Ethical Dialogue Research Articles

Ethics Dialogue: Spelling to Communicate as a Treatment Recommendation

Ethics Dialogue: Spelling to Communicate as a Treatment Recommendation

Novice teachers reflexively explicate their internal moral dialogues linked with their practical experiences in Dutch primary schools

This article discusses the personal stories of Dutch novice teachers, explicating their internal moral dialogues about their daily work in primary schools. Aside from their didactical work, novices must address sociocultural frictions in school, which seems too little or not developed in teachers' initial education. Using an interview protocol at the Dialogical Self Theory and ethics intersection, novice teachers are challenged to discuss moral involvement with their work. The study reports findings regarding the moral themes that novices discussed when asked about coping with the destabilising aspects and how novice teachers express their reflexivity in narrating the disbalances generated by unexpected experiences during their induction. Results show that novices can handle the contradictory fluctuations in the daily routines and problem-solving issues they were taught about in their initial education by alternating involvement and distanciation of practice. However, they show more discomfort about the interplexity of the cooperation with colleague professionals, forcing them to make tradeoffs between the different perspectives and possibilities that do not always fit their ideas of good work. The conclusion is that a change in perspective on induction from trained problem-solving towards reflexive problem-finding makes novices embrace the uncertainty and move it from dread to the gift for professional development. Conclusive remarks show that teacher education should educate students more consciously about the different results of problem-solving versus problem-finding strategies. Novices should gain more critical thinking skills that facilitate their reflexive practice.

Formation of students’ value attitude towards health in physical education classes

The article poses the problem of educating students focused on preserving and strengthening health. The specificity of value as a relationship and as a value is revealed and the relationship between the concepts of «value» and «attitude» is revealed. It is substantiated that health, acquiring significance for the student, is thereby endowed with personal meaning, acquiring the status of value. The features of the value attitude towards health as a structural formation, the components of which have specific content, are revealed. The structure of students’ value attitude towards health is determined, including cognitive, motivational-value and behavioral components. The content of the components of students’ value attitude towards health is revealed: knowledge about human health, about a healthy lifestyle (cognitive component); the values of «health», «healthy lifestyle», «responsibility», «independence», which take the form of motives for the student’s activities to preserve and strengthen his own health (motivational-value component); actions and actions aimed at preserving and strengthening health – physical activity, proper nutrition, etc. (behavioral component). The possibilities of physical education classes at a university in forming a value-based attitude towards health among students are revealed. The choice of methods is substantiated to effectively form the cognitive component of students’ value attitude towards health (methods such as story, explanation, clarification), the motivational-value component (ethical dialogue, discussion, example, situation of value choice), and the behavioral component (exercise and training). Examples are given of the use of explanation, ethical dialogue, and situations of value choice in physical education classes at a university in order to form students’ value-based attitude to health.

Beyond Conversational Dialogue: Constructing a Catholic Dialogical Ethical Model for Multi-Religious Nigeria

This article argues that the Catholic Church in Nigeria needs to move beyond interreligious dialogue that dwells more on Councils’ interactions and discourses to develop a dialogical ethical framework that engages religious multiplicity in a more active capacity. Although Nigeria’s religious diversity necessitates interreligious dialogue, that alone is insufficient for constructing concrete ethics of dialogue. The article thus argued for an ethical framework tagged one family, many flavours. The theological sense of the proposal is rooted in Catholic social teachings but open to engagement with other religious traditions for mutual respect and social justice. The religious scope of the article is on Roman Catholicism and the Nigeria Muslim Ummah. The article addressed related ethical challenges confronting Nigeria’s interreligious landscape as a diverse religious community. Primary and secondary sources were used in gathering information for the article; thus, scriptural texts and traditions in Islam, as well as sources in Roman Catholicism, were theologically engaged. The suggested model acknowledges the importance of retaining one’s religious identity while also recognising the importance of interreligious dialogue and the right of the religious other in ethical matters. The article is envisioned to promote conversations about translating dialogical frameworks into practice.

