Teaching ethics in compulsory school regained urgency some years ago in Sweden when National Tests in ethics were introduced. Students were evaluated as having or not having the ethics knowledge required. The aim of this study is to investigate what aspects of ethical competence students express in texts from National Tests, and to investigate what cultural tools 12- and 15-year-old students use in their texts about a given ethical situation. A qualitative content analysis was performed in three steps. In the first step, four aspects of ethical competence were identified: to verbalise, to take a stand, to take responsibility for one’s actions and an understanding of life. In the second step, the identified ethical competence was interpreted through four ethical voices building on the theories of Nussbaum, Løgstrup, Benhabib and Singer, showing that the students’ texts contain varying aspects of ethics. In the third step, cultural tools used by the students were identified. The conclusions were that (1) some ethical perspectives, such as the societal and global perspectives, are disadvantaged in the analysed texts, and accordingly in the tasks; (2), ethics is a difficult subject to assess in a fair way; and (3) since cultural tools are dependent on the social, cultural and historical context, the school has a responsibility to teach ethics in a way that gives all students the power and authority to live good lives.
The complex question of teaching ethics in compulsory school regained urgency some years ago in Sweden, with the introduction of the National Tests in ethics. Every fourth student in Grade 9 is evaluated each year as having or not having the ethics knowledge required in the curriculum. Since 2013, students in Grade 9 are taking a National Test in Religion Education (RE) in which ethics is tested, and in 2013 and 2014 a quarter of all students in Grade 6 also took the National Tests in ethics. In 2015, the National Tests for students in Grade 6 became optional, but since 2017 they are not given at all.
In Sweden, ethics is a specific knowledge sub-area in the subject of RE. Ethics is also described in the overarching introduction of the curriculum for Swedish compulsory school (Skolverket
According to Avci (
When it comes to investigating the student perspective, in a study from Ireland (O’Flaherty, Liddy & McCormack
To understand the present context of ethics education, it can be valuable to draw comparisons with earlier traditions. This has been done by Walker, Roberts and Kristjánsson (2015). Children living in the 18th century were regarded as having been born sinful, and teachers were to discipline them in order to overcome this sinful nature. In the 19th century, children were seen as weak and accordingly in need of effective socialisation within each respective class to control their character. The 20th century is divided into two parts: before the Second World War, when students were to learn prosocial adjustment through habituation into moral activities; and after the Second World War, when the theories of Kohlberg influenced the view of students’ needs. Then, the core entailed that students needed to be guided by the school through a thinking process to understand the morally good in order to become morally good. In the next section of this review is the turn of the 21st century. Then, students were seen as fragile emotional selves and their needs involved receiving help in mending themselves and boosting their self-esteem, as this was regarded as the way to gain motivation, resilience and self-confidence. Today, students are considered to be flourishing. The ultimate goal for this approach, compared to the others reported above, is an institutional change rather than simply an individual one. It is a reaction to the instrumentalist and technicist what-works approach that is still the dominant perspective at policy level (Walker et al. 2015).
The Swedish National Test in RE, which tests ethics, focuses on verbal and argumentative competences in line with a utilitarian approach to ethics (Sporre
A sociocultural way of understanding moral development is suggested by Tappan (
Tappan (
Tappan (
In this study, Tappan’s theories will be used in two ways. The first way is to understand the ethical competences expressed by 12- and 15-year-old students by using the theories of the ethicists Nussbaum, Løgstrup, Benhabib and Singer as four different ethical voices. The second way is to identify a progression of moral development between 12- and 15-year-old students by identifying different cultural tools in some of the texts written by the students.
