High School Ethics 101 - Grades 9-12
Intermediate Level
Proficient: Ages 14-16 (grades 10-11)
Each class at the intermediate level is 34 weeks long and meets once a week. Each class meets for an hour.
Given the diversity of what is defined as just or unjust in a society, teaching ethics to high school students is often based on how to determine if situations violate ethical standards and what to do when a violation occurs, rather than swaying student opinions as to what is right or wrong. Students develop many skills as a result of studying ethics at this level, including debate, role-playing activities, and reasoning exercises. These classes will promote critical thought, which is beneficial to practice before making any decision.
At this stage, our focus will be on engaging students with issues in society: sustainability, systems thinking, population, refugees, ecological footprints, food security, water resources, climate change, biodiversity, renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, quality of life indicators, etc. Each semester will begin with a foundational “What is ethics?” course, and during that course, students will engage in a democratic process to co-design the rest of their course topics. In engaging with the issues that are most important to them, these classes will broaden student worldviews, question the status quo, and practice ethical decision-making.
Minimum students: 4