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Review: FOCUS ON EUROPE 2014 and beyond
“Ethical learning – sustainable living”
From the 28th to the 30st of
October 2014 the Catholic
University College of Education
Graz puts its focus especially on
Europe and beyond. This year
Focus on Europe was held in
cooperation with the European
project Ethos. Ethos stands for
„Ethical education for a
sustainable and dialogic future“
and has given this conference its
headline “Ethical learning –
sustainable living“. More than 50
lecturers from 16 different
countries were examining this field in the internatinal context of education and teaching.
The Ethos project members served as experts for the mumerous discussions and workshops.
Another important goal of the international Days was to intensify professional networks and
the cooperation in research among partner universities. It was a special pleasure to have
Eight Japanese guests and partners here at our meeting and to widen our scoupe also
beyond Europe. This review will summarise some important outputs and a lot of
impressions, that may to motivating all participants to continiu work and discussions on the
topics of Ethos projects.
Best regards
The International Office
Team of CUCE/KPH Graz
28.10. - 30.10.2014,
Kirchliche Pädagogische Hochschule Graz
Lange Gasse 2, 8010 Graz
www.kphgraz.at
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Openig ceremony, Tuesday, 28th of October 2014
More or less 200 of special guest, colleagues from all over Europe and Japane, teacher
colleagues and students shared the opening ceremony of “Focus on Europe 2014” in the
beautiful festival hall of the Augustimum. A number of speacers guided the participants to
the common topic of the conference “Ethical learning – sustainable living”. The head of the
University College Council Christian Leibnitz greeted all with the words: “It is a great pleasure
to have guests and partners from different cultures and religions here, because dialoge is the
basic for peaceful and successful lifing in Europe and beyond.”
The Erasmus students introduced themselfes with a cheerfus dance act and they made all
guests dance and groove.
The musicians of “Brass and more” and the students of the College for Social Education
made the opening ceremony very solemly.
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Keynote speaker Stnako Gerjolj: Ethics for a personal and dialogic process of being
(summery by Veronika Schweiger-Mauschitz)
1. “Motivation, emotion and cognition are three fundamental mental operations. All three of
them are connected to the emotional learning which is an integral learning and teaching
process. It includes all dimensions of life – not only cognitive learning but also body,
emotionality, culture, spirituality and religion.”
2. The brains center for the sense of smell is essential for emotionsl intelligence and
responsible for learning and memory (Goleman 1997,33).
4. The contents of moral education is related to seben main virtues: Empathy, Conscience,
Self-Control, Respect, Kindness,
Tolerance and Fairness. The first
three represent the “moral core”
of ethical education (Borba 2001,9)
5. “The first and decisive step
towards strengthening moral
education regarding respect is
made when we ourselves respect
the child. Kindness is the result of
empathy and takes care of the well being of others.
Tolerance first teaches us to respect and accept in principle and then to allow and even
encourage diversity, in particular to overcome stereotypes and prejudices.
RespectKindness Tolerance Fairness
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Faireness is a virtue intended to foster justice in the framework of moral education.
Faireness allow open, ongoing and uncomplicated communication.” (Borba 2001,)
6. “A new philosophy of education” presupposes a sensitive, in-depht, positive and creatively
optimistic communication!
Keynote-Speaker Bruno Curko spoke about “Philosophising with children”
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ETHOS_ABC-Reflections to the Round Table Talk during ETHOS
from Maria Petek
An authentic attitude in teaching
and bonding, the fundament of common learning,
as some central topics in childhood
so that devotion to the different professions
leads to ethics as shown in the impressive project of ETHOS
with friendship
and gentle impulses
in a holistic way of learning
when inclusive competences
and joyful working
form the key to development
and lead to the growth
of moral values
as a nutrition
for open-minded people
with questions
a lot of respect and responsibility
a sense of humor
and tolerance for everyone
as meant by the ZULU-word „UBUNTU“ (which means: I am because you are – you are because I am)
many variations and different methods for everyday teaching
so much wisdom to share
no xenophobic thinking
for the best to the youth
of the ZUKUNFT (future)!
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Strahovnik Vojko presents ETHOS (Round table talk)
Project Ethos – Ethics andvalues in schoolsVojko StrahovnikUniversity of Ljubljana, Faculty of Theology
Project ETHOS is funded by the European
Commission, Comenius Programme.