Four ethicists have been selected in order to broaden the understanding of conceptions of ethical competence: Martha C. Nussbaum, Knud E. Løgstrup, Seyla Benhabib and Peter Singer. These philosophers represent different approaches to ethics. Influenced by Tappan’s (
From Løgstrup’s point of view, a salient ethical demand is ever present in meetings between people because of their interdependence (Løgstrup
A
Peter Singer represents a utilitarian perspective which underlines a careful consideration of what maximal utility implies for all involved – not only humans but also non-humans. The
In this article, a re-analysis has been carried out regarding students’ answers on four different tasks testing ethics from the 2013 Swedish National Tests in RE. Two of the tasks are from the test for 12-year-olds, and the other two are from the test for 15-year-olds. The aim of this study is twofold. The first is to investigate what aspects of ethical competence 100 students in Grade 6 (12 years old) and 100 students in Grade 9 (15 years old) express in texts from the National Tests, and to broaden the understanding of the expressed aspects of ethical competence through an analysis using the four ethical voices from Benhabib, Løgstrup, Nussbaum and Singer. The second aim is to investigate what cultural tools 12- and 15-year-old students use in their texts from the National Tests about a given ethical situation.
The empirical material in this article involves texts from the National Tests in RE carried out in Sweden in spring 2013. The tests were taken by a quarter (about 25 000) of all students in Grade 6 and the same share and number in Grade 9. After the tests were carried out, the teachers were asked to send in a copy of tests taken by certain students in Grade 6 (those born on the 10th, 20th or 30th of each month) and by certain students in Grade 9 (those born on the 6th, 16th or 26th of each month) to the group producing the National Tests in RE for the Swedish National Agency for Education. From these tests, answers from 100 students in Grade 6 and 100 students in Grade 9 were re-analysed in this study. The texts were chosen from 1152 full copies for grades 6 and 9. In the selection of students’ texts, we strove for as great a variation as possible when it comes to (1) the grades given by the students’ teachers on the whole test in relation to the assessment instructions accompanying the tests, (2) students’ type of living area, (3) parents’ post-upper secondary education and (4) students’ mother tongue. As the study includes sensitive personal information, it was reviewed and approved by the regional ethical review board, Gothenburg.
The re-analyses were carried out using qualitative content analysis, with the aim of identifying varieties of ethical competences in the responses of the students. The analysis was inductive, and focused on the ways the students had solved the task (Osbeck
The National Tests in RE from 2013 are not classified, and the EthiCo project,
Keyla and Maria have been friends since preschool. Now they are in Grade 6, and are still best friends. They also have new friends: Isabelle, Max, Ali and Josef. They are together in school and sometimes also in the afternoons.
Keyla has been worried for a while. Maria is her best friend, but she smells of sweat. Keyla is not the only one who has noticed this. The other friends have spoken to Keyla about Maria smelling of sweat. They think it is disgusting and want Keyla to speak with Maria about the problem.
Keyla does not know what to do. She notices that the other friends distance themselves from Maria without saying anything. Keyla is thinking about whether she is going to speak to Maria, who will probably be hurt, or whether she should pretend like nothing is happening and hope Maria will notice the smell herself.
Write and tell what you think Keyla should do. Write why you think this, and what consequences it might have for the persons involved. In your answer, you should use at least two of the following concepts or other similar ones: responsibility, wrong, right, duty and fair.
Your task now is to think of a situation that involves victimisation. Describe the situation briefly and motivate why this is a case of victimisation. Give examples of what you can do to make the situation better.
The word ‘forgiveness’ is an important ethical concept. You may yourself have forgiven someone or experienced being forgiven. Reason about why forgiveness can be important both for the person asking for forgiveness and the person who forgives.
Discuss and argue about whether the death penalty is right or wrong. You should use the ethical models from the previous task when you reason. Keep in mind that the same model can be used to argue both for and against the death penalty. If you want, you can begin your text with one of the following sentences:
It can be discussed whether the death penalty is right or wrong. A person representing consequentialist ethics would probably say…
A person representing deontological ethics would probably say…
I think a person representing intentionalist ethics would probably say…
Ethical clearance to conduct the study was obtained from the Regional Ethical Review Board, Gothenburg, Sweden (Ethical Clearance number: 060-15) on 23 February 2015.
