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Understand this general capability – Ethical Understanding

Introduction

Ethical understanding encompasses the knowledge and skills students require to identify ethical concepts, understand different ethical perspectives and apply ethical thinking in response to issues.

 

Ethical understanding involves students building a strong personal and socially oriented ethical outlook that helps them to manage context, conflict and uncertainty. They develop an awareness of the influence that their values and behaviour have on others.

 

Ethical understanding involves students exploring ethical issues and interactions with others, discussing ideas and learning to be accountable as members of a democratic community. 

 

Ethical understanding is developed through the investigation of a range of questions drawn from various contexts in the curriculum.

Structure

The Ethical Understanding learning continuum is organised into 2 elements, as shown in Figure 1: 

  • Understanding ethical concepts and perspectives 
  • Responding to ethical issues.
 
Figure 1: Ethical Understanding elements 

Understanding ethical concepts and perspectives

 

This element is organised into 3 sub-elements:

  • Explore ethical concepts – students identify and examine ethical concepts. They discuss and examine the dimensions of ethical concepts and how they relate to the actions we take in a range of situations.
  • Examine values, rights and responsibilities, and ethical norms – students understand the role that values, rights and responsibilities, and norms have in ethical decisions. They consider how a range of values relate to established norms of ethical behaviour.
  • Recognise influences on ethical behaviour and perspectives – students recognise the interrelationship of factors that impact their ethical behaviour and perspectives. They consider how factors such as reason, emotions, habits of behaviour, character traits, obligations and duties impact ethically considered responses. 

Responding to ethical issues 

 

This element is organised into 3 sub-elements:  

  • Explore ethical perspectives and frameworks – students develop an understanding of different ethical frameworks and how these inform ethical perspectives and decision-making. Ethical frameworks include approaches that address the role of consequences on ethical actions; approaches that deal with issues of duty, justice and fairness; and approaches that focus on virtues in the ethical decision-making process.  
  • Explore ethical issues – students bring together their understanding of the first 4 sub-elements of the Ethical Understanding learning continuum to investigate ethical issues. They apply their understanding of ethical concepts, values, rights and responsibilities, norms, ethical frameworks and perspectives to curriculum-related ethical contexts.
  • Make and reflect on ethical decisions – students recognise the factors that impact on ethical decisions, determine alternative responses to an issue, and consider how these may impact potential outcomes.
Key connections

General capabilities support and deepen student engagement with learning area content and are best developed within the context of learning areas.

In English, students develop ethical understanding as they explore ethical issues within real-world and fictional settings. They identify moral messages, ethical concepts, bias and stereotypes, and their representation in texts. As students develop their understanding, they compare, evaluate and discuss how these messages are created through language. Students analyse ethical perspectives on contemporary issues. They evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the ways in which arguments are represented. 

In Humanities and Social Sciences, students develop ethical understanding as they investigate the ways that diverse values and principles have influenced human activity. As students develop informed, ethical values and attitudes, they explore different perspectives, ambiguities and ethical considerations related to social and environmental issues. They discuss and apply ethical concepts such as equality, respect and fairness, examine shared beliefs and values that support Australian democracy and citizenship, and become aware of their own roles, rights and responsibilities as participants in their social, economic and natural world.

Health and Physical Education develops students’ ethical understanding as they learn the importance of treating others with integrity, fairness and compassion. They also learn to value and respect diversity and equality. Students examine ethical concepts and codes of practice appropriate to different contexts, such as at school, at home, in the community, in relationships, on the sporting field and in outdoor settings. As students explore fair play, equitable participation, empathy, consent and respect in relationships, they learn to make ethical decisions and understand the consequences of their actions. They also develop the capacity to apply these skills in everyday situations and movement-based contexts. 

In Mathematics, there are opportunities to explore, develop and apply ethical understanding in a range of contexts. Examples of these contexts are rational inquiry including sampling, collecting, analysing and interpreting data and statistics; being alert to intentional and accidental errors or distortions and questions of validity in propositions and inferences; finding inappropriate or inconsistent comparisons and misleading scales when exploring the importance of fair comparison; providing equitable solutions; and interrogating financial claims and sources. 

Students develop their understanding of ethical concepts and ethical decision-making processes in relation to science investigations, codes of practice, and the use of scientific information and science applications. They learn about ethical procedures for investigating and working with people, animals, data and materials. Students use scientific information to evaluate claims and to inform ethical decisions about a range of social, environmental and personal issues. They consider their own roles as discerning citizens and learn to analyse biases and assumptions as they apply ethical concepts when making decisions in complex situations. 

Students develop the capacity to understand and apply ethical and socially responsible principles when collaborating with others and creating, sharing and using technologies. Using an ethical lens, they investigate past, current and future local, national, regional and global technological priorities. When engaged in systems thinking, students evaluate their findings against criteria that include ethical issues. They explore complex issues associated with technologies and consider possibilities and ethical implications. 

 

They learn about safe and ethical procedures for investigating and working with people, animals, data and materials. They consider the rights of others and their responsibilities in using sustainable practices that protect the planet and its life forms. They learn to appreciate and value the part they play in the social and natural systems they live in. Students consider their own roles and responsibilities as discerning citizens and learn to detect bias and inaccuracies. Understanding the protection of data, intellectual property and individual privacy helps students to be respectful creators.

Students develop ethical understanding as they explore and respond to arts works that present, examine and/or challenge values, rights and responsibilities, and ethical norms. As artists students can create work that explores ethical issues or communicates a personal ethical outlook. Students may use their arts practice to help them manage context, conflict or uncertainty. 

Downloads

General capabilities documents and glossaries are available on the downloads page.

General capability downloads