7106.08 - Worldviews and Ethics


Course number
7106.08
Title
Worldviews and Ethics
ECTS
6
Purpose
The laws for schools and other institution that provide services to children stipulate that children are to be raised Christianly and ethically. Teachers and social educators, in co-operation with parents, are to accomplish this in a spirit of “freedom, toleration, equality and democracy.” Therefore, teachers and social educators must understand basic elements in Christian faith and ethics. However, they must also understand the modern roots of Western democracies, especially such modern notions as freedom of conscience, toleration and secularization. While the Christian tradition is one significant strand of our society, schools, kindergartens and similar institution must provide space for and respect students from a variety of backgrounds. Teachers and social educators must therefore be aware of the spectrum of views and values the children they work with represent. The goal of this module is to help students gain insight into the major currents that shape the worldviews of most Faroese today, Christian faith and Modernity. The students shall: 1) Gain insight into basic issues in Christian and Modern worldviews. 2) Learn to reason within the inner logic of these worldviews. 3) Learn to work through ethical questions and dilemmas within the frameworks of these worldviews, and in this way learn why people come to differing ethical conclusions. 4)Comprehend what place worldviews and ethics have in their coming vocation.
Content
The course is made up of lectures, group work, as well as guest lectures, a panel discussion, and a play. The lectures, which will take place in the morning, will cover these topics: 1) The plastic age, or the centreless world 2) Culture and the school 3) Humanity in God’s narrative and world 4) Christian faith communities and the state 5) Globalization and culture 6) The responsibility to choose the good 7) Christian ethics in personal and social context 8) Ethics and human rights 9) Sustainable life
Learning and teaching approaches
In addition to the lectures, students will be working in groups each afternoon. At the beginning of the course, each group will receive a scenario than entails an ethical dilemma. The groups will be working with this question throughout the module, discussing it in light of what they have read and heard. The purpose of this exercise is to help students work with a concrete issue that is relevant to their vocation. During the last week, each group will make a presentation, in which they will analyze the scenario they deal with, and, on the basis of the rational framework of the world view/s they represent, delineate a solution to the ethical dilemma their scenario entails. In addition to the lectures and group work, the course consists of the following: 1) On Monday of week 46 Inga Poulsen Dam, Rólant í Skorini and Hans Andrias Sølvará will each deliver a guest lecture, in which they will interpret the purpose clause in the laws for schools and other institution that provide services to children. 2) On Monday of week 47 a panel discussion will be held, in which representatives for each of the six political parties will present and debate their respective views on the role Christian faith plays in politics. 3) On Monday of week 48, the students will attend a play, “Nordost.” The play depicts three women, who represent three different life situations. In a context of crisis, we see how their very different views on life are connected and interact.
Assessment method
The assessment of the students will be based on the following criteria: (1) attendance, (2) active participation in group work, and (3) the group presentation itself. This is a pass/not pass module. The students will receive their mark after their presentations during week 46.