Citizenship and Moral Education Hand out for weekend Students

Chapter One: Understanding of Citizenship and Ethics / morality

Concept of Civics, Ethics and Morality
Since human being is a social animal and couldn’t live alone, he/she has to respect certain fundamental principles
and values to live together with his/her fellow beings and consequently build peaceful society and lead prosperous
life.
As Johan Stuart Mill (1972) described it, progressive and peaceful setting subsists in a given society as far as that
society develops the qualities of its members and generates good citizens.
Aristotle (1955) also added that citizens of a State should always be educated to suit the constitution of a State.
Accordingly, creating a good citizen has been the prior concern of many States, including Ethiopia. This is because
good citizens are made not born.
Over the years, different terms have been used in an attempt to capture and describe the educational experiences
that deal with the task of developing democratic minded citizens. The subject assumed different names and
purposes depending on countries’ ideologies and thus the definition of the discipline vary across States. Terms
such as Right Education (in South Africa), Citizenship Education (in United States of America and Germany),
Citizenship and Character Education (in Singapore), Civics and Ethical Education (in Ethiopia) are just a few
examples that can be found in the literature.

Though the most cited definition of civic education is an education that studies about the rights and responsibilities
of citizens of a politically organized group of people,

Different writers define it in many ways. For instance, Patrick (1986) defines civic education as the knowledge of
the constitutions, the principles, values, history and application to contemporary life. Citizenship education c an be
understood as the knowledge, means, and activities designed to encourage students to participate actively in
democratic life, accepting and exercising their rights and responsibilities.

United Nations Development Program (UNDP, 2004) defines civic education as a way of learning for effective
participation in a democratic and development process.

On his part, Aggarwal (1982) linked civic education to the development of ideas, habits, behaviors and useful
attitudes in the individual which enables him to be a useful member of the society. Still the subject matter can be
also defined as the process of helping young people acquire and learn to use the skills, knowledge, and attitudes
that will prepare them to be competent and responsible citizens throughout their lives.

Actually, these different concepts and meanings were used to differentiate between a maximal and a minimal civic
education.

The minimal concept of civic education is content-led, teacher-based, whole-class teaching and examination-based
assessment.

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However, the maximal concept of civic education is comprised of knowledge, values and skills, and aims to
prepare students for active, responsible participation. Unlike narrow minimalist civic education, it extends learning
beyond the curriculum and classroom to all activities inside and outside school. In addition, it is highly dependent
on interactive teaching, which requires discussion, debate and the creation of many opportunities for students to
participate effectively.

Concept of Ethics

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that attempts to understand people’s moral beliefs and actions (we use the terms,
‘ethics’ and ‘morality’; ‘ethical’ and ‘moral’ interchangeably, although traditionally ‘ethics’ described the process
of thinking about people’s morality). Ethics, or moral philosophy, considers theories about what human beings are
capable of doing, alongside accounts of what they ought to do if they are to live an ethically good life. Ethics also
explores the meaning and the ranking of different ethical values, such as honesty, autonomy, equality and justice,
and it considers ethical quandaries that human beings face in the course of living their own independent but, also,
socially interdependent lives.

Ethics, or moral philosophy: considers theories about what human beings are capable of doing, alongside accounts
of what they ought to do if they are to live an ethically good life.

Ethics may share common ground with the law, religious belief, popular opinion, professional codes and the
dictates of authority figures, but it is also broader than all of these and offers a set of tools and values against
which their appropriateness can be evaluated.

Invariably all ethical questions involve a decision about what one should do in a specific instance. Notice the word
should. Ethical questions are not concerned with what one would do (an essentially psychological concern) but
what one ought to do. Judgments about such decisions are generally expressed with words like right and wrong,
should and ought, or obligation and duty.

Occasionally the term ethics is used interchangeably with morals. Business or medical ethics, for example, is
generally synonymous with morals. Although this is acceptable, a precise usage would apply the term’s morals and
moral to the conduct itself, while the terms ethics and ethical would refer to the study of moral conduct or to the
code that one follows. Thus, the specific act of telling the caller you were home could be described as moral or
immoral. But what makes any act moral or immoral, right or wrong fall within the province of ethics.