Dialogue on ethics and ethics of dialogue: an exploratory study

We report on a study bearing implications for ethical learning in schoolchildren during social interaction. The study was conducted as part of a project aimed at promoting ethical learning of socially-oriented values within the context of dialogic education. 172 fourth graders from 7 classes participated in an 8-session series designed to foster empathy, inclusion, and tolerance. Two of these sessions (3 and 8) were pre-selected for analysis. We investigated (1) whether students’ discussion of ethical issues and the ethical aspects of their actual in-class interaction with each other can be reliably measured, and (2) what relation holds between students’ ethical thinking during classroom discussions and the ethical aspects of their behavior. We thus developed an analytical framework comprising two tools for appraising ethical thinking and behavior in in-class interaction: dialogue on ethics (DoE) and ethics of dialogue (EoD). This framework was applied to the dialogues taken from the two sessions. The DoE and EoD tools proved reliable, as inter-rater agreement was substantial. Moreover, the relation between children’s DoE and their EoD was positive where the topic posed for discussion presented a dilemma and students’ interaction proceeded under moderate teacher guidance. In contrast, it was negative when the discussion was conceptual, and the teacher was dominant. We conclude that (1) DoE/EoD is a suitable framework for studying children’s ethical learning and development in social interaction, and (2) ethical learning, in its epistemological and behavioral dimensions, can be boosted or inhibited in a context of dialogic education, depending on design principles.

Wishes for a good death in context of the COVID-19 pandemic - perspective of older individuals living in Finland

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to describe the wishes for a good death in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic based on the perspective of older individuals living in Finland. The data (N = 18) were collected from October to December in 2021 through in-person interviews of independently living and aged 65 and older individuals. The data were analysed by inductive content analysis. Older individuals´ wishes for good death included consideration of empowering factors relating to the period before death and consideration of other people in connection with the death. In addition, it included preparing documentation of wills, enabling an individual moment of death, and deciding on matters relating to the funeral. The wishes of older individuals for a good death must be considered individually. They should be allowed to discuss their wishes for a good death. In addition to the development of palliative care, attention should be paid to the ethical dialogue surrounding the individual’s right to decide when to die.

‘And that was her choice’: Dutch general practitioners’ perceptions of the autonomy of patients with non-western migration backgrounds who experience domestic violence

ABSTRACT Women in the Netherlands with non-western migration backgrounds experience domestic violence at the intersection of culture and gender, and visit their general practitioners (GPs) with health concerns related to the violence. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with GPs, this paper illuminates how GPs navigate the process of decision-making around intervention in domestic violence, with particular attention to the role of autonomy. Patient autonomy is a core principle in Dutch general practice. The term refers to the principle that GPs must respect that competent adults can make autonomous decisions about the care they do and do not want, and that GPs must respect patients’ views, choices, and ways of life. The interview data shows great variation in how GPs respond in situations of domestic violence against women with non-western migration backgrounds. Deploying ‘somatechnics of perception’, this paper explores how GPs’ perceptions of their patients’ autonomy are both the agent and effect of a complex and embodied negotiation of gender, race, culture, ethnicity, medical ethics, and morality. In highlighting how these patients’ autonomy is rendered (un)intelligible and (il)legible in contextually specific ways, this paper sheds light on how GPs in the Netherlands can better assist women with non-western migration backgrounds who experience domestic violence.

Philosophical Reflections on Teachers’ Ethical Dilemmas in a Global Pandemic

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic raised not only overwhelming practical challenges but also deep ethical dilemmas for educators. There have been few efforts to connect these challenges to either ethical dilemmas teachers faced in pre-pandemic times or to philosophical analyses of complex normative terrain of teachers’ work. We facilitated eleven discussion groups with 101 educators from seven countries on the dilemmas they faced due to COVID-19. Analysis of these sessions reveals how the pandemic amplified, exacerbated and augmented pre-pandemic educational dilemmas in ways that recalibrated teachers’ core values and beliefs, and highlights the importance of engaging teachers in ethical dialogue.

Mahmoud Darwish and the Quest for a Postcolonial Utopia: Israel's War on Gaza and Reimagining the Colonial Waste Land

Mahmoud Darwish and the Quest for a Postcolonial Utopia: Israel's War on Gaza and Reimagining the Colonial Waste Land

Buber's Ethics

Abstract This article explores tensions between Judaism and Christianity as ethical traditions and what they can learn from each other if the Jewishness of Jesus is fully recognised. It investigates Judaism as a counter-cultural tradition to Christianity and secularised European modernities, drawing on Buber's Hasidism and his understanding of dialogue, relationship and everyday ethics. The author traces ethics as a practice of truth-telling as well as relating to show how justice is more than an individual virtue; it is a matter of community and the transformation of structural relationships of power, abuse and cruelty. It is through relating equally as ethical humans that we can hope to engage with different worlds.

