Inquiring Minds Autumn 2024

Inquiring Minds

News from Primary Ethics

The ethics of AI

Lord Howe Island

Kangaroo Valley

A message from our CEO

Dear friends and supporters,

Welcome to the second edition of Inquiring Minds, keeping you in the loop about what we’re up to at Primary Ethics – and we’re always busy!

2023 finished on a high with the wonderful Kinghorn Award winner (see across the page) and now 2024 is off to a great start.

Inside, you’ll read the exciting news that ethics classes have commenced on Lord Howe Island – our most isolated program and a very successful one, with a third of the student body already enrolled in ethics. The small community of Kangaroo Valley also has a thriving ethics program – we hear from their thoughtful trio of volunteers.

Fundraising times are tough for charities right now given the current economic climate. We didn’t quite achieve the target we set for our end of year appeal. If you were still thinking about a donation to support the work of Primary Ethics, it would be very much appreciated (see our back cover).

Thank you for all you do to support ethics classes for our children. We’re very grateful for your continuing interest, volunteering efforts and support. Simply, we could not do it without you.

Thank you,

Evan Hannah Chief Executive Officer

Acknowledgment of country

Primary Ethics recognises the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which we work. We pay our respects to Aboriginal elders past and present and celebrate their ongoing connections to the lands and waters of Australia.

Primary Ethics is a Registered Charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), the national regulator of charities.

IN THE NEWS

Engage.Reflect.Connect

Following the 2023 success of our online workshop series Engage Reflect Connect, we’re offering weekly sessions in 2024. We’re running sessions on circle and name mastery, facilitation wizardry, proactive classroom management (always very popular) and many more. The one-hour Zooms are an opportunity for ethics teachers to reflect on their own practice and hear tips on improving lesson delivery. It’s also an excellent way for volunteers to connect and share with each other.

Hundreds of volunteers have now attended and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with 97% of participants telling us they gained skills they will directly apply to improve their ethics lessons.

Getting even better

In our quest for continuous improvement, we’ve recently focused on two areas: reducing the costs for volunteers of preparing lesson materials and better engaging with classes of 18 or more students. It’s harder when there are so many students for individuals to contribute and this can lead to behavioural challenges for teachers.

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve brought in a 25% reduction in printing requirements in 2024 and will continue to work to reduce the need to print pages. We’ve also introduced new teaching strategies designed to engage every student in lessons and are trialling those now in the Stage 3 curriculum, with a view to rolling them into every stage later this year.

By simplifying lesson preparation and enhancing classroom engagement, we’re making teaching more enjoyable. This, in turn, helps us retain valued volunteers who are essential to bringing our curriculum to life.

The Kinghorn Award 2023 goes to...

Congratulations to Barb La Ganza, our volunteer of the year, winner of the Kinghorn Award for 2023. Barb, who’s been an ethics volunteer for nine years, is currently an ethics teacher and coordinator at one Sydney northern beaches school, as well as teaching ethics at two others. At one school she teaches three back-to-back classes every week. Barb was presented with her award at a lovely gathering in December 2023.

Barb’s story: “My ethics journey started when my son was in year 1. He brought home a note on bright red paper to say that ethics was going to be offered and I was so excited I filled in the form, wrote ‘yay’ with a smiley face on it and sent it off. A few weeks later I found the form scrunched up at the bottom of his bag – it hadn’t made it to the channels that were allocating classes. I then somehow found out that if you teach for Primary Ethics, your kids will be included on the class roll. And so here I am nine years later!

What

her nominators said about Barb:

“Barb is a wonderful person and all-round excellent team player”.

“Barb is one of those volunteers who just gets it done”.

“Barb is a workhorse and superstar volunteer”.

“One of my most memorable experiences in the classroom was when a kid came every week and sat quietly and read a book. He was neurodiverse and I didn’t think he was engaged at all as he never looked up from the book or joined in. Until term three, when he answered a question. It was so heart-warming to know he had been present in his own way all along.

“The curriculum is incredible and I love connecting with the students and hearing their points of view. I am proud to be an ethics teacher and hope I can continue to be a volunteer and mentor to others. I look forward to continuing to be part of my three school teams even when I am old and grey (though I am actually both those already!)

“Thank you to Primary Ethics and the Kinghorn Family. I am so grateful to be recognised for this award. Whilst I am not one to be motivated by accolades and awards, it really touches me to be recognised as a volunteer of note and my certificate sits proudly in my home on display for all to see.”