When we speak of moral problems then, we generally refer to specific problems, such as “Is lying ever right?”
or “Is stealing always wrong?” in contrast, we can look at ethical problems as being more general and
theoretical. Thus, “what makes any act, such as lying or stealing, right or wrong?” and “what makes any entity
good?” are ethical problems.

In short, morality refers to the degree to which an action conforms to a standard or norm of human conduct.
Ethics refers to the philosophical study of values and of what constitute good and bad human conduct.

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In dealing with human conduct from the perspective of obligation and value, ethics investigates a variety of related
concerns. Among them are whether a standard of morality exists that applies to all people at all times everywhere,
the precise nature of moral responsibility, the conditions under which one is morally accountable or responsible,
and the proper end of law. When ethicists use word like “good” or “right” to describe a person or action they
generally means that the person or action conforms to some standard. A good person or action has certain desirable
qualities.

Ethicists often disagree about the nature of those standards and desirable qualities and follow different paths in
establishing standards and discovering which qualities are desirable. For purposes of understanding, though, we
can view ethics as divided into two fields; normative ethics and non-normative ethics.

Generally, Ethics is:

The critical examination and evaluation of what is good, evil, right and wrong in human
conduct (Guy, 2001).
A specific set of principles, values and guidelines for a particular group or organization
(Guy, 2001).
Ethics is the study of goodness, right action and moral responsibility, it asks what
choices and ends we ought to pursue and what moral principles should govern our
pursuits and choices (Madden, 2000).

Concept of Morality

Morality can be viewed from different perspectives and let us start with the simple definition of the word itself.

Morality from a dictionary definition (from Latin moralitas “manner, character, proper behavior”) refers to the
concept of human action which pertains to matters of right and wrong – also referred to as “good and evil”. It can
be used to mean the generally accepted code of conduct in a society, or within a subgroup of society.

It relates to values expressed as: a matter of individual choice, those values to which we ought to aspire and those
values shared within a culture, religious, secular, or philosophical community. This definition is clear when
morality is spelt out and agreed upon by others. However, it becomes ambiguous when defined by different ethnic
groups, especially in the multicultural society, like Ethiopians.

According to Socrates “We are discussing no small matter, but how we ought to live” when issues of morality are
discussed.

Socrates is rightly asserted that morality is not a small matter. In fact, moral philosophy is the attempt to achieve a
systematic understanding of the nature of morality and what it requires of us.

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In Socrates’ words it’s “how we ought to live”. Living in a multicultural Ethiopia, how we ought to live can be
very complicated because of the diversity of culture that is vast and unique.

Morality is, at the very least, the effort to guide one’s conduct by reason that is, to do what there are the best
reasons for doing while giving equal weight to the interest of each individual who will be affected by one’s
conduct. It is important that in countries like Ethiopia, morality is shared as a common goal to ensure harmony and
integrity.

Terms such as morality and ethics are often used interchangeably in everyday speech as referring to justified or
proper conduct. But ethics is usually associated with a certain conduct within a profession, for example, the code
of ethics for the teaching profession. Morality is a more general term referring to the character of individuals and
community. In other words, Morality is used to refer to what we would call moral conduct while ethics is used to
refer to the formal study of moral conduct. It can be claimed that morality is related to praxis, but ethics is related
to theory.

Generally Morality is:

1. Those principles and values that actually guide, for better or worse, an individual’s personal conduct (Guy,
2001)
2. Morality is the informal system of rational beings by which they govern their behavior in order to lesson harm
or evil and do good, this system, although informal, enjoys amazing agreement across time and cultures
concerning moral rules, moral ideas and moral virtues (Madden, 2000)
The similarity b/n ethics & morality
Both of them concerned with human actions (Behaviors).
Both of them helps to determine whether actions are right or wrong ,good/bad.
Occasionally the term ethics is used interchangeably with morals

