Chapter One: Understanding

Civics and Ethics

Defining Civics, Ethics, Morality
Civic Education
 human being have to respect certain
fundamental principles
and values to live together
• Johan Stuart Mill: progressive and peaceful
setting subsists
in a given society as far as that society
develops the qualities
of its members and generates good citizens
• Aristotle: citizens of a State should always be
educated to
suit the constitution of a State
• different terms used to describe the
educational experiences
that deal with the task of developing
democratic minded
citizens
o Right Education - in South Africa

o Citizenship Education - in USA and

Germany

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 o Citizenship and Character Education - in
Singapore
 Civics and Ethical Education - in Ethiopia
• most cited definition of civic education
✓ an education that studies about the rights
and
responsibilities of citizens of a politically
organized group
of people
✓ the knowledge, means, and activities
designed to
encourage students to participate actively in
democratic
life, accepting and exercising their rights and
responsibilities.
• maximal and a minimal civic education
1)minimal concept of civic education
content-led
✓teacher-based
✓whole-class teaching
✓examination-based assessment
2)maximal concept of civic education
✓ comprised of knowledge, values and skills
✓ prepare students for active, responsible
participation
✓ extends learning beyond the curriculum and
classroom
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 ✓ highly dependent on interactive teaching,
which
requires discussion, debate
Definition and Nature of Ethics and Morality
• ethics is used interchangeably with morals
precise usage
would apply
▪ term‘s morals and moral - to the conduct
itself
▪ terms ethics and ethical - refer to the study
of moral
conduct
• morality is related to praxis, but ethics is
related to theory
➢ Ethics:
 branch of philosophy
▪ explores the meaning and the ranking of
different
ethical values: honesty, autonomy
▪ establish the standards, norms, or codes to
be
followed by human beings
▪ set of normative rules of conduct
▪ may share common ground with: law,
religious
belief, popular opinion, professional codes BUT
broader than all of these and offers a set of
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 tools
and values against which their
appropriateness can
be evaluated
▪ Ethical questions are not concerned with
what one
would do (an essentially psychological
concern) but
what one ought to do
▪ specific set of principles, values and
guidelines for a
particular group or organization
▪ usually associated with a certain conduct
within a
profession
▪ critical examination and evaluation of what
is good,
evil, right and wrong in human conduct
▪ Judgments about such decisions are
generally
expressed with words like
 right and wrong
 should and ought
 obligation and duty
 ethics as divided into two fields; normative
ethics

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 and non-normative ethics
➢ morality:
 dictionary definition: Latin “moralitas” -
manner,
character, proper behavior
 the degree to which an action conforms to a
standard or norm of human conduct
 code of conduct one follows accepted in a
society,
or within a subgroup of society
 more general term: character of individuals
and
community
 it becomes ambiguous when defined by
different
ethnic groups, especially in the multicultural
society

 Morality is, at the very least, the effort to

guide one‘s
conduct by reason to do what there are the
best
reasons for doing while giving equal weight to
the
interest of each individual who will be affected
by

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 one‘s conduct

 Ethics and Law

 Laws
▪ norms, formally approved by state, power or
national or international political bodies
o to promote well-being, resolve conflicts of

interest
o and promote social harmony

 ▪ reasons why ethics is not law:

1)some actions that are illegal may not be
unethical.
E.g ethical obligation to break the speed limit
in order to transport someone to a hospital
2)some actions that are unethical may not be
illegal
✓ E.g lying is unethical but lying is only
illegal under certain conditions
 3)laws can be unethical or immoral
✓ E.g United States had laws permitting
slavery in the 1800s
 4)we use the coercive power of government
to enforce laws like imprisoned, BUT not
for who violate ethical or moral standards

