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This study draws on a research project where a model of fiction- based ethics education was developed and put into practice during a school year in five classes in compulsory school, two in grade 5 and three in grade 8. A test was constructed with the purpose of evaluating a multi-dimensional ethical competence. The test was given at the beginning and the end of the school year to the students in the five classes, but also to students in five other classes who received the ordinary form of ethics education. The test was constructed by using tasks from earlier Swedish national tests on ethics education, but in this study new assessment instructions were developed. According to this test, almost no significant differences were found between the classes with fiction-based ethics education and the other classes. However, this contrasts with the fruitfulness of the fiction-based model, as identified through other forms of evaluation. The findings raise questions about whether and how ethics education can be meaningfully tested, which in this article is self-critically reflected on. A concluding discussion on target competence, teaching intervention and ways of evaluation – in relation to each other – ends the article., “Refining the Ethical Eye and Ethical Voice – The Possibilities and Challenges of a Fiction-based Approach to Ethics Education

I kapitlet presenteras etiska teorier som varit i bruk under 1900-talet samt teorier som senare växt fram. Utifrån tre samtida utmaningar: natrionalism, klimatförändringar och religiös mångfald exemplifierar jag hur olika teoretiska perspektiv kan anläggas på diskussioner om dem. Extra utrymme ges åt frågor som rör skönlitteratur och etik - sett utifrån etikundervisningens perspektiv och insatt i bokens sammanhang som helhet. Kapitlet är uttryck för en strävan att kortfattat ge översikt och introduktion till etisk teori användbart för dem som vill arbeta, eller redan gör så, i förskola och skola., In the chapter ethical theories in use during the 20th century including more recent developments are introduced. Thereafter, in relation to three ethical challenges of today: nationalism, climate change and religious plurality, various ethical perspectives are given as examples of ways to discuss these challenges. Didactical questions related to ethics education and fiction reading have an extra space in the chapter - given the focus of the book as a whole. The chapter is an effort to give an overview and an introduction to ethical theory for those planning to work in preschool or school, as well as for those already working there. The chapter is written in Swedish.

Based on an analysis of Swedish students’ group discussions while taking part in a fiction-based ethics education, this article presents conditions for the development of a multidimensional ethical competence. Four crucial conditions in students’ group discussions are identified: focus on the task, interest in each other’s contributions, knowledge about the object of the ethical analysis and its context, and explorations of the complexity of the human being. The results show that the fiction stories, and the students who act as more capable others, support the development by modelling in different ways; both procedural and substantial knowledge in ethics are required., “Refining the Ethical Eye and Ethical Voice – The Possibilities and Challenges of a Fiction-based Approach to Ethics Education (EthiCo II)

Vad funderar unga på? Krig, fred, klimat, kärlek, eller vänner? Vilka frågor är viktiga för dem? Och, hur kan deras frågor ges plats i skolan? Begreppet livsfråga introducerades 1969 genom grundskolans läroplan, Lgr 69. Det markerade ett intresse för de frågor barn och tonåringar kunde tänkas ställa och skapade en plats för frågorna i skolans nya religionskunskapsämne som lanserades i och med läroplanen från 1962. För att få en god bild av vilka frågor som var centrala att uppmärksamma och ta sin utgångspunkt i blev forskning kring barns och ungas livsfrågor efterfrågad under 1970 talet och har fortsatt att vara det. Begreppet livsfrågor har som ämnesinnehåll följt religionskunskapsämnet genom de fyra revideringar av grundskolans läroplaner som skett efter Lgr 69, i Lgr 80, Lpo 94, Lgr 11 och i Lgr 22. Frågor inför livet och tillvaron kan tydas och besvaras på skilda sätt, något som kommer till uttryck i de olika tros-och livsåskådningar som uppmärksammas i religionskunskapsämnet. Livsfrågor ges också plats i andra skolämnen och sammanhang. Bokkapitlet ger överblick över kursplaneutvecklingen, pekar på vilka frågor som är viktiga för barn och unga, exemplifierar teoretiska möjliga perspektiv och ger didaktiska impulser., What do young people ponder about? War, peace, climate, love or friends? What questions are important to them? And, how can space open up for such questions in school? The concept 'livsfråga' [existential question] was introduced in 1969 in the Swedish national curriculum for compulsory school, Lgr 69. The insertion of the concept indicated an interest in the questions children and teenagers could be thinking of and posing. To identify which questions that were of importance to raise in school, research about the existential questions of children and young people was initiated in Sweden during the 1970s and has since continued. As a curricular concept 'livsfråga' has followed through the four curricular revisions following since 1969. It is particularly treated in the school subject Religion Education but has also had a place in other school subjects. The book chapter gives an overview over the curricular development, indicates questions of importance for children and young people, exemplifies theoretical perspectives and gives didactical impuleses.