The difference b/n Ethics and Morality

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Ethics Morality

Ethics is a philosophical thinking about Morality refers to the code of conduct one follows.
morality, moral problem and moral It is the conformity of human behavior to the
judgment of right or wrong. established code of conduct. If an action conforms to
It is a philosophical study of the code, the established code, it is called moral, if not
standards or norm of human conduct and immoral.
it is more theoretical and general one. Refers to the effort to guide one’s conduct by reason
while giving equal weight to the interests of each
It establishes the standards, norms, or individual who will be affected by one’s conduct.
codes followed by human beings.
Morality is a subject matter (Issue to be studded by
It is the study of morality, moral ethics)
principles, and moral decision-making.
It describes what someone is actually doing.
It is the development of reasonable
It is concerned with what is accepted.
standards and procedures for ethical
It is only about the individuals feeling express
decision-making.
through actions.
It is a set of normative rules of conduct, a
code, a standards that govern what one Morality is related to praxis(the use of a theory in
ought to do when the well-being, or practical way).
duties to oneself, others or institutions is
at stake Morality is a more general term referring to the
Ethics are governed by professional and character of individuals and community
legal and guide lines within a particular
time and place
It deals with what someone ought to do.
It is concerned with what is right/wrong.
It is justifying the action is right/wrong,
good/bad.
Ethics related to theory.
Ethics is usually associated with a certain
conduct within a profession.

The relationship between Morality / Ethics and Law

As against morals and ethics, laws are norms, formally approved by state, power or national or international
political bodies.

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Many laws instituted in order to promote well-being, resolve conflicts of interest, and promote social harmony.
However, there are several reasons why ethics is not law. First, some actions that are illegal may not be unethical.
For example, Speeding is illegal, but one might have an ethical obligation to break the speed limit in order to
transport someone to a hospital in an emergency. Second, some actions that are unethical may not be illegal. For
example, most people would agree that lying is unethical but lying is only illegal under certain conditions, e.g.
lying on an income tax return, lying when giving sworn testimony, etc. Third, laws can be unethical or immoral.
For example, the United States had laws permitting slavery in the 1800s but most people today would say that
those laws were unethical or immoral. Although we have moral and ethical obligations to obey the law, civil
disobedience can be justified when immoral or unethical laws exist.

Since we can appeal to morality and ethics to justify or criticize laws, many writers maintain that the main function
of a legal system is to enforce a society’s moral and ethical consensus. Fourth, we use different kinds of
mechanisms to express, teach, inculcate, and enforce laws and ethics. Laws expressed publicly in statutes, penal
codes, court rulings, government regulations, and so forth. Although ethics and morals sometimes made explicit in
religious texts, professional codes of conduct, or philosophical writings, many ethical and moral standards are
implicit. Finally, we use the coercive power of government to enforce laws.

People who break certain laws can be fined, imprisoned, or executed. People who violate ethical or moral
standards do not face these kinds of punishments unless their actions also violate laws. Often we “punish” people
who disobey moral or ethical obligations by simply expressing our disapproval or by condemning the behavior.

The Importance/Goal of Moral and Citizenship Education

Civic education is a discipline that deals with virtue traits rooted in values of respect and culture
of tolerance to make individuals responsible and efficient member of their community.
Teaches the values and sense of commitment that define an active and principled citizen, how to
make responsible decisions, solve problems, care about others, contribute to society, and be
tolerant and respectful of diversity.
In higher educational institutions of Ethiopia, civics and ethics/moral education is given with the
aim of educating students about democratic culture, ethical values and principles, supremacy of
constitution, the rule of law, rights and duties of citizens. These elements are imperative in the
process of producing self-confident citizens who decides on issues based on reason. It is also
aimed at creating a generation who has the capability to shoulder family and national
responsibility.
Ethics has also become important in education, because education is a fundamental process of
human life. Therefore, ethics is very important subject in education. We can easily reach all
knowledge by technology. In education using technology reveals some ethical problems such as
plagiarism. In order to understand the importance of ethics, ethics should be placed as a course in
educational system.