The findings of this study are divided into two parts. The first part will describe the aspects of ethical competence found in the students’ texts, and the understanding of these will be deepened and broadened by the four ethical voices. All four voices are not applicable in relation to all identified aspects of ethical competence; this osffers an understanding of what ethical perspectives are present and lacking in the students’ texts, but mostly in the tasks given in the National Tests. In the second part of the findings, different cultural tools, according to Tappan’s (
The qualitative content analysis of the four tasks described above shows four different aspects of ethical competence, which in an overarching way are the same in grades 6 and 9. The identified aspects of ethical competence are
A verbal ability implies that students use ethical concepts in a correct and developed way. It also implies that they are able to vividly describe different situations and suggestions. The following is an example of a quote in which a Grade 6 student explains what the concept ‘decent’ can mean:
‘Tell Maria in a decent way. You don’t have to shout it out when all the others are around; instead, you can tell her when no one else can hear’. (6LM514)
Another quote from a student in Grade 9 explains how an intentionalist ethicist could reason about the death penalty:
‘The intentionalist ethicist could be converted in two directions. You can regard the situation as if you’ve actually lost your right to live as a consequence of killing someone. But studies show that violence actually increases in society because of the death penalty. It can be a spiral of killing, which is a very bad consequence’. (9CW532)
Both quotations above are examples of conceptual competence. The next quote from a student in Grade 9 is an example of an ability to express a situation in a vivid way, offering the readers the possibility to understand nuances in the described situation:
‘When you get to hear a “forgive me”, you feel a transportation of joy through your body since you understand that the other has realised he or she was wrong, and that he or she is no longer angry with you. You also feel like you get a kind of understanding from the other, an understanding about your feelings’. (9CW440)
In the assessment instructions accompanying the National Test, verbal capacity is expressed as asking the students to use correct ethical concepts and show that they can analyse an ethical situation from a specific ethical theory. In the re-analysed texts, it is possible to see a more developed verbal competence than what is asked for in the assessment instructions. This competence also includes an ability to notice a situation and identify possible ways to respond to it.
Using the four ethical voices to understand verbal ability in a more nuanced way, it is obvious that this ability of ethical competence is essential. The voice of virtue focuses on one’s own development and emphasises that a good fellow human being needs to be able to reason and clarify his or her positions. The voice of responsiveness because of interdependence, on its part, highlights that a verbal capacity, to both speak and listen, is needed in the encounter with the other. Benhabib’s voice, that of rights, suggests that a communicative perspective on rights for those otherwise denied them is necessary for a democratic procedure.
In the students’ texts it is possible to discern statements expressing an ability to take a stand. The students argue and make adjustments, express values and show an ability to discuss different circumstances, conditions and suggestions. To illustrate this ability, a statement from a student in Grade 9 has been chosen:s
‘As already mentioned, I’m against the death penalty for the simple reason that I want to believe a person can change. After all the feelings of guilt, maybe a good person steps forward. Of course, there are some people without a conscience, but no one deserves death. We’re all human beings who deserve to live on this earth’. (9CW484)
The ability to take a stand involves more than simply developing reasoning. Taking a stand involves descriptions of consequences and a change of perspective, but it also involves the abilities to weigh values in relation to each other and to argue for collective and societal values.
To be able to take a stand one needs to have a discerning ability, which is part of Nussbaum’s voice of virtue. The ability to take a stand can also be described with Løgstrup’s voice of responsiveness because of interdependence by arguing that the silent demand, being aware of what is best for the other, is needed when deciding what stand to take. With the voice of rights, it is possible to find a balance between a focus on the other and the social context. The voice developed from Singer’s theories implies a careful consideration of what maximal utility implies, not only for humans but also for non-humans. A societal sense, not only in relation to oneself or the other but also in a more global arena, can be found in the texts about the death penalty.
