Ethics in the teaching profession and pedagogy of families - ETICA DELLA PROFESSIONE DOCENTE (2017/2018)

Learning outcomes

The everyday activities of the teacher in the classroom, but also the moments invested in the preparation of teaching, in dialogue and discussion with colleagues, parents and other players in the school field, are characterized by an expert knowledge, which deeply connoted by ethical implications. This operating ethic is functional to cope with a set of teaching issues, but also broader relational/social issues, especially in this age marked out by rapid transformations, which can often put a strain on certainties and styles in the exercise of the teaching profession.
The teacher is called to face numerous challenges, including the maintenance of authority that once seemed indisputable. Furthermore, he/she is engaged in providing every child with equal opportunities, in a broader scheme of justice and protection of all children from all forms of ill treatment, as well as of promotion of their personal empowerment.
The teaching module aims at promoting students’ awareness about the fact that none action is ethically neutral. Furthermore, some moments of teaching activities, but also more broadly outside of the teaching practice, are particularly crucial about the exercise of justice, fairness and the empowerment/protection of young learners. The lesson will consist of identifying these moments also with the cooperation of students.

Prerequisites:
Students are asked to know The National Indications for the curriculum of preschool and the first cycle of instruction (2012), as well as to be aware of regulatory constraints provided by school law.
It is also assumed that students are able to decode the meanings of written and audiovisual texts that will be proposed within the course.

Knowledge and skills that have to be acquired:
- to know and appreciate the various tasks of the teacher; as a professional and as a citizen, he/she is expected to correspond to institutional tasks, but more specifically to the needs of each child present at school;
- in continuity with the goal mentioned above: to know the rights of the child, within the framework of the constitutional dictates;
- to be able to recognize in a specific way all the different forms of maltreatment that children may encounter;
- in continuity with the goal mentioned above: to be able to identify forms and actions both for preventing, intervene and taking charge in the event of violations of the rights of children;
- to be able to recognize well-being in school;
- to be able to recognize the tasks of the teacher, who is called to deal with subjects outside the school, primarily with children’s parents, but also with other professionals caring for them.

Contents:
- the duties of the teacher: laws and the code of individual conscience;
- the right to the protection and care of children as persons;
- the different kind of children maltreatment, which are perpetrated more or less consciously and intentionally by adults (maltreatment places, times, ways and actors);
- 'educational emergencies', that means the critical and unfavourable situations concerning the well-being of children (separation of parents, bereavements, diseases, new configurations of families not yet socially accepted, etc.);
- the prevention and/or the taking charge of forms abuse played by children to children; firstly, it is imperative and indispensable the reference to bullying, often favoured by new technologies (cyberbullying);
- the relationship with parents as an alliance between school and outside the educational subject, in particular, the relationship with "difficult" parents.

Teaching activities and methods:
The methodological-didactic approach includes some frontal classes, as well as works with audiovisual materials (film clips or films viewed entirely), meetings with key informants, and interaction with students and among students through the support of the e-learning platform.

Assessment's methods:
The exam consists of an argumentative written text; it is related to the texts described in the course bibliography. Attending students will be given the possibility of an interview with the lecturer, which focuses on a subject or problem they have identified and chosen for in-depth personal analysis.
It is reserved for the teacher, especially after the end of the classes, examining students with oral interviews.

Assessment's criteria:
Students will be asked a series – usually 6 – of questions. Answers will be assessed individually with a mark expressed in thirtieths. Then, the average will be calculated for defining and assigning the overall final mark. Students who have not reached at least the required level - 18/30 - in all the written questions, will be asked to repeat part of the examination to fill the gap/gaps. In the most serious cases – more than two inadequate answers, and especially if the other answers will be considered weak – students will be asked to repeat the whole exam.

STUDENT MODULE EVALUATION - 2017/2018