 2014-2016. The subject of discussion is the availability of courses in ethics, depending on the type of school, its location (region, municipality, city with county rights) and the school year (school year 2014/15 and the school year 2015/16). In the second step of the study, the voice of teachers of ethics was very important. Therefore, a on-line questionnaire „Teaching of Ethics in Schools” was desinged and distributed among every teacher of ethics in Poland in school year 2015/2016. Opinions, experiences and reflections of these teachers, relating to issues such as: core curriculum, textbooks and teaching materials, ethics as a subject, ethics and / and religion at school, challenges that teachers of ethics have to face up with, the relationship between ethics and religion and teacher education for teachers of ethics, were a valuable source of knowledge. In total, 1,266 teachers responded to the survey. The responses were checked for completeness. It was verified in particular, whether the respondent teaches ethics in school. After further verification, 1094 completed surveys were accepted for analysis.

Expected Outcomes

The research findings indicates the marginal position of ethics as a school subject in Polish schools. Teachers' opinions on teaching ethics reveal the fundamental challenges that the teachers of ethics have to face up to during their everyday school work. The challenges of particular note include those associated with teaching, teaching materials, work organization, the characteristics of students, the priority and support for the subject from the authorities, the issues connected with ethics and the curriculum, and stereotypes associated with the perception of ethics as a school subject. The paper presentation can create a platform for a broaden discussion on a number of universal practical and theoretical issues e.g.: (i) What is the purpose of teaching ethics in European schools (e.g. ethics as an exercise in shaping moral consciousness of the individual; ethics as a preparation for the life of a citizen and member of society; ethics, understood as a vital part of humanities, preparing to understand the contemporary world). (ii) Should teaching ethics aim to shape attitudes, or should it be a transfer of knowledge? How much time end effort should be devoted to meta-ethics and how much to so-called "applied ethics"? (iii) What about the axiological neutrality of the school as an institution, in particular how important in the teaching of ethics is to be impartial and axiologically neutral? Whether such approach can be consistent with the aim of shaping moral sensitivity of individuals? (iv) The emergence of ethics as an alternative to religion (as school subjects) provokes the question whether ethics contributes to the process of secularization and promotes the post-secular cultural model.

References

Madalińska-Michalak J., Jeżowski A., Więsław S., Etyka w systemie edukacji w Polsce (Ethics in the System of Education in Poland), Wolters Kluwer & University of Lodz Publishing House, Warsaw and Lodz 2017, in print. Pépin L., Teaching about Religions in European School Systems: Policy issues and trends – NEF Initiative on Religion and Democracy in Europe, Network of European Foundations, London  2009. Ustawa z dnia 7 września 1991 r. o systemie oświaty (DzU z 1991 r. nr 95 poz. 425) z kolejnymi nowelizacjami i tekstami jednolitymi (uwzględniono zmiany ujęte w tekstach jednolitych: DzU z 1996 r. nr 67 poz. 329; DzU z 2004 r. nr 256 poz. 257 ze zm. 67; DzU z 1998 r. nr 117 poz. 759). [Educational Law from 7 Sept 1991 on the System of Education, Journal of Laws of 1991 no. 95 item. 425) with successive renewals, and texts uniform (incorporating the amendments included in the texts of uniform: Journal of Laws of 1996 no. 67, item. 329; Journal of Laws of 2004 no. 256, item. 257, as amended. 67; Journal of Laws of 1998 no. 117 pos. 759).]. Rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji Narodowej z dnia 14 kwietnia 1992 roku w sprawie warunków i sposobu organizowania nauki religii w szkołach publicznych (DzU z 1992 r. nr 36 poz. 155; uwzględniono zmiany: DzU z 1993 r. nr 83 poz. 390; DzU z 2014 r. poz. 478). [Regulation of the Ministry of National Education of 14 April 1992 on the conditions and manner of organizing religious instruction in public schools, Journal of Laws of 1992 no. 36, item. 155, takes into account changes in: Journal of Laws of 1993 no. 83 item. 390; Journal of Laws of 2014, item 478].

Author Information

Joanna Madalinska-Michalak (presenting / submitting)

University of Warsaw

Faculty of Education

Łódź

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