It is Not Too Late for Reconciliation Between Israel and Palestine, Even in the Darkest Hour

The conflict in Gaza and Israel that ignited on October 7, 2023 signals a catastrophic breakdown in the possibility of ethical dialogue in the region. The actions on both sides have revealed a dissolution of ethical restraints, with unimaginably cruel attacks on civilians, murder of children, destruction of health facilities, and denial of basic needs such as water, food, and shelter. There is a need both to understand the nature of the ethical singularity represented by this conflict and what, if any, options are available to allow the reconstruction of communication between the warring parties. This article seeks to address these tasks by analysing the conflict as inherently an ethical one, in the sense that it exposes a rupture in the fabric of communicative relationships that has evolved systematically out of the deep cultural structures from which all protagonists have emerged. Drawing on the work of Levinas, Habermas, Arendt, and others, and referring to the specific circumstances in the region, it examines the ethical sources of the crisis and tries to identify conditions for its resolution. The possibility of reconciliation—that is, of refiguring relationships to open up a space for dialogue to create pathways to heal the ruptures—is examined. The dark legacy of the Holocaust is identified as an abiding cultural vulnerability for both societies. It is concluded, however, that the rich history of partnerships and collaborations between Jews and Palestinians provides a robust infrastructure on the basis of which a sustainable peace might be built, providing a much-needed source of hope.

Ethical Awareness and Practices Among Emergency Department Personnel in Riyadh's Tertiary Hospitals: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Ethical dilemmas in healthcare, particularly in emergency medical services (EMS), present significant challenges for healthcare workers (HCWs), necessitating a profound understanding of ethics and decision-making. This study assesses the ethical awareness and practices among HCWs in emergency departments of tertiary hospitals in Saudi Arabia, aiming to identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 256 HCWs, including physicians, nurses, and administrative staff, in emergency departments across tertiary hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire evaluated participants' knowledge of healthcare ethics, their experiences with ethical dilemmas, and the sources from which they derived their ethical understanding. The majority of participants exhibited a commendable level of ethical knowledge and practice, with frequent encounters of ethical or legal issues highlighting the pervasive nature of ethical challenges in emergency healthcare settings. Key sources of ethical knowledge included experiential learning and academic lectures, with a notable emphasis on practical experience. Despite the satisfactory level of ethical awareness, areas requiring further educational focus were identified, emphasizing the need for enhanced ethics training tailored to the emergency medical context. The findings underline the critical importance of incorporating ethics into the core of healthcare education and ongoing professional development for HCWs. Establishing a culture of continuous ethical dialogue and learning is essential for fostering patient-centered care and making informed ethical decisions in the fast-paced environment of emergency services. The study advocates for revising current ethics training programs to ensure they are comprehensive, relevant, and accessible, preparing HCWs to effectively address both current and future ethical challenges.

Ethical Diversity, The Common Good, and The Courage of Dialogue

AbstractIn this article, Seamus Mulryan contends that dialogue about questions that matter to a body politic require the ethical virtue of courage, which is distinct from the virtue of intellectual humility, and this is of central importance in the education of members of a pluralist society. Mulryan begins with Robert Kunzman's theory of Ethical Dialogue and departs from it through Hans‐Georg Gadamer's theory of hermeneutic experience and Charles Taylor's claims about the inextricable relationship between self‐intelligibility and moral spaces. Finally, Mulryan illustrates the promises and perils of courageous dialogue as an educative activity by way of Plato's Meno, Protagoras, and Gorgias.

Egalitarian Education: The Practice of Independent Learning at PAUD Sanggar Anak Alam Nitiprayan Kasihan Bantul Yogyakarta