This chapter discusses the recognition of children as citizens in education for sustainability in an early childhood education context. A crucial question is, how can the space for children’s self-empowerment be expanded and their concerns become part of their education? As climate change is one of the current challenges to humanity, the presence of sustainability perspectives in education becomes most urgent – and the voices of children are needed to be included as they are the citizens of the world. Education for sustainability opens the way for emphasis on children’s democratic rights, specifically their right to influence their education, their daily lives, and their preschool activities. To facilitate the development of practices where children’s self-empowerment is recognized, the authors review the Swedish curriculum for preschool Lpfö 2018 and current international research on educating for sustainability in early childhood. The concept “empowered inclusion” guides the analysis. Empowered inclusion signifies the process whereby children’s self-empowerment needs the recognition of others, which may be viewed as a challenge to curricula and teachers. The related concept, “deep interdependency,” points to how human beings are globally linked with both one another and Earth., Barn, hållbarhet och hopp

Today, climate change is of concern to children and youth because it affects their future, that of the coming generations and also life on our planet itself. We address this matter firstly by looking for opportunities to practice and develop ethical competence, next by highlighting problems in ethics education and, finally, by pointing to a possible way forward., English Edition, October 2022, Barn, hållbarhet och hopp, EthiCo I and II

In this article we draw conclusions from a research project in which a unique model for a fiction-based approach to ethics education was developed and used in three Swedish schools. Nine lessons were carried out during the 2019-2020 school year in five school classes: two in Grade 5 and three in Grade 8. Participating teachers worked with the researchers before and during the project to reflect on and develop the model. Moreover, five classes and teachers with their ordinary ethics education were engaged in the project. Theoretically, the project draws on the works of Martha C. Nussbaum in its choice to employ fiction reading in ethics education, and has a foundation in a sociocultural theory on moral development elaborated by Mark B. Tappan. The article’s aim is to critically reflect on the results and design of the project in relation to the theoretical underpinnings, with the purpose of offering reflections on ethics education for further development in both research and educational practice., I den här artikeln drar vi slutsaster från ett forskningsprojekt där en unik modell för en skönlittearatur-baserad etikundervisning utvecklades och användes i tre svenska skolor. Nio lektioner genomfördes under läsåret 2019-2020 i fem skolklasser, med två klasser från årskurs 5 och tre från årskurs 8. De medverkande lärarna arbetade tillsammans med forskarna före, under och efter projektet med reflektion över och utveckling av modellen. Fem ytterligare skolklasser och deras lärare med sin reguljära undervisning var engagerade i projektet. Teoretiskt bygger projektet på Martha C. Nussbaums arbeten för valet att andvända skönlitteratur i etikundervisning, och har sin bas i den form av socio-kulturell teori för moralutveckling som utvecklats av Mark B. Tappan. Artikelns syfte är att kritiskt reflektera över projektets resultat och design i förhållande till de teoretiska ansatserna, för att bidra med reflektion för fortsatt utveckling av forskning och undervisningspraktik när det gäller etikundervisning., EthiCo II project

