Degree of Bachelor in education, social sciences or the humanities, and the equivalent of Swedish secondary school English 6

alternatively

A professional qualification specialising in teaching that comprises 180 credits, of which 15 credits from an independent project, and the equivalent of Swedish secondary school English 6

No main field

The purpose of this course is for the student to develop a broad understanding of different central ethical theories and traditions. In addition, the purpose of the course is for the student to develop their ability to critically reflect on the ethical dimensions of education as well as on pedagogical dilemmas.

The course introduces central ethical traditions such as ethics of care, virtue ethics, utilitarianism and deontology. The course also encompasses opposing ideas on the relation between education and conceptions of human flourishing and the good life. In addition, epistemological and methodological approaches are discussed in relation to pedagogical dilemmas.

Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to

1. Explain and critically scrutinize different central ethical theories.
2. Analyze ethical dilemmas in educational processes using differing ethical theories.
3. Analyze discussions of human flourishing and the good life in historical and contemporary educational theory.
4. Identify and formulate an ethical and pedagogical problem as well as reason about differences between different methodological and theoretical approaches.

The course is based on regular lectures, seminars and joint study. There will be opportunities for feedback between the students throughout the course.

A Written examination will examine all learning outcomes.
The course coordinator will provide information about grading criteria at the start of the course.
It must be possible to distinguish between individual performances for all assessments.

Aristotle (2020). The Nichomachean Ethics. London: Penguin Classics (469 p)

Blum, Lawrence, A. (1994)Moral Perception and Particularity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (288 p)

Bridges, David & Smith, Richard (2007). Philosophy, Methodology and Educational Research. Malden, MA: Wiley (372 p)

De Beauvoir, Simone (2018)  The Ethics of ambiguity . New York, NY: Open road (173 p)

Kant, Immanuel (2019). Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. Oxford: Oxford University Press (144 p)

Macintyre, Alasdair (2007). After Virtue. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press (306 p)

Mackie, John Leslie (1990). Ethics. Inventing Right and Wrong. London: Penguin (256 p)

Mill, John Stuart (2015). On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Other Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press (608 p)

Murdoch, Iris (2001). The Sovereignty of Good. London. Routledge. (112 p)

Noddings, Nel (2013). Caring: A Relational Approach to Ethics and Moral Education. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (256 p)

Weil, Simone (2005). An Anthology. London: Penguin Classics (320 p)

Plus a selection of academic papers (approx. 100p)

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.