A short description of how ethics is taught in every participating region.
In Bavaria, ethics is taught two lessons a week in all grades (1-13). For those pupils who refuse to attend religious instruction for conscientious reasons, ethics is a compulsory subject. About a third of pupils in Bavaria actually attend ethics. The legal framework for the subject is expressed in article 47(2) of BayEUG:
“The subject ethics serves for educating the pupils to judge and act in a value-oriented way. Its contents are oriented at the core values that are expressed in the German Basic Law and the Bavarian constitution. For the areas that are not determined by these core values it respects the plurality of confessions and worldviews.”
So the subject ethics in Bavaria has an educational mandate to foster core values. It is competence-oriented (the competence to “judge and act in a value-oriented way”) and action-oriented, which means that the teacher hasn‘t completed his task when the students come to moral judgments, because the ultimate objective is moral action.
In 1992, the religious education curriculum was introduced in Croatia. In 1996, the ethics curriculum was introduced as an alternative to religious education. By 2003, the ethical plan and program in Croatian high schools (14-18 years of age) was based on ethics history, so-called ethics, philosophical ethics and the history of religions. A new program was introduced in the same year:
"The program is designed to stimulate thinking, active participation and the use of previous knowledge and to formulate views on key issues of the program. Not to prefer a particular worldview or philosophical direction is to ensure respect for multiculturalism and philosophical openness to dialogue." (PNPE, 2003, 18)
Around 4000 students per year choose ethics. They have one hour per week in all 4 grades of high school (35 school hours per year). At the end of the 4th grade students can choose ethics as an elective subject for the final state exam.
In The Netherlands, ethics is part of the philosophy curriculum. Philosophy is taught at the pre-university level (VWO) and at the pre-higher vocational level (HAVO). In 2018, the number of schools offering philosophy as an exam subject has stabilized at 60 HAVO schools and 160 VWO schools (10% and 25% of the total number of schools nationally).
Like other school subjects in the Netherlands, philosophy in the upper grades of HAVO and VWO has a program which includes both internal and external assessment. The HAVO curriculum differs from the VWO curriculum. The first program is focused on students with a more practical mindset and preparing for higher vocational education, while the second is focused on students who will continue their education at university. The HAVO curriculum is therefore more practical and focuses on humanities. It consists of three main domains: philosophical anthropology, ethics and social philosophy. The VWO curriculum is more academic and has four main domains: philosophical anthropology, ethics, theory of knowledge and philosophy of science.
There are two courses in North Rhine-Westphalia that deal with ethical education: Practical Philosophy and Philosophy. Practical Philosophy is taught in grades 5-10 and is specifically oriented towards the teaching of ethics. Philosophy comprises practical philosophy and theoretical philosophy and is held in grades 11 and 12.
The main objectives for the subject Practical Philosophy are described in the core curriculum as follows (translation by Roew): “The subject promotes the development of the entire personality to social responsibility, to the development of a democratic society, to the orientation at basic values, to the participation in the shaping of our culture as well as to responsible activity in the world of work”. [...] “The central concern of the subject is to contribute to the development of competences in pupils which enable them to perceive reality in a differentiated way and to deal systematically with questions of meaning and values, to apply them in the search for answers to the question of the meaning of human existence and to live self-determined, responsible and tolerant lives in a democratic society. The students develop the ability to empathize and achieve a sense of value and self-confidence that is the foundation for responsible action. In the lessons, criteria for the evaluation of different ideas, values and norms are to be developed as well as one's own ability to reflect and judge.” [...]
In Slovakia ethics is part of two subjects, namely (1) ethical education and (2) civics.
Ethical education is compulsory for those students that do not attend religious education. The subject is attended during the first two years of high school by students between 15 and 17 years of age. Around 5000 students attend this subject per year. The subject is taught in one teaching hour per week (approximately 80 hours for the whole course). Ethical education is not graded, students just pass the subject without formal state examination.
Ethical education in Slovakia is based on the concept of prosociality. The most notable authors that formed the subject in the beginning of 1990s are Roberto Roche Olivar and Ladislav Lencz. Their texts are still influential today. As these authors were specialised mostly in psychology and pedagogy, the teaching materials of the subject are oriented not only on philosophical ethics but also on psychological and pedagogical aspects of ethical matters.
Ethics is taught in Slovenia within three different philosophy courses that are offered to secondary school students at the pre-university level.
1. A compulsory philosophy course in general grammar schools
This course consists of 70 lessons per school year (2 lessons per week) that students take in their 3rd or 4th grade of high school. 15 lessons of the course are dedicated to ethics. The age of the students ranges from 16 to 18 years old. Approximately 7000 students take this class each year. All the students are internally assessed through oral tests, written exams and essay writing.