I bokkapitlet tas mänskliga rättigheter (MR) upp som ett undervisningsområde där somliga rättighetsfrågor lätt kan komma att osynliggöras i ett klassrum. En bakgrund ges i framväxten av MR-konventioner inom FN:s sammanhang och tillika sker en genomgång av hur MR-frågorna förankras i svenska läro- och kursplaner. Diskussionen vidgas bland annat med perspektiv från etiker som aktualiserar frågor om barns, kvinnors och migranters rättigheter. Frågorna om att somliga elever inte delar skolans och samhällets värdegrund ifråga om alla människors rättigheter och lika värde tas också upp. Tillika omnämns frågor om naturens rättigheter som aktualiseras idag. Boken vänder sig främst till lärare på grundskolans högstadium och gymnasiet men kan med fördel läsas också av andra lärare, studenter och en intresserad allmänhet., In this book chapter human rights are brought up as an area of teaching where certain human rights issues might easily be silenced in a classroom. A background is provided to the development of human rights conventions within the UN-framework, as well as an overview over Swedish curricula and how human rights issues accordingly are to be treated in the Swedish school. Through perspectives from ethicists questions are actualized that focus on the rights of for example children, migrants and women. The matter that some students do not share the basic values of the Swedish school and society of the equal rights and value of all human beings is also addressed. Questions of the rights of nature that today are brought up are also mentioned. The book primarily addresses teachers in secondary school, grades 7-9 and 10-12, but can due to the principled issues also be of relevance to other teachers as well as the general public., Barn, hållbarhet och hopp

I detta bokkapitel är ambitionen tvådelad – dels vill vi beskriva en skolutvecklingsmodell för samverkan mellan lärare och forskare och dels vill vi beskriva den undervisningsmodell i etik som lärare och forskare tillsammans utvecklat inom ramen för skolutvecklingsmodellen. Vårt sätt att arbeta i forskningsprojektet EthiCo II Att skärpa den etiska blicken och rösten. En skönlitteraturbaseradetikundervisnings möjlighet och svårigheter, ser vi här som en modell för skolutveckling., In this book chapter the ambition is twofold a) we want to describe a model for school development elaborated by teachers and researchers, and b) we want to describe the teaching model for ethics education that these teachers and researchers have developed together. Our way of working in the research project EthiCo II Refiing the ethical eye and ethical voice. The possibilities and challenges of a fiction-based approach to ethics, we here regard as a model for school development.

The matters of climate change are presently of concern existentially and ethically to the children and the youth. Worldwide school strikes in 2018–2019 and the Fridays for Future movement demonstrate how the young citizens assume socio-political responsibility. However, what possibilities do children and young people actually have to influence global discourse? Are adequate thought structures in place for them to be taken seriously in matters of concern to them? Given that children and youth engage with the issues of climate change, with a concern for their own future and that of our planet, the aim of this article was to take a child-centred ethical perspective and to theoretically explore conditions for intentional inclusion of children and their ethical concerns. In such a critical exploration, aspects of identity politics and intersectionality are reviewed. Empirical results from an interview study with children aged between 10 to 12 years are presented demonstrating that climate changes are of existential and ethical importance to them. Thereafter, a ‘childist’ perspective is introduced and discussed.The interviews were carried out during 2019 in eight schools in South Africa and Sweden. The children were individually interviewed with a method allowing for open responses. The schools in both countries were located in areas where a lack of water had been experienced. In this article, a theoretical framework is developed based on the ethical recognition of a commonly shared human responsibility and using the concept of ‘empowered inclusion’. It recognises children in their own right and identifies vulnerability and interdependence as being foundational to human existence. Contribution: In present times, as the concern for their own future, that of future generations and that of the planet is becoming an integral part of the identities of children and youth, both existentially and ethically, this article brings to this special issue a discussion of conditions for, Children, sustainability and hope