In the texts, the students show an understanding of the need to take responsibility for one’s actions and for others’ well-being. The students demand that the persons involved in the tasks do this in a quite challenging way. This ability goes a bit beyond the former, to take a stand, in the way that the students urge for action. The quote exemplifying this is from a student in Grade 6 related to the task on victimisation:
‘To improve the situation, the boy can go and get a friend or an adult. If anyone else hears what is happening, they can act themselves and call on an adult.[…] The most important thing is that they do something; no one should be victimised’. (6LM227)
In the texts, the students argue for responsible actions and offer motives as to why certain actions are required in the specific situations the tasks involve. This includes a moral motivation showing a prioritisation of moral values.
Acknowledging the consequences of one’s actions is a virtue as emphasised by Nussbaum (
From the students’ responses to the different tasks, it is possible to see that they have an understanding of life, that is, they are able to use knowledge not only from their own experiences in life but also from what they know about the local and global society. This ability includes an existential as well as a normative understanding. It allows the students to describe consequences of different incidents in more than one step, and to distinguish between cause and effect. The next quote, showing a nuanced experience of what forgiveness can imply in different ways, comes from a student in Grade 9:
‘Forgiveness is something that is mostly taken for granted today, to say ‘I’m sorry, forgive me’ isn’t a sincere request anymore, but rather something we say out of habit to show that what we did wasn’t meant to be as wrong as it turned out to be. But often it isn’t that easy. If the situation is about people we care about, it’s not enough to just say ‘I’m sorry’ even if the other person accepts it. Accepting an apology is something we’re expected to do, and it has almost the same value as when we say ‘Sorry’ when bumping into a stranger’. (9CW450)
To be able to answer the tasks in the National Tests, an understanding of life is necessary, although this is not given credit when assessed according to the RE syllabus. The understanding of life is a prerequisite for moral sensitivity as well as for moral judgement and moral motivation.
The voice of virtue emphasises that character traits are built through a shared life. To encounter the other and shoulder one’s responsibility, an understanding of life is necessary, also according to Løgstrup. The voice of rights is also heard when it comes to an understanding of life: Benhabib emphasises the need to understand people’s situation regardless of who they are.
To sum up this part, the ethical competence interpreted from the students’ texts can be described as four different abilities:
This part of the findings presents an interpretation of the cultural tools (Tappan
The cultural tools described by Tappan (
In the task involving the friends Keyla and Maria, the students are asked to use two of the five given ethical concepts. Responsibility is one that is often used in the texts: ‘In this case I think Keyla’s friends need to take their responsibility and tell Maria she smells of sweat’ (6LM302). The use of the concept does not show a deeper understanding of what taking responsibility might mean; instead, it is expressed as a concrete action. The cultural tools used by several of the students in Grade 6 involve describing an action. The students have learnt that responsibility entails doing the right thing.
In the following example from a Grade 9 student, the concept of forgiving is described:
‘Being able to forgive someone is very strong and humble, since the person you have to forgive has probably done something wrong and hurt you. You also have to swallow your pride; in one way you have to be bigger than yourself, to be so unselfish that you can draw a line through what the other person did’. (9CW21)
In this statement, the meaning of forgiveness is described in a nuanced way using specific words: ‘humble’, ‘swallow your pride’ and ‘draw a line through’. One can assume that these are cultural tools that the 15-year-old student has acquired from his or her particular social, cultural and historical context. He or she shows an understanding of what the expressions imply, and can use them to make himself or herself understood. The statement is an example of a developed answer, not all texts contain cultural tools as developed as this one.
‘The gang victimises him for being a Jew and for following the laws of his religion. This is not right; he should be allowed to follow his religion and his classmates should respect that’. (6LM415)
In this text, the student takes a stand by using what could be interpreted as the cultural tools: ‘should be allowed’ and ‘should respect’. In the introductory part of the Swedish curriculum, it is stated that no one should be discriminated against because of their faith; this is something you learn from the beginning when you start school, and it is thus reasonable that a 12-year-old student can express it. The following quote is from a Grade 9 student: ‘it’s always important to ask for forgiveness if you’ve done something you really didn’t want to. In Christianity, Catholicism, you can go to confession with your sins (bad deeds)’ (9CW129). In this example, the 15-year-old takes a stand by saying it is always important to ask for forgiveness. The answer is then developed by showing how confession can help a Catholic. The cultural tools ‘Christianity’, ‘Catholicism’ and ‘confession’ are used correctly, and take the answer in a societal direction rather than merely a personal one.
