MRAVNÁ VÝCHOVA V ŠKOLÁCH NA SLOVENSKU A V ZAHRANI ČÍ

TRANSLATION OF THE MAIN PRESENTATIONS
(PROF. GLUCHMAN, DR. HAJDUK, PROF. KORIM, DR. VACEK)
“ETHICAL EDUCATION” AND MORAL THINKING (ETHICS
OF SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES AS A MODEL OF MORAL
EDUCATION)
Vasil GLUCHMAN, Slovakia
Abstract
Circumstances of creation of ethical education project. Aims and contents of ethical education project.
Philosophy for Children (and Community of Inquiry). Reflective kind of moral agent and his level of
moral thinking. Ethics of social consequences as a model of moral education.
Ethics as an educational subject has been a part of the Slovak national curriculum for more than 15
years. Thus, it needs to be perceived as reality, however, current education reform provides space for
reconsidering the contents and methodology of the subject that was introduced in 1990s in a rather
hectic way and under strange circumstances. At that time the discussion was not sufficient and now, it
seems, there is an opportunity to assess critically the pros and cons, compare them to modern trends in
moral education or to provide alternatives, also from experience from abroad.
First, there must be will for critical discussion. So far it seems that we have not learnt yet to discuss
critically or that we are afraid of doing so. In the first half of the 17th century René Descartes
articulated doubting as one of the basic principles of human knowledge. Are we not able to apply this
principle four hundred years after his death Unfortunately, there is not any doubt, debate, criticism or
opposition concerning the ethical education project. Vast majority or articles and essays approve of it
and focus on presentation of the pro-social education positives. This creates the impression that we
have discovered something new, something unknown to the rest of the world and that the present
situation is satisfactory. Is the present situation really positive or have we submitted ourselves to a
self-delusion and an easy life in this illusion
I ask this question frequently, especially at the beginning of each academic year, when first-year
students start their studies of ethics or teaching of ethics after they have attended lessons of religion or
ethics at primary and secondary schools. It has become a trivial fact that they lack basic knowledge of
what is ethics and moral. Even worse they lack the ability to think morally in general. They lack the
ability to consider their decisions, to judge alternatives in the process of decision-making, to give
arguments for their decisions, to consider counter-arguments, to dispute etc. My question: why
evokes almost panic and fear of having to think of a solution to a particular moral issue more deeply
than in terms of simple expressions: yes – no, I think... To get the answer to the question why they
think so takes a great deal of my time and effort in formulating the question in the ways that could
made them go beyond their habitual way of thinking of moral in terms of pro-sociality, game and
small talk. While there are a lot of countries where in terms of moral education emphasis is put on
development of moral thinking from an early school age, I think that we emphasize, even at the age of
adolescents, education focused on pro-social behaviour.
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