International conferenceFOCUS ON EUROPE 2014: Ethics and education
KPH Graz; Graz, Austria 28.-30. October 2014
Project Ethos – Ethics andvalues in schoolsVojko StrahovnikUniversity of Ljubljana, Faculty of Theology
Project ETHOS is funded by the European
Commission, Comenius Programme.
International conferenceFOCUS ON EUROPE 2014: Ethics and education
KPH Graz; Graz, Austria 28.-30. October 2014
Ethics education and contemporary society
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recognized importance of early childhood education
ethics education, critical thinking, dialogue and interculturalcompetencies have a significant role in forming an ethically mature human person
dialogical and communal nature of ethics and ethics education; openness toward the other
Project Ethos: Partnership
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University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Theology (Slovenia); Kirchliche Pädagogische Hochschule Graz (Austria); Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg -Innovation in Learning Institute (Germany); Amitié, Bologna (Italy); Scienter CID (Spain); Primary school Šmartno v Tuhinju (Slovenia); Udruga za promicanje iunaprjeđivanje filozofije za djecu 'Mala filozofija'-Association Petit Philosophy (Croatia) and Inova 4T - Tuzla Technology Talent Tolerance (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Project Ethos: Aims, target groups and implementation
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analyzing the existing state of the art of ethics education in participatingcountries and EU as a whole
clearly defining the needs of the teachers/educators, as well as pupils and their parents
methodological guidelines
educational tools and materials
curricula proposals
support and advocacy
Project Ethos: Partnership
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University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Theology (Slovenia); Kirchliche Pädagogische Hochschule Graz (Austria); Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg -Innovation in Learning Institute (Germany); Amitié, Bologna (Italy); Scienter CID (Spain); Primary school Šmartno v Tuhinju (Slovenia); Udruga za promicanje iunaprjeđivanje filozofije za djecu 'Mala filozofija'-Association Petit Philosophy (Croatia) and Inova 4T - Tuzla Technology Talent Tolerance (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Educational approach and educational materials
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five key topics: respect, tolerance, responsibility, values, and friendship
thematic toolboxes for teachers
age groups 3-5, 5-7, 7-9, 9-11, 11-14
instructions, skills, intelligences
methodological guidelines
teachers as rolemodels
curricula proposals
Code of ethics for schools
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as a special tool for ethics reflection and relationships
based on inclusive approach where participants (teachers, pupils and parents) are invited to use their ethical reflection and “set the rules” of mutual respect, order, and goals
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Piloting feedback9
“Working with the materials was nice, since students got to know also ‘some of the other sides’ of the teacher that areusually not reveal and we could together discus some more deep and important topics”;
“Some children were very touched by the story, particularly a girl that has recently suffered a close and severe personal loss, there were also tears, so we had to discuss the theme deeply not just on the surface.”
Piloting feedback10
“I tried ‘Mein bester Freund‘ –‘my best friend’ (7-9) with 7 - 8 years old students. Always, when we had a conflict, we remembered, what is important for a friend. So we could find good solutions; we could articulate, what a friend likes and what doesn’t.
“The students were very open and they put on their thinking caps. They were motivated to philosophize. I was surprised about the creativity of their thoughts and how trustful they were searching for answers. ”
Piloting feedback
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“Students discussed lively. In the combination between the ppt and the biblical book Ruth students were rethinking their attitudes about friendship: They got more empathic and tried to get into the perspective of a friend. They opened their hearts and spoke of personal things.”
“I have to be attentive to include all of the students into the discussion. Girls were very active and liked that the teaching hours was more relaxed and that they could express their opinions. Boys were also active, but I had to be very attentive that we did in fact stick to the topic and not lead the discussion too far away.” ”
“Mostly students did not think about these topics before and the discussion was interesting. I was surprised how differently they ranked various values (also form the way I would have ranked them), most of them put friendship and love at the top.”
A big thanks to teachers and
pupils, who participated!
Conclusion
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overall we strive to begin with the creation of a wide network of teachers in the field of ethics education
achieving mutual respect of diversity, open and democratic society of dialogue and ecological awareness
ET2020: promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship by promoting intercultural competences, democratic values and respect for fundamental rights and the environment, as well as combat all forms of discrimination, equipping all young people to interact positively with their peers from diverse backgrounds.
