Royal Society of NSW News & Events

Royal Society of NSW News & Events

Southern Highlands Branch Meeting 2020-7

Professor Sandra Lynch“Philosophical Ethics in Schools: Plan and Paradox”

Adjunct Professor Sandra Lynch 
Institute for Ethics and Society
University of Notre Dame Australia

Date: Thursday, 17 September 2020 at 6.30pm AEST
Venue: Zoom webinar
Video presentation: YouTube video

While pandemic restrictions on group activities prevail, the Southern Highlands Branch continues to send members information and summaries from our scheduled speakers. This month, the Branch will be presenting its first webinar, which will be recorded and posted for later viewing. It will be available from the Southern Highlands Branch website and from the YouTube Channel of the Royal Society of NSW. 

Summary

 This presentation considers the rationale for and the value of the teaching of philosophy in contemporary classrooms, particularly in relation to the teaching of ethics. It explores the suppositions we bring to the philosophy classroom, how we might best meet our aims in regard to teaching ethics and the challenges we face in achieving those aims. The different approaches taken to the teaching of philosophical ethics in schools in Australia suggests both the need for greater clarity of purpose in this enterprise and the need to convince educational administrators as well as the broader community of the value of training those who undertake the teaching of philosophical ethics in schools.

Professor Sandra Lynch is the former inaugural Director of the Institute for Ethics and Society and currently Adjunct Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame Australia (Sydney campus). Dr. Lynch’s expertise lies in applied and professional ethics, ethics and values education, the constitution of the self, friendship, critical thinking, and the intersection of philosophy and literature. Her recent research has focussed on models for the teaching of professional ethics, particularly in healthcare ethics, both within educational and professional practice contexts.

Most recently her work has been focused on responding to the need to deepen students’ active engagement in ethical discourse and to enrich their studies by including a focus on the demands of acting on one’s well justified values in complex workplace and social settings. Her research into best practice in the teaching of ethics is underpinned by a commitment to ensuring that students develop the confidence and competence to contribute to the flourishing of their professions and of the societies of which they are part.

 As a former primary schoolteacher with a long-standing involvement in the Philosophy in Schools Association of NSW, Sandra has a strong interest in values education and philosophical inquiry within primary and secondary education, which led to research on values education and the promotion of critical and creative thinking skills in school and tertiary contexts. Her publications include: Strategies for a Thinking Classroom (NSW Primary English Teachers Association, 2008; Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Play: From Birth and Beyond (Springer, 2017); “Philosophy, play and ethics in education” in Philosophical Perspectives on Play (Routledge, 2016); ”Practical and Applied Ethics” in An Introduction to Philosophy and Theology within Catholic Liberal Education (McGraw Hill, 2014); “Relativism tolerance and morality” in Today’s Tyrants (Kapunda Prees, 2019). She is also the author of Philosophy and Friendship (Edinburgh: EUP, 2005) and Friendship and Happiness from a Philosophical Perspective” in Friendship and Happiness ed. by Meliksah Demir (Springer, 2015). In addition, she has also co-edited and contributed to a number of books, including Conscience, Leadership and the Problem of 'Dirty Hands’ (REIO, 2015) and Faith and Reason: Vistas and Visions (Wipf & Stock, forthcoming 2020)

 

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