Some cultural tools identified in the texts expressing a demand
‘…It’s hard to think that someone who’s done this [murdered civilians] should live, but on the other hand it isn’t our task to decide whether someone is going to die or not. I think it’s better if they’re sentenced to prison for a lifetime…’. (9CW595)
The expressions ‘civilians’ and ‘sentenced to prison’ are cultural tools that show that murder in war might imply another interpretation of the responsibility for killing. That one is sentenced to prison also shows knowledge of the law.
All students’ quotes can be assessed as showing
‘Once I went to a night club; a lot of people were drinking beer and liquor. Then two guys pushed an older guy. […] I was sitting in a car and saw when the guy came out from the night club. Five guys ran after him and pushed him into a car’. (6LM41)
The cultural tools ‘night club’, ‘beer and liquor’, and ‘ran after him and pushed him into a car’ are examples of a social, cultural and historical context that is familiar to the 12-year-old writer of this text. This might come from experiences in his/her own life, or for example, from computer games or movies. The situation described by a 15-year-old student concerns a relationship between a girlfriend and a boyfriend, and the meaning forgiveness might have in this relationship:
‘If a girlfriend is angry with her selfish boyfriend, who mostly only thinks about himself, an apology from him can mean so incredibly much. It can save their relationship if the girl realises her boyfriend doesn’t only think about himself but also others. But she can also realise that the boy will never mature, and this can lead to an end to the relationship’. (9CW368)
This text also contains specific words that can be interpreted as cultural tools, for example, ‘selfish boyfriend’ and ‘will never mature’, that express an understanding of a situation that 15-year-old students might very well have experienced in relationships with a partner.
According to Tappan (
The importance of deciding what kind of ethics education one wants to offer is emphasised by Avci (
The interpretation of the students’ texts shows that four aspects of ethical competence can be identified:
In the third step of the analysis, Tappan’s (
This result was expected, as moral development depends on maturational influences and experiences. But it is also dependent on social communication and interaction in specific and personal contexts, which in this study is identified as ethical competence, that is, life understanding. Tappan (
That ethics is hard to assess is stated by Alexander (
Using the voices of the four ethicists Nussbaum, Løgstrup, Benhabib and Singer, as well as the theories of Tappan, it is possible to draw the following conclusions from this study: some ethical perspectives, such as the societal and the global, are disadvantaged in the tasks, and accordingly in the analysed texts. Another conclusion is that the re-analysed texts show a multidimensional ethical competence, but that the RE syllabus only gives credit for a verbal and analytical ability. These findings show that ethics is a difficult subject to assess in a fair way. Another conclusion of this study is that cultural tools are dependent on an ability to verbalise and to have an understanding of life; this is something that develops through maturational influences. But it is also dependent on the social, cultural and historical context in which students live; and since these differ, school has a responsibility to teach ethics in a way that gives all students the power and authority to live good lives.
The research presented in this article was developed within the EthiCo project, entitled ‘What may be learnt in ethics? Varieties of conceptions of ethical competence to be taught in compulsory school’, funded by the Swedish Research Council (Grant no. 2014-2030).
The author declares that she has no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced her in writing this article.
A.L. is the sole author of this research article.
The project ‘What may be learnt in ethics? Varieties of conceptions of ethical competence to be taught in compulsory school’ was funded by the Swedish Research Council 2015–2018 (Grant no. 2014–2030).
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the author.
The EthiCo-project: What may be learnt in ethics? Varieties of conceptions of ethical competence to be taught in compulsory school (Dnr 2014–2030, Swedish Research Council).