Barb pictured with award judges Jill Kinghorn and Swee Goh, the inaugural winner.

In the curriculum: Getting to ethical grips with AI

Our lessons are an opportunity for students to engage in meaningful discussions of real-life issues. Over 100 carefully crafted topics cover a broad range of subjects that resonate deeply with children, including fairness, friendship, honesty and the ethical treatment of animals. These discussions are not just academic – they’re about equipping young minds with skills in critical thinking, ethical reasoning and respectful discussion that will help them navigate the complexities of the world they’re growing up into.

Practical ethics isn’t a static subject. Since our curriculum was first developed, we’ve seen some pretty significant changes in the sorts of technologies students engage with on a day-to-day basis. Technologies that bring with them a whole host of new (and sometimes old) ethical dilemmas.

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like chatbots, search engines and personalised recommendations become ever-present in students’ lives, it’s important for them to reflect on how they engage with such technologies. So we developed an exciting new topic on AI for Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6).

Some of the big questions students consider in this topic include: How is AI different from and similar to human intelligence? Is it okay to use artificial intelligence to help with schoolwork? To what extent can we trust AI and how do we know when not to trust it? Can we be friends with a chatbot? Is it bad to be cruel to artificial intelligence?

This new addition to our curriculum is not just about keeping pace with technological trends. It’s about preparing students for a future where they can confidently and ethically navigate the digital landscape. By fostering a deep, nuanced understanding of these issues, we’re helping shape a generation of informed, ethical digital citizens.

A team of computer scientists was researching how AI labels pictures. They played around with this picture to see if they could get the AI to label it incorrectly. When they asked it about this picture, what did you think the AI said it was?

Take several responses before revealing the answer The AI labeled this picture as ‘Guacamole’.

Technologies... bring with them a whole host of new (and sometimes old) ethical dilemmas.

Ethics arrives on Lord Howe Island

Our most isolated program - Lord Howe Island Central School (LHICS) - commenced its first ever ethics program in Term 4 2023. Lisa Ralph and Lucille Wilson, friends who are both school parents, trained as ethics teachers and kicked off the program. LHICS is a tiny school with just 41 students from Kindy to Year 6. In its first term, ethics enrolled a third of the student body! The island does not have mobile coverage, but it does now have an ethics program.

Lisa moved to Lord Howe 12 years ago and with her husband runs the Dive Lord Howe shop. Lu came to the island in 2021. Lisa and Lu were very enthusiastic about bringing ethics into their school as an alternative for the non-scripture students. In the past, students who opted out of scripture would sit in a separate room together doing colouring-in, hardly a ‘meaningful activity’.

A unique island

People living on the island find themselves in a unique environment. There are countless advantages to the tranquillity and beauty; there are also inherent challenges in the isolation. Note, though, the Primary Ethics remote online training model works really well!

Lu says that “offering Primary Ethics is an important part of ensuring our kids have access to the same educational experiences as students on the mainland. Having my own son in my class is really enjoyable, because I get to see

firsthand how he works with his peers and I really love being able to engage with the kids as a teacher, rather than just Leo’s mum.”

Lisa echoes Lu’s thoughts. “I’d also like to add that I thoroughly enjoy fostering critical thinking and watching the students’ intellectual growth as they respectfully explore the complexities of right and wrong. Having my eldest daughter in the class is both challenging and rewarding and I love witnessing her contribute to our conversations, both during our sessions and at home.”

Lu also thinks that “the popularity of ethics within the school is a great indication of the progressive nature of the next generation coming through on the island. Historically, we might have a conservative culture and our remote location means our kids are less exposed to city-based influences, but they know there’s a wide world out there and I think ethics will help them be ready to embrace it.”

Working with a small remote school

Initially in 2023, both the classes on Lord Howe were just under the eight mark, which is usually our minimum for a class. We worked with the volunteers and school to ensure that lesson materials matched the group needs. In 2024, the program and class sizes have grown, so that both now number over eight. It’s wonderful to have a program that’s growing on such a small island!

Lisa Ralph and Lucille Wilson at their pretty island school.

‘It’s a privilege’ –ethics volunteers in Kangaroo Valley

Every Thursday in term time, three trained volunteers teach ethics at Kangaroo Valley Public School, a small community school in the beautiful valley south of Sydney.

Michael Cox is entering his seventh year as an ethics volunteer. He started out teaching his grandchildren and stayed when they moved on because he wanted to keep contributing within his community and finds the course materials “excellent” and personally interesting.