Contact13
www.ethos-education.eu
www.facebook.com/[email protected]
Vojko StrahovnikUniversity of Ljubljana,
Faculty of Theology, Poljanska 4, SI 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Thank you for your attention.
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Dialogue and discussion: Round table talk (summerised by Kelly Nodurfth)
Sola Pier Giacomo Amitié SRL,Bolonga
Not involved in education- instead be a facilitator. When teachers have to work on this issue, something else always has priority and this is why ETHOS is important
Live in philosophical world and be in comparison with children
When daughter was young, a real community, how is my daughter reacting to community and she was fine to have a specific role, moral priorities
To facilitate is inside us
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There are two images on the poster
The first image is daughter but not my daughter because she is grown, rather someone else’s daughter and was asked what is friendship
They said friendship is to trust each other so you don’t have to check everything that is said and love each other without pretending
2nd picture really necessary for life and promote mutual life with each other and be completely confident
This was message because sense that kids are emotional Kragić Marija and Ćurko Bruno Association “Petit Philosophy” and Institute of Philosophy in Zagreb Croatia
Developed of education
We have a job to make materials and main problem is to motivate kids to think about ethical issues
Alien comes on PowerPoint and asks kids questions
Talks about laziness and values
Maria drew the alien and the bee
The bee is for younger kids
11 year olds like cartoons and they talk with kids
Thinking stories and educational games
5 and 6 year olds came to regular workshops and deal with schools and teacher decided to have 10 materials regular in schools every 2 weeks and they like feedback from kids
Little girls cry when saw him and they would like if he came back Kreß Kerstin and Schlenk Evelyn Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen Nuemberg Germany
7-8 countries focus group, online questionnaires for parents and teachers
Lots of feedback and what do you want kids to learn at school and which values
They were all the same
Tolerance, responsibility, moral values, environment…..
How can we make tools from that
ETHOS website and download what was said in each country
Methodical guidelines for teacher so each teacher can create ethical materials for different ages
Teachers were eager and like to teach kids ethics and like idea of producing more material
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Biberkić Kenan Inove4T Bosnia and Herzegovina
I don’t have much experience
No poster so I have a story instead
Girl and had workshop at school about 9-10 years old with diabetes
So they made a workshop on tolerance and friendship to let kids understand each other
She had different needs and after the workshop kids said they didn’t know how hard it was for this girl to live with diabetes and get to school
So idea of teaching kids tolerance is very important
Teachers should pay attention to teaching topics in school
Glad to participate Franz Feiner
Continue something about Bosnia and H
Great course held at University
Most were Muslims and interesting to work inter-religiously
Very important to remember to give other Universities a chance to participate
Very thankful for this opportunity
Very good feedback
Additional project for example the water project and this was chance to educate young researchers and developers
Köchl Martin and Baunagl Barbara Catholic University College of Education Graz Austria
4 pictures were developed from school
One picture worked with Jupiter guy about friendship
Picture from Baraba’s class
Worked with topic friendship and with book Ruth from the bible
2nd picture was project in the primary school
Puppets 15 hours
They made puppets and played by themselves
Her bachelors project work- easier to play with puppet then alone
Last picture I made a bachelors project
Work with children in 8-9th level and how can I work with main topics and with the bible so developed a project titled violence against solitary team
We are at the end, it was a great help to have input from ETHOS and were are thankful for it Tomas Smole
Poster wasn’t project- all teachers had activities with ETHOS project
I am a sociology and history teacher
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Used materials of Bruno
Trying best and interesting to cooperate with other members in project Maria Fasching
What is ethical learning for you
Have you thought about it?
