Publish at February 21 2024 Updated February 21 2024
We've generally been brought up to see two sides to every situation: good and evil. Like two sides in a never-ending war vying for advantage in many societal, financial, scientific and other issues.
Yet anyone who has ever taken an interest in ethics knows that, very often, it's all about the nuances. Some cases seem easier to decide on the surface, but there will always be divergent points of view that don't fit neatly into one position.
Hence the importance of using ethical dilemmas in education at all levels. Using realistic cases allows learners to immerse themselves in possible situations that raise legitimate questions.
The main advantage of using dilemmas in the classroom is that they offer the opportunity to debate issues without having to carry the weight of making a decision, as is the case with public bodies or boards of directors, for example. Everything stays in the classroom once the discussion is over.
A delicate exercise that can put off teachers. Often, they will either overestimate or underestimate disagreements between students. Many would then be tempted to use an approach where a certain moral golden rule is applied to questions. This can be done, but it omits the reflexive work of starting from the learners' instincts and leading them towards an exercise in understanding the other's opinion, finding either a consensus or at least points of agreement.
This can be done just as much in a discussion of everyday ethical issues, new technologies or scientific advances such as genetics or neuroscience. The teacher can then act as a mediator, controlling the exchanges so that they don't turn into a free-for-all. This means borrowing a method like that of the Ethics Institute when faced with problems where both points of view seem to be right.
It may therefore be interesting to present a situation and see how each individual or small group reacts to it. They can answer various questions posed by the teacher on the problem, its solutions, the opposing camp's thinking, etc. The idea is to get them to think about different aspects of a context, and to confront opposing points of view.
It's becoming less and less difficult for teachers to set up this type of exercise. Digital resources make it easy to show learners diverse perspectives, develop tools for analysis and critical thinking, and share one's point of view with others. For example, a history teacher today would be able to organize a brainstorming exercise between republicans and royalists during the French Revolution and its aftermath. What were their arguments at the time? Do they hold up today? What influences our sympathy for one side or the other?
Nevertheless, some teachers may be bored and unsure of which dilemmas to take on. For them, there are a number of theme banks available online. This site (in English) offers questions surrounding prima facie contradictory values such as individuality and community, justice and mercy, truth and loyalty, and so on.
This other English-languagesite features everyday situations to ponder, such as parents' monitoring of their teenagers' social networks, medical care in the face of religious beliefs, or questions about the use of the Internet and social networks, such as illegal downloading, uploading of images, etc.
On the French-speaking side, the Belgian"Enseigner l'éthique" site provides a number of ethical questions for discussion, with a few additional external references for inspiration. This document proposes a number of dilemmas in areas of higher education such as anthropology, social psychology, artificial intelligence and computer programming. All with references and additional questions to spice up the basic discussion. Finally, for teacher training students, reflections on their role as teachers with topics such as educational differentiation, abuse, assessments, etc.
Image: hofred / DepositPhotos
References:
"16 real-life examples of ethical dilemmas." UpJourney. Last updated: December 6, 2023. https://upjourney.com/real-life-examples-of-ethical-dilemmas.
"Ethical Case Bank." Teaching Ethics. Accessed February 16, 2024. https://www.enseignerlethique.be/content/banque-de-cas-%C3%A9thiques.
"Ethical dilemmas (first grade teaching level) - Teaching professional ethics." LeWebPédagogique. Last updated October 7, 2021. https://lewebpedagogique.com/ethique/2021/10/07/dilemmes-ethiques/.
Drew, Chris. "28 ethical dilemma examples (2023)." Helpful Professor. Last updated September 3, 2023. https://helpfulprofessor.com/ethical-dilemma-examples/.
Hennah, Naomi. "Help your students understand ethics in science." RSC Education. Last updated February 8, 2023. https://edu.rsc.org/ideas/help-your-students-understand-ethics-in-science/4016830.article.
Lee, Laura. "The benefits of teaching ethical dilemmas." Edutopia. Last updated July 18, 2019. https://www.edutopia.org/article/benefits-teaching-ethical-dilemmas/.
Pimple, Kenneth D. "Using case studies in teaching research ethics." Online Ethics. Last updated 2007. https://onlineethics.org/cases/ken-pimple-collection/using-case-studies-teaching-research-ethics.
Van der Vorst, Rens. "How to teach students about ethical issues behind new technologies." University World News. Last updated February 24, 2023. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20230221143153224.
Wangaard, David B. "Using ethical dilemmas in the classroom." Character.org. Last updated October 6, 2023. https://character.org/ethical-dilemmas/.
"What are the best methods and tools for fostering moral education and critical thinking in students?" LinkedIn. Last updated April 18, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/advice/1/what-best-methods-tools-fostering-moral-education-critical.
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