'What may be learned in the subject of ethics in a compulsory school?' is a crucial question to pose. This chapter reports on a study of curricula (the national, regional, or provincial governing documents for school as issued by ministries of education or their equivalents) from five different contexts, namely Sweden, Namibia, South Africa, California State, USA and the Province of Quebec, Canada. At the centre of the content analysis undertaken in this study is the ethical competence that is expressed in these curricular texts. The study demonstrates variations between the five contexts studied in regard to how ethics education is placed in the curriculum, how it relates to religious and values education and what kind of ethical competence is emphasized. Thus, it demonstrates different responses to the question of what may be learned in a school subject of ethics., "Vad kan en lära sig i ett skolämne som etik i en obligatorisk grundskola?" är en väsentlig fråga att ställa. Detta kapitel rapporterar från en studie av läroplaner från fem olika kontexter, nämligen Sverige, Namibia, Sydafrika, delstaten Kalifornien och provinsen Quebec. I centrum för den innehållsanalys som genomförts är den etiska kompetens som kommer till uttryck i kursplanetexterna. Studien redovisar variationer mellan de fem kontexterna ifråga om hur etikundervisning placeras in i läroplaner, hur den förhåller sig till religionsundervisning och värdefostran och vilken etisk kompetens som betonas. Sålunda demonstreras olika svar på frågan om vad en kan lära sig i etik?, EthiCo I; What may be learnt in ethics? Varieties of conceptions of ethical competence to be taught in compulsory school.

I kapitlet presenteras huvuddragen i filosofen John Walls syn på hur barn och frågor om barns rättigheter skulle kunna förvandla etisk teori på ett grundläggande sätt. Detta utifrån hans bok (2010) Ethics in Light of Childhood., In this chapter the central argument by philosopher John Wall in favour of putting children centre stage in ethical theory is introduced based on Wall (2010), Ethics in Light of Childhood. Wall refers to this as 'childism'., Barn, hållbarhet och hopp

What role can education actually play in preparing children and youth for the future? And, in relation to such a question, how can RE as a school subject contribute with its teaching and learning about religions and worldviews and through studies of ethics? In this chapter we address these questions from the special point of view of ethics education, understood as an integral part of an RE subject. We address future ethics education through the identification of three contemporary challenges. Additionally, findings from empirical studies carried out in the EthiCo project are analysed through the two concepts substantive and procedural knowledge. An ethical competence, we conclude, presupposes both procedural and substantive knowledge. This as an ethical analysis lacking substantive knowledge can never be strong and trustworthy. And, an ethics education for today and tomorrow must be multidimensional and address the central societal challenges of today without neglecting the call from everyday life relations and interdependence. We conclude by noting that on a general level education, RE included, is an enlightenment project, challenging ignorance, superstition and a sudden escape to alternative facts., EthiCo 1

What children learn through their ethics and values education in school is of crucial societal relevance and is directed by school curricula. As curricula vary between countries, an international comparison is of interest. The aim of this study was to compare curricula to reveal variations in how matters of social justice were described in curricular texts, with a special focus on class, gender and race. Curricula from five different contexts were compared: Namibia; South Africa; California State, United states of America; Province of Québec, Canada; and Sweden. This provided the study, originating in Sweden, with crucial comparative material from outside Europe. The studied curricula were systematically searched for the importance and significance of the terms 'poverty/ poor', 'gender', 'equity', 'equality', 'justice', 'race', 'racism', 'human dignity/rights', 'equal value' and Ubuntu. Methodologically, this represented a qualitative content analysis approach with a research interest in intersectionality, that is, in how matters of class, gender and race intersect. The study showed considerable variation between the curricular formulations from the five contexts. For example, texts from California and Québec emphasised equality as a general matter and less as one of intersectionality, compared to Namibia and South Africa as well as Sweden. In general, human rights were emphasised, but human dignity less so. For future curricular development towards education as a global common good, matters of social justice, including sustainability, need critical monitoring. The aspects of intersectionality such as class, gender and race are thus crucial, as is the inclusion of an integrated, participatory view on students’ ethical competence., What may be learnt in ethics? Varieties of conceptions of ethical competence to be taught in compulsory school