“The course explores how we humans derive our sense of right and wrong and our principles such as honesty, fairness and equity, how we can live together in a way that facilitates human flourishing and wellbeing. We could do with a bit more of all that,” Michael says.

‘In these times where there is increasing blurring of what’s true and what’s not and lapses of ethical behaviour in some of our social institutions, I think children need to be equipped with the skills to reason out ethical dilemmas and to engage in respectful dialogue with others. And to develop the capacity to evaluate and make their own considered judgements about what they see, hear or read and to become proficient at spotting bias.”

Irene Dungey has also been volunteering for several years – in fact she taught ethics in Dapto and Port Kembla before moving to Kangaroo Valley.

“Initially, I was retired and searching for something to volunteer for in the community. When I heard about the ethics program, I was excited at the prospect of teaching something I believed in. I found my initial training excellent and we were given feedback that was very useful.

“When the fires went through the valley in 2020/21 our house was destroyed. By the time I was back on my feet I heard that ethics had started at our local school and here I am.”

Gai Halcrow also initially began teaching ethics outside of Kangaroo Valley.

“I first volunteered for Berry Primary School when my child was in preschool. Then when he started at our local small school here in Kangaroo Valley, I joined Michael and started teaching my son as part of the kindergarten class. We are now up to Grade 4.”

Each of these volunteers greatly enjoys teaching ethics.

Gai Halcrow, Michael Cox and Irene Dungey.

Foundation support for ethics classes grows

Primary Ethics was thrilled to become a Waratah Education Foundation-supported charity recently. Our ethics program very much aligns with the Foundation’s mission to support the advancement of education in Australia.

Support from Waratah Classroom will keep our classroom support officers assisting volunteer ethics teachers to maximise outcomes for students.

Our volunteers receive initial extensive training. However, when they reach the classroom, they can find that juggling these new skills is complex. Our new teacher check-in service from the classroom support team is an easy way to provide mentoring early on to build confidence and quickly resolve issues.

Continued from page 6

Says Michael, “I sometimes feel quite inspired by the ability of the children to address complex issues … when a child comes up with an insightful way of looking at a problem we’ve posed and others pick up on this and make a further contribution, even though there may be no clear black and white answer.

“I feel I’m making some humble contribution to the emerging generation of good citizens and community members. I would hope they feel that it has been of

Geraldine Campbell the CEO at Waratah had this to say…

“Waratah Education Foundation recognises the importance of teaching students skills in critical thinking about ethical dilemmas and skills for respectful discussion with peers. Waratah is pleased to support Primary Ethics, who do just that”.

If you have a family foundation or connections to any other foundation who would be interested in supporting the work of Primary Ethics, please reach out to our fundraising manager Georgie McGrillen: fundraising@primaryethics.org.au

“I sometimes feel quite inspired by the ability of the children to address complex issues…”

benefit to them in developing ways of figuring out what’s okay and why it is okay - or not. And we have a bit of fun.”

Irene echoes this. “The lessons constantly make me rethink some of the ideas I had about certain topics and hearing the children’s perspective is encouraging to me.

“I enjoy the interaction with the students. Giving them the space and time to think about the reasons for their decisions is, I believe, a big step towards them understanding and thinking more deeply about the question. Hearing what others think and say can guide their mind to thinking in another direction, other possibilities.”

Irene feels that being an ethics teacher is a privilege. “To have the opportunity to teach children ethics is a fulfilling and rewarding experience.”

Gai agrees. “It’s a privilege and it’s great to have our little valley school be able to support this program and to have our numbers grow to the point we can offer three classes this year.”

In fact there is demand for a fourth ethics class at Kangaroo Valley Public School in 2024 – this team of three would welcome another volunteer to teach it.

Support Primary Ethics into the future - leave a lasting legacy in your will

By remembering Primary Ethics in your will, you would be making a valuable commitment to support ethics education for children into the future. A bequest is one of the most enduring ways you can help Primary Ethics in our work. Your promise of future support is deeply appreciated.

For more information about leaving a bequest in your will, contact our Engagement Manager

Elizabeth Allen

T: (02) 8068 7752

E: elizabeth.allen@primaryethics.com.au

We will always respect your privacy and any information you provide to us will be treated in the strictest confidence.

We really appreciate your support to allow our vital program to continue. We rely entirely on donations as we are an independent not-for-profit charity. A huge thank you to everyone who supports our work.

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