EthicsPrimary level

The study area Ethics Primary level is informed by the National Curriculum Framework (NCF).

The primary aim of the Ethics programme is that of a moral education; that is, socialising students into the contemporary moral culture of our society, teaching them to think and deal reflectively with moral matters, to understand the moral issues they will encounter in their daily lives as adult members of Maltese society and of the world human community, to exercise practical wisdom in articulating their moral judgement, to understand and tolerate cultures, life-styles, outlooks, and life choices different from their own, to offer solidarity to those in their community and elsewhere who suffer injustice, to commit themselves to the peaceful resolution of moral conflict where this occurs, and to respect and support human rights, social justice, and democratic practice. 

At the end of the programme, the student will be able to: 

• have basic knowledge of the key beliefs of the three monotheistic religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism)
• list some of the similarities and differences between the three monotheistic religions, such as the fact that they all affirm the existence of one God, but they give it different names
• explain that different systems of belief rely on different sources of authority, e.g. sacred texts
• explain that the difference in moral outlooks depends on which authority one recognises.
• talk about the nature of religious customs, rituals, worship, and prayers within the different religions
• talk about the places of public worship and their bearing on different religions
• talk about the nature of fasting, prayer, and spirituality within, and between the religions
• show how fasting, prayer, and spirituality influence a believer’s moral life and beliefs
• explain the relevance of the belief in God, in an afterlife and in sin, in determining moral or ethical behaviour in the three monotheistic religions.
• talk about the individualist moral culture which defines secular humanism
• explain that the difference between different religious and secular outlooks has come about through historical and geographical circumstances
• talk about the notion of conscience
• argue that although believers and secularists have a very different understanding of the world, they share several basic values and attitudes towards the world
• talk about the different ways in which humanists and religious believers regard science
• talk about the nature of and the relation between faith and reason
• talk about the nature of and the relation between religion and science
• explain that both secularists and religious people value reason, but religious people put their reason under the authority of their faith when it comes to moral matters, while secularists value reason and claim that it is its own authority.