Is it right or wrong?

Ethics in the classroom

By John Hellner

In January, the news services carried a story about governments taking steps to outline ethical
boundaries for robots. Governments know a time is coming when devices with artificial intelligence
will make humans obsolete, labelling that point the singularity. The machines will replace us in the
workforce, causing unforeseeable economic, social and political upheaval.

A classroom discussion might explore how we should programme our robots to respond in life and
death situations. Will the programming be based on ethical considerations? Or, more practical
considerations? What should humans do? What ethical boundaries, if any, should we impose on the
development of artificial intelligence? Who should set those boundaries? What is the fundamental
basis of your ethical beliefs? Do we need to rethink the basis of our ethical decision making?

Right now: what about driverless cars? If a crash is unavoidable, should a driverless car decide who it
slams into? The conundrum grows more complicated: in the final moment before the collision,
should the vehicle target a small car, rather than a big one, in the hope of protecting its owner? Or
should it do the reverse, at the expense of reducing the owners chances of survival? And what if its
a choice between driving into a busy school crossing, or hammering into a cement wall? Does the
robot choose carnage or the life of its owner?

An ethical imperative?

Across the globe, we live in a world with many complications and a scarcity of ethical models. The
pace of change and innovation, especially in science and technology seems relentless and
bewildering. Instead of going hand in hand with ethical considerations, scientists working in the
fields of nanotechnology, intelligent design, genetic engineering and cyborg engineering operate
largely outside of an ethical construct.

Oftentimes, our cultures fail to provide good models for ethical behaviour: athletes beef themselves
up on steroids; politicians outlandishly lie; multinationals and governments minimize environmental
and social borders; bankers and financiers trade off fairness and integrity for profits and bonuses.
Our time has been called the post truth age.

Unregulated, these forces may become calamitous. Beginning with our children, we may face an
ethical imperative to ask ourselves important and responsible questions about the way we live and
think in the world we have, based on firm moral and ethical frameworks. This could begin in your
classroom if you wish it to happen.

Ethical debate and discussion

Ethical discussion and debate gives students the opportunity to explore and evaluate alternative
opinions and compare them to their own. This can promote critical thinking, essential to any
decision-making process. Debate and discussion lay a pathway for students to intellectually engage
in considering ethical boundaries about central life questions. Sharing ideas and opinions can build
students confidence and a sense that the problems of our world matter and their beliefs mean
something.

When and how?

Almost daily, either in our subject material, in our school community, in national or world events and
advances, we encounter behaviours and decisions resulting in potential pain, suffering, fear,
sadness, humiliation. We also regularly encounter Issues of honesty, compassion, responsibility,
fairness, respect, making things better. Any of these can provide a forum for allowing students to
share opinions about what is right or wrong. For how long, if at all, remains up to the teacher.

Every subject taught can be enriched by an awareness and maybe an exploration of ethical
dimensions. Any character, any theme, even vocabulary in a reading or history lesson acquire new
meaning when placed in an ethical spotlight. Science and geography open countless doors regarding
the ethics of technology, food production, medicine, poverty, refugees and more. Art and music also
offer themes, artist, images and events inviting ethical evaluation: what constitutes art? Censorship
or not? Purposes of art?

On the surface, Maths may be less open to ethical analysis, but comments about mathematical
certainty, questionable claims for the uses of algorithms, the Fibonacci sequence and the structure
of our natural world, the uses of statistics, the Golden Ratio and beauty.

Ethical probes
Using a case study style approach to any topic, we can ask students to share their views with
questions like:

What ethical issue do you see in this situation?

Do all of you view this as an ethical matter?
What ethical judgements do you hold on this issue?
What is the basis of why you think the way you do? What are your decisions about right and
wrong based on? Where does your thinking originate from?
Do other people hold different views? Why might that be the case? How could they justify
their viewpoint?
Does the ethical view change over time? From culture to culture? For different ages?
Genders?

Morality is fun to debate

If you have the freedom and you wish to make ethical dilemmas a regular part of your teaching
programme, the internet offers a treasure trove of ethical dilemmas or moral dilemmas scripted
for students of all ages and all degrees of grittiness. Try this for a taster:

You are an eyewitness to a crime: A man has robbed a bank, but instead of keeping the
money for himself, he donates it to a poor orphanage that can now afford to feed, clothe,
and care for its children. You know who committed the crime. If you go to the authorities
with the information, theres a good chance the money will be returned to the bank, leaving
a lot of kids in need. What do you do? (Source: Listverse)

With a bit of thought, most of the inherent issues in hypothetical dilemmas readily translate to daily
occurrences.

Ethics on a day to day basis

The real fundamentals of ethics begin with how we manage our classroom. When notions of respect,
goodness, inclusion, truth, sense of self, fairness, compassion are the supporting beams of your
classroom management, you teach ethics by modelling. Most all teachers I have ever worked with
do that already.
And now I advocate a more focussed attention to ethics. It seems many articles (including mine)
often suggest teachers do more and more, and do it all better, without any time, training or money
being offered. I hope the incorporation of ethical considerations into the classroom enriches your
practice in an easy and natural way, further making way for stimulating and unique thoughts and
ideas we teachers so enjoy sharing.

This article will appear in Good Teacher magazine in Term 3 of 2017