Education at early childhood education (PAUD) Sanggar Anak Alam (SALAM) in Yogyakarta focuses on liberating and holistic development, nurturing students' faith, character, health, knowledge, independence, creativity, and responsibility through a research-based approach centered on nature and individual talents. Unlike traditional schools, SALAM, often called a 'school of life' or 'life laboratory,’ emphasizes experiential learning in a natural setting, aligning education with each student's unique interests and abilities. This study aims to analyze how the concept and practice of independent education are applied at PAUD Sanggar Anak Alam Yogyakarta. Employing a descriptive-qualitative approach, the research investigates how this educational philosophy translates into practice, emphasizing critical thinking, autonomy, and humanization. Through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and document analysis, the study captures the perspectives of educators, administrators, and other stakeholders. Key findings include the integration of Freire's concepts into pedagogical practices, such as fostering egalitarian educator-student relationships, prioritizing dialogue, and embedding ethics in the curriculum. The study also examines the practical implications of this approach, highlighting the roles of educators as facilitators and the importance of nurturing environmental awareness and critical thinking from an early age. While the study's findings affirm the potential of Freire's model in early childhood settings, its context-specific nature and focus on a single institution necessitate caution in generalizing the results. Consequently, the research underscores the need for further exploration in diverse educational contexts. The study's implications extend to educational policy and practice, advocating a shift towards more participatory, student-centered, and dialogue-driven learning environments. This research contributes to the discourse on global educational reform by demonstrating the transformative power of liberatory education in fostering egalitarian and humanizing educational experiences.

Teaching teachers how to not solve moral dilemmas

ABSTRACT Our survey of literature on moral dilemmas in teaching reveals that scholars declare the need to unequivocally resolve them yet refrain from doing so. This phenomenon is rooted in falure to distinguish between the different moral conflicts. The methods of resolving abstract hypothetical dilemmas, advocated but not implemented by the scholars, are poorly suited to deal with conflicts involving social pressure and high-stakes consequences for the parties involved, like most of the conflicts that teachers report. Thus, textbooks invite teachers to resolve dilemmas on their own through reflection and dialogue, beyond the limits which Habermasian ethics of dialogue allows. The scholarship licenses lax attitudes towards commitment to professional and ethical standards by appealing to the ethics of care. It appeals to outdated versions of ethics of care that posit care in opposition to the ethics of duties, no longer employed in ethics of nursing and other caring professions.

TRANSDISCIPLINARY WORKING FOR CULTURE CHANGE IN ETHICAL AGETECH

Abstract This presentation proposes a new way of understanding ethical culture in AgeTech as a dynamic and changing set of ethical research, design, and developmental processes and practices. By focusing on dynamics of ethical performance and the values, beliefs, and expectations that underpin them, this approach emphasizes ongoing ethical negotiation of all stakeholders involved in the research, design, and development of technology, rather than as a checklist at the research outset. Transdisciplinary working (TW) is proposed as an effective means to implement ethical processes and practices. By involving diverse stakeholders in the development of shared aims and objectives, ethical considerations become detached from the domain of researchers and become a more inclusive stakeholder negotiation. TW acknowledges that the development of new technologies cannot be separated from the people who design and use them; and the social practices, social norms, and social meanings in which they are steeped. The co-creation of socio-technical AgeTech systems is a key strategy for creating culture-change in ethical working environments. By involving diverse stakeholders in dynamic ethical processes across the research pathway, meaningful involvement of all stakeholders can be ensured, resulting in the effectiveness and relevance of AgeTech. Subsequently, technologies that are more responsive to the needs and desires of older people, carers, and professionals, and better reflect the complex ethical landscape in which they operate are created. Overall, this presentation offers a new perspective on ethical culture in AgeTech, one that involves diverse stakeholders in the creation of socio-technical systems that are both effective and ethical.

Accomplice Neighborhood: Everyday Life Politics

This paper delves into the conceptual delineation of the institution of the neighborhood as a catalyst for innovative political discourse and practice. It aims to set the basis for an upcoming reevaluation of the work of Andrés Ortiz-Osés, pioneer of Gadamerian hermeneutics in Spain, considering the neighborhood’s potential: its co-implicated and co-implicative nature connects consistently with his symbolic hermeneutics of the sense. The neighborhood, a complex institution transcending conventional affiliations, underpins coexistence, mutual tolerance, and a kind of ethical dialogue. This work contributes to highlighting the neighborhood’s political dimensions on its own and claims its philosophical relevance beyond its traditional understanding. The ambivalent space of vicinity promotes plural speech and serves as a vital agora, fostering dynamic, ethical coexistence and engaged citizenship, thereby enhancing the democratic landscape.

