Abstract
The paper investigates teachers’ and principals’ experiences of implementing a pilot of an ethical education (EE) curriculum to a senior cycle programme in Educate Together secondary schools in Ireland. The development of this curriculum was informed by the Integrative Ethical Education Model (Lapsley and Narvaez, 2004). Thirteen teachers and two school principals were interviewed about their experiences of this curriculum and its impact on school culture and organisation. An implementation science approach informed a thematic analysis of transcripts that interrogated the perspectives of participants, and revealed the systemic factors that included barriers to, and facilitators of, EE curriculum implementation. Interviews were analysed inductively, by exploring participants’ experiences, and deductively, using Narvaez’s framework of ethical skills. Results were presented within the domains of school setting, wider school setting, curriculum characteristics and teacher characteristics, reflecting an implementation science approach. Findings suggest that this curriculum nurtured a positive school climate where students identified as having a greater sense of school belonging as a result of access to this curriculum.
Highlights
The aim of this paper is to provide an account of an ethical education (EE) curriculum that was piloted in three secondary schools in Ireland as the first phase of a curriculum evaluation process
The analysis of interviews completed with teachers and principals, regarding their experiences of implementing the senior EE curriculum, are presented from an analysis of contexts that include school setting, wider school setting, curriculum characteristics and teacher characteristics
The findings from this study revealed from interviews with teachers and principals suggest that adolescent learners have benefitted from exposure to the EE curriculum in piloted schools
Summary
The aim of this paper is to provide an account of an ethical education (EE) curriculum that was piloted in three secondary schools in Ireland as the first phase of a curriculum evaluation process.Educate Together (ET) is a non-governmental, registered charity, equality school organisation that adopts a secular approach to primary and secondary education. The aim of this paper is to provide an account of an ethical education (EE) curriculum that was piloted in three secondary schools in Ireland as the first phase of a curriculum evaluation process. This paper commences by providing an overview of the educational context in Ireland in which ethical education (EE) has emerged. An implementation science framework informs the methodological section where principals and teachers were questioned on their experiences of the facilitators of, and barriers to, implementing this curriculum in schools. Interviews were thematically analysed using both inductive and deductive approaches, reflecting participants’ experiences and using an ethical skills framework [1] respectively. How the EE curriculum impacts on school culture and student identity are addressed from the perspectives of teachers and school principals. In the final section, assessing EE in schools, and teacher fidelity to the curriculum are discussed.
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