Talking about Teaching The Curriculum Project Ethics

1. Talking about Teaching The Curriculum Project Ethics Professor Chris Megone Professor of Inter-Disciplinary Applied Ethics Director, Inter-Disciplinary Applied Ethics CETL National Teaching Fellow University of Leeds

2. A little about the IDEA CETL Our mission is to become a world-class centre for inter-disciplinary ethics learning teaching & research

3. Working in Partnership We are working to equip students with the intellectual skills to identify, analyse and respond effectively (includes justification) to ethical issues as they arise in their discipline, and in their personal and professional lives.

4. Working in partnership 2 • Existing partnerships within Leeds: • Faculty of Engineering – all Schools • Medicine • Dentistry • LUBS – all Schools • Faculty of Earth and Environment – all Schools • Media (ICS) • Nanotechnology/Chemistry • Extensive external partnerships with professional bodies etc.

5. What is Ethics 1 • Not always a common understanding of what ethics is – how it relates to values, morality. • Ethics and Moral Philosophy interchangeable • Socrates’ Question: • ‘What kind of life should one live? -- not an unimportant question’ • How should we live together? • How do the virtues -- courage, justice, truthfulness, self-control, friendliness etc. --- fit into the life worth living?

6. What is Ethics 2 • Key concepts in professional ethics might include: • Trust • Consent • Privacy and Confidentiality • Integrity • Accuracy and Rigour • Best Interests • The Public Interest • Responsibility • Justice, Impartiality • Honesty, Truthfulness • A number of these concepts will of course be relevant to research ethics and academic integrity.

7. Ethics in the Curriculum: our approach • What should be the aim of ethics thread in the curriculum? • Not producing philosophers, but developing the capacity to reason about ethical issues (identify, analyse and respond effectively …) • Not about ethical theories – largely avoid (explicit) reference to ethical theories

8. Ethics in the Curriculum: our approach • Genuine Inter-Disciplinarity • Thorough Integration • Ethics Theme Teams

9. Ethics in the Curriculum: some challenges 1 • Ethics is not relevant to my discipline, my topic area • This often depends on pre-conceptions/mis-conceptions about what ethics is • There is no room in the curriculum/module/timetable • This depends what the introduction of ethics is supposed to require • Not necessarily a matter of taking any topic out – may simply be a matter of rejigging the way a topic is taught • Making more explicit ethical content that may be implicit

10. Ethics in the Curriculum: some challenges 2 • For students: • In ethics there are not always easily agreed answers, not answers that one can find in the textbooks • Students used to algorithms or clear frameworks seek these but this may not be appropriate in ethics • There may be truth in ethics but it is less precise than in maths, say • Ethics appears abstract • Need to ground ethics teaching in the discipline – use of carefully constructed case studies – host discipline and IDEA CETL working together • Practising professionals can also play a useful role in delivery

11. Ethics in the Curriculum: some challenges 3 • For students: • For students used to quite narrow problem solving the invitation to bigger picture is challenging • Teaching styles need to be adapted • Students who find arguing over emotionally challenging issues difficult • Need to develop a safe environment with clarity about the ground rules

12. Ethics and other threads • Globalisation • Corruption example – corruption will be an important ethical issue for those individuals and organisations working internationally/globally – but what exactly is corruption? How do you negotiate different cultural practices with integrity and respect? • Entreprise and Employability • LUBS case study – the ethical issues that arise in making job applications, or internship applications.

13. Ethics: transferrable skills • Key transferrable skills • Writing skills – perhaps writing reports not essays (adapted to the relevant kind of activity in the discipline area) • Oral expression skills – ideally teaching will involve seminar discussion – developing skills in setting forth a coherent argument or line of reasoning

14. Ethics: enablers • Ethics Theme/Thread Teams have been key enablers. • Students have been a key enabler within the ethics theme team: • As champions to peers for the value of the thread; • Identifying areas where they would like ethics made more explicit • The IDEA CETL has a wealth of experience and resources, in particular case studies and other teaching materials

15. Next Steps • We are keen to work with colleagues across the University. Please get in touch for an initial discussion over tea/coffee or perhaps over a lunch period. • Contacts: • Chris Megone (Director IDEA CETL • Rob Lawlor (DoSE, IDEA CETL) • Sarah Gelcich (Deputy Manager, IDEA CETL

16. Professor Chris Megone +44 113 343 3278/7888c.b.megone@leeds.ac.uk