Used it in lectures or daily work Kl’uska Branislav
1st idea was good that concept of ethical learning but all speakers talked about kids in kindergarten and appreciate concept and that it is human/child centered
Our experience in Slavkia and it is a political issue and church political issue
Pupils have to choose ethics and religious education and therefore ethics is necessary
And catholic university is dangerous to tell
Try to incorporate ethical learning in literature and other subjects Mölleken Helga University of Wuppertal Germany
Not a teacher
Inclusion in schools
Problems with inclusion because teachers didn’t learn how to come over it and people aren’t always with children
Only once a week then alone with kids
How can kids learn topics because teachers never learned how to come over that
30 kids in class
Very good idea but institutions should help teachers Hollerer Luise
Teacher training
Tried to find out attitude of teachers according to teacher training
8 countries well trained teachers
Attitude toward teaching is different because teacher training at level you know and try to teach teachers how to integrate and have conversations about ethics in classes and results
Attitudes of teachers and University trained teachers
University trained teachers gave experiences to kids and other trained teachers gave ______
Important to realize that must have ways to bring new teacher training Bogdanowicz Ewa
In Poland, Code of Ethics
What is behind that and find out how post socialism disease
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Socialism still works in society and prevents us from certain things, religious education, and kids learn social skills
Made books for religious education Becker Lars Leibniz University Hannover Germany
Work with children who can’t live at home because parents are druggies or alcoholics
Kids are broken in many ways
Friendships aren’t easy because they aren’t “good kids”
Connections to teachers aren’t good because they were kicked out
Trust issues
Only responsibility to get food and have sense good results mixing them up with refugees
Refugees have high standard of value
So their church send refugees to Europe and they have high moral value and very effective
Kids from Africa very deep religious background
Kids from Africa very deep religious background
You can take friendships everywhere
Parents can die and only have trust for others
German kids can learn from refugees
Successful life
Life can be managed
How can kids succeed through hardships
Putting them with another group Bercin Ferit Ondokuz Mayis University Samsun Turkey
Congratulate workers
Teaches at university
Do teach how to and what to teach?
It is our responsibility to but if they don’t know how to teach adequately so what
What teacher taught them?
Should teach teachers good information about ethics and ethical learning Strahovnik Vojko University of Ljubljana Slovenia
don’t misunderstand me
not proposing holistic approach
ethical decisions raise hand or not to raise hand
how best to approach this in Slovenia
have projects where kids leave school
the 1st 2 weeks we dedicate just to rules, even one problem group
whoever is late has to bring cookies for the whole class
very simple rule and can show respect and responsibility
not so formal
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Ingeborg Trappe-Butzbach
institute for inclusion
to teach respect
kids with handicaps and different racial background
teachers must learn level of pupil
to understand inclusion in Germany
we only talk about money
not my opinion
nothing to do with money but rather in your head
sensible for parents and teachers together
cooperation is best Franz Feiner
necessitates in education and teaching institutions Maria Fasching
pays off to use introduction time for kids to use 1st time to get to know each other
code of ethics and take time for that
different teachers in different subjects
this time is not a waste Veronika Schweiger-Mauschitz
one problem in ethics is interdisciplinary subject
so everyone has to do it so no one does it
so should start in teaching institutions
how to everything
like to teach ethics in interdisciplinary form Slovenia large man with gray sweater
teaching ethics is very hared
because what will I gain in students’ time
most importantly is who you are
must be ethical person
not just teaching rather being Sola Pier Giacomo Amitié SRL,Bolonga Italy
ethics is philosophical subject
ethical subject ever studied in physics
Because atoms are separated and knowledge of ethical basis….
Target to train teachers if we teach any ethics, then we have succeeded Ikuyo Wakayama
In Japan, kindergarten
Moral education is very important
And cooperation is very important
Kids grow in moral cooperation
Cooperation with friends
In Japan, evaluation is very important and when we evaluate kids,
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Becker Lars Leibniz University Hannover Germany
Not only about what we teach but how we teach it
Behave as teacher but when a kid is reading badly and a teacher rolls her eyes
Everything is in the toilette Pokorny Svenja Amitié SRL, Bologna Italy
Role model teachers have
We are all miserable
Everyone has problems and can’t ask teachers to be perfect
But at least be honest with self and listen to own inner voice Iris Šmidt-Pelaji
Teacher at Fac of teacher education
Importance of how we are as people and our behavior
For kids at university level
Immature students who have complexes about something
Must react in a good way so students see how adults act
So no bullying and respect each other
Show them you can see insecurity but will accept it
They are accepted but bad behavior is not
Education of future teachers in Germany
Think that we have potential in literate to bring up ethical concerns in students
Courses related to ethical problems
Teach linguistic skills if not a good moral person but good in rhetoric
Focus on outcomes of students
Find methods to teach and develop attitudes and behaviors
Take point of meaning of words
It’s important to communicate with pupils in all subjects