We offer a thought-provoking ethics education program that empowers students to think deeply and make well-reasoned ethical decisions about the small and large issues they face in everyday life.
Our ThinkReasonDiscuss program, growing out of the Primary Ethics experience, offers the space for children in primary and secondary school to explore everyday ethical issues pitched at their age level. We offer curriculum, lesson materials and methodology to encourage children to consider what they would do – and what they ought to do – in the situations presented in our stories and scenarios.
Ethics education supports children to develop skills that are essential in today’s complex, pressurised world, such as giving evidence-based reasons for their opinions, being able to civilly disagree with others and how to make better, well-considered, decisions.
We also offer training in our distinctive facilitation skills so that teachers can bring our curriculum into their schools.
What is ethical reasoning?
Ethical reasoning involves thoughtfully evaluating situations - simple or complex – which present moral dilemmas. It encompasses the ability to discern right from wrong, the courage to uphold our values and beliefs when faced with obstacles, as well as the capacity to approach discussions with an open mind and willingness to explain your own reasoning.
What is ethics education?
In ThinkReasonDiscuss workshops and lessons, students explore situations and issues from daily life pitched at their age group. Lessons are inquiry-based and impartially facilitated using our expert lesson materials. Students explore and share ideas on what they could or ought to do in the scenarios they are presented with.
What do we offer?
We offer a range of flexible options to cater to the needs of your school and teachers, ranging from facilitated workshops to full school partnership. Through subscriptions and our partnership program, we enable teachers and schools to implement our ethics education program through professional training and access to our ready-to-deliver lessons.
In time, not very much time at all, it will be the decisions of the children we teach today that will shape the world.
Who is this for?
Our ethics education program is for primary and high school students aged five to 15. We cater for students from every type of school and for students with diverse learning needs. We also provide professional development training for teachers.
What do students gain?
Our program equips students from kindergarten into high school with the capacity to have respectful discussion of the ethical dilemmas they face in everyday life, to make well-reasoned decisions and to identify evidence to support their decision-making. They gain invaluable skills in critical thinking, ethical reasoning and collaborative inquiry.
Why us?
Our parent organisation Primary Ethics has provided weekly ethics lessons to more than 200,000 students in over 500 schools since 2011. Our curriculum was designed by experts in philosophy and education and includes over 300 NSW Department-of-Education-approved lessons. Our experts have extensive experience in training teachers and designing lessons that guide students through complex discussions and promote critical thinking.
Student Outcomes
Our lessons support learning across the entire Australian Curriculum, blending ethical considerations with different subject areas. With a strong emphasis on speaking and listening skills, our content aids literacy development. It also promotes student wellbeing and leadership outcomes.
The ThinkReasonDiscuss program also supports schools in delivering key elements of the Australian Student Wellbeing Framework. A detailed alignment between our program and the ACARA curriculum and the wellbeing framework can be downloaded below.
Our curriculum supports:
- ethical understanding (eg. exploring ethical concepts, examining values, rights, responsibilities and ethical norms)
- critical and creative thinking (eg. inquiring, evaluating actions and outcomes, thinking about thinking)
- literacy (eg. listening and identifying key points, interacting confidently, speaking and crafting ideas)
- personal and social capability (eg. personal awareness, empathy, community awareness, collaboration)
- intercultural understanding (eg. reflecting on culture and cultural diversity, cultural empathy, navigating intercultural contexts).