Communicating the Crisis: Navigating the Challenges of Chemotherapeutic Drug Shortages with a Patient-Centered Ethical Dialogue Framework

Introduction: The United States finds itself gripped by debilitating drug shortages, thrusting thousands of patients nationwide into a precarious limbo and making the potential delay or cancellation of essential chemotherapy treatments a reality. In June 2023, the situation escalated to encompass a staggering 309 active drug shortages, including twenty-five chemotherapeutics, two of which are carboplatin and cisplatin. Communicating the nuances of a chemotherapy drug shortage to those affected transforms into a multifaceted and delicate endeavor that demands deep-seated empathy, preparation, and understanding. Mastering strategic, patient-centered communication becomes an ethical imperative and valuable skill for all physicians, amplifying the human connection at the heart of medicine. Our multidisciplinary team of specialists developed an ethical communication framework to guide physicians in navigating and discussing the complexities of modern drug shortages with patients. This framework promotes empathetic and informative dialogue with patients, empowering them to understand the situation and actively participate in their care decisions. Through this approach, we aim to foster a partnership between physicians and patients, mitigating anxieties and ensuring patients feel heard and supported throughout this trying period. Method: A multidisciplinary team of specialists convened, including physicians, advanced practice providers from hematology and oncology, and bioethicists. We developed an ethical and theoretical communication framework that will prove beneficial for both physicians and patients. Our framework facilitates compassionate and informed exchanges between healthcare professionals and their patients. Special care was given to consider the patient's background, perspectives, and beliefs. Results: The ethical communication framework for addressing chemotherapeutic shortages demonstrated promising potential for enhancing patient-provider interactions during times of crisis. The framework emphasizes open and transparent communication, facilitating patient understanding of the drug shortage situation and empowering patients to participate in their treatment actively. Conclusion: The developed ethical communication framework offers a patient-centered approach to addressing this crisis, aiming to empower patients with knowledge and understanding while fostering a collaborative decision-making process during crisis communication. By prioritizing empathy, transparency, and patient autonomy, the framework serves as a valuable tool for navigating the complexities of drug shortages and mitigating patient fears when discussing the drug shortage crisis. As the framework continues to be integrated into healthcare systems, ongoing evaluation and tracking of patient outcomes will provide valuable insights into its effectiveness and potential areas for improvement in communicating the crisis. Through strategic and empathetic patient-centered communication, physicians can play a crucial role in supporting patients during the national drug shortage crisis, ensuring that patients' voices are heard and their needs are addressed with compassion and understanding when communicating the crisis.

Reimagining the researcher-participant ethics relationship: a participant-centred, values-based ethics approach in comparative and international education

ABSTRACT Conventional approaches to ethics in comparative and international educational research often entail researchers seeking institutional ethics approval; attempting to manage fieldwork’s practical ethical dilemmas using institutional and disciplinary protocols; and ‘writing up’ methodology, primarily an account of the institutional ethics approval process. This approach largely excludes participants’ conceptions of ethics, manifested through their ethical values, virtues, worldviews, knowledge, perspectives, traditions, norms, epistemologies, etc. This paper proposes a participant-centred, values-based approach which deepens the conventional approach by positioning participants’ values alongside institutional and disciplinary ones; centring participants’ values during fieldwork’s ethical dilemmas; and articulating a situated ethics account. This alternative approach deepens researchers’ capabilities for situated ethical action, and underscores the need for continuous negotiation of ethics with participants towards meaningful ethical partnerships. Such partnerships are ultimately facilitated by institutional ethics committees’ flexibility in enabling, and even encouraging, researcher-participant ethical negotiations at various stages of research.

Design of a future scenarios toolkit for an ethical implementation of artificial intelligence in education

In the 1970s, research on artificial intelligence in education emerged with the aim of acknowledging and accommodating the psychological aspects of the learning process. Since then, its applications have evolved and it is now used for student learning and assessment, teachers’ pedagogical practice, management of educational institutions, and lifelong learning. Nevertheless, the ethical challenges of educational programmes using these systems have not been thoroughly studied. Anchored on the theoretical frame of dialogic ethics, this paper presents a section of a participatory futures research project. The goal of the research is to develop a toolkit that educators can use to ensure a smooth and ethical transition to artificial intelligence-based education while preserving the interests of educational development. This paper emphasises the need for an informed and participatory process that involves all stakeholders and begins with an expert consultation through the Delphi method, the results of which allowed the construction of eight hypothetical futures scenarios. These scenarios provide evidence that examining the ethics of using artificial intelligence systems presents an opportunity to reflect on the ethics of education as a whole. They highlight the challenge of balancing the benefits and drawbacks of such systems, especially concerning educational goals and the interplay between diverse educational actors and personal development in educational settings. The study outcomes are intended to encourage discussions on the integration of ethical artificial intelligence in education and facilitate the continuing professional development of teachers by equipping them with scenarios that can be used as a resource for training purposes.