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 Importance/Goal of Moral and Civic
Education
• make individuals responsible and efficient
member of their community
 • teaches the values and sense of
commitment that define an
 active and principled citizen producing self-
confident citizens who decides on issues based
on reason
• creating a generation who has the capability
to shoulder
family and national responsibility
• Generally, the necessity of delivering the
course emanates
from:
1)The need to instill citizens about their rights
and duties
✓ rights and duties co-exist
✓ what the ideal society needs and wants to
be cannot be
secured by coercion, but only through its
members
(citizens) who have a balanced understanding
of rights
and duties

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 ✓ four issues to look into the interplay
between rights and


duties:
I
one's right implies the other's duty
.
one's right implies one's duty to recognize
similar
II
rights of others
.
▪ every exercise of right is subject to
restrictions. E.g one has the freedom of
speech and expression, but in no way
affects the rights of others.
one should exercise his rights for the
promotion
III. of social good
the State being a nucleus organ needs to
take
IV
.
care of the social and legal interests of all its
individuals.
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▪ State has the obligation to discharge duties
towards its citizens
▪ As the State guarantees and protects the
rights of everybody, one has a duty to
support the State in its legal endeavors

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▪ there must be a balance between citizenship
rights and obligations
2)The Need for Participant Political Culture
✓ Generally, political culture defines the roles
which an
individual may play in the political process
✓ three political cultures:
I. parochial cultures
o citizens have low cognitive, affective, and
evaluative orientation regarding the political
systems
o role of citizens in the political sphere of their
countries is insignificant
II. subject cultures
 High cognitive, affective, and evaluative
orientation towards the political system and
policy output
 BUT orientations towards input objects (like

political parties) and the self as active

participants are minimal
 relatively detached, passive relationship on the

part of the citizen

o most compatible with centralized,
authoritarian
political structures
III. participant cultures

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 high cognitive, affective, and evaluative
orientation to the political system, the input
objects, the policy outputs, and
o recognize the self as an active participant in
the
polity
o compatible with democratic political
structures
✓ qualities and attitudes of citizens determine
the health
and stability of a country‘s democracy
✓ challenges the democracy and
democratization process
of countries including Ethiopia
▪ many citizens lack the competences and
knowledge
to deal with the tensions between individually
and
socially centered norms and obligations
▪ small parts of the population support the
norm that a
citizen should be politically active
▪ most citizens still rely on voting only
✓ people in a democratic country are supposed
to have
▪ in-depth understanding on democratic
behavior and
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able to behave democratically
▪ ability to tolerate and work together with
others who
are different from themselves
▪ desire to participate in the political process in
order
to promote the public good and hold political
authorities accountable
3)The Need for Relevant Knowledge, Skills and
Positive
Attitudes
✓ Relevant knowledge is a type of knowledge
which is
useful in dealing with a particular problem at a
period of
time
✓ knowledge would remain inert unless:
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▪ it is functional or put into practice
▪ the person equipped with right attitudes and
requisite skills
✓ skillful manpower is a pre-requisite for every
nation that
wishes to develop but a skillful manpower
without
positive attitudes to work is likely to result in

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counter
production like; corruption, bribery
✓ civics and ethics can be a useful cure for the
“social ills”
often associated with young people: that is,
tendencies
for anti-social behavior and political apathy
among young
people, or, what describe “youth deficit”
4)The issue of fostering intercultural societies
✓ subject helps overcome discrimination and
to nurture
genuine, inclusive dialogue among cultural
groups.
✓ tolerating or celebrating each other
✓ nurturing dynamic exchanges based on
interaction,
openness and effective solidarity.
• The issue of inclusiveness
✓ Civics and ethics as a subject nurture new
and inclusive
relations and practices in both public and
private spaces
that recognize gender differences while
ensuring
inclusiveness and equity
5)The issue of peace-building
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✓ it can make a valuable contribution to create
the
subjective conditions for more peaceful
situations
✓ includes the development of competencies
for
peacemaking, conflict resolution, healing,
reconciliation
and reconstruction
✓ understanding of nonviolent civil
disobedience
philosophies, strategies and skills

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