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Generally, the necessity of delivering the course emanates from:

1) The need to instill citizens about their rights and duties: The two phrases rights and duties co-
exist with each other (they are termed as the two sides of the same coin) that regulate the values
and behavioral patterns of an individual.
For instance, the State has the obligation to provide health care services because citizens have the
right to access that service.
However, the State will be unable to ensure that citizens led a healthy life unless citizens
themselves act responsibly with respect to their own health, in terms of a healthy diet, exercise,
and the consumption of liquor and tobacco.
Similarly, the state will be unable to meet the needs of children, the elderly or the disabled, if
citizens do not agree to share this responsibility by providing some care for their relatives; the
state cannot protect the environment if citizens are unwilling to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste
byproducts in their own homes; and attempts to create a fairer society will flounder if citizens are
chronically intolerant of difference and generally lacking in what Rawls (1971) calls a sense of
justice.
In short, we need a fuller, richer and yet more subtle understanding and practice of citizenship,
because what the ideal society needs and wants to be cannot be secured by coercion, but only
through its members (citizens) who have a balanced understanding of rights and duties.
Sastry et al. (2011) presented four issues to look into the interplay between rights and duties.
First, one's right implies the other's duty. This means every right of an individual automatically
imposes a duty on others. For example, the right to freedom of movement imposes a duty on
others not to interfere with the right of movement of any body, except regulated by law. Second,
one's right implies one's duty to recognize similar rights of others. This implies that every exercise
of right is subject to restrictions. For example, one has the freedom of speech and expression,
but, at the same time, the practitioner has to bear in mind that the exercise of free speech and
expression in no way affects the rights of others.
Third, one should exercise his rights for the promotion of social good. If any person tries to misuse the
rights, which affect the rights of others or of the society or state, the Government has a duty to take
appropriate legal action to prevent such acts. For example, if a person tries to abuse his right to freedom
of speech and expression, the State can take legal action. Any such action by the State is justified. Fourth,
the State being a nucleus organ needs to take care of the social and legal interests of all its individuals.
From this point of view, the State has the obligation to discharge duties towards its citizens. As the State

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guarantees and protects the rights of everybody, one has a duty to support the State in its legal endeavors.
Therefore, there is no doubt that there must be a balance between citizenship rights and obligations. For
this reason, civics and ethics course provides to citizens to ensure that each individual become an
informed citizen capable of thinking effectively as well as responsibly in carrying out their duties and
observing rights.

2) The Need for Participant Political Culture: According to the International Encyclopedia of the
Social Sciences (1961) political culture is the set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments which give
order and meaning to a political process and which provide the underlying assumptions and rules
that govern behavior in the political system.
 Taylor (1999) describes political culture as the norms of conduct both of and between the various
political actors operating in society, together with the concomitant expectations and
understandings of the rights and responsibilities of citizens, representatives, public servants and
so on.
Political culture shapes what people expect of their political system, what they see, as
possibilities for their own action, and what rights and responsibilities the various actors perceived
to have. Generally, political culture defines the roles, which an individual may play in the political
process.
 Almond and Verba (1963) construct three political cultures: parochial cultures, subject
cultures, and participant cultures.
 In parochial cultures, citizens have low cognitive, affective, and evaluative orientation regarding
the political systems, government powers and functions and even their privileges and duties. In
such political culture, the role of citizens in the political sphere of their countries is insignificant
since individuals thinks of their families advantage as the only goal to pursue.
 In subject cultures, there is high cognitive, affective, and evaluative orientation towards the
political system and policy outputs, but orientations towards input objects (like political parties)
and the self as active participants are minimal. Thus, orientation towards the system and its
outputs channeled via a relatively detached, passive relationship on the part of the citizen.
 Subject cultures are most compatible with centralized, authoritarian political structures.
 In participant cultures, members of society have high cognitive, affective, and evaluative
orientation to the political system, the input objects, the policy outputs, and recognize the self as
an active participant in the polity.

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 Largely, participant cultures are most compatible with democratic political structures
because the qualities and attitudes of citizens determine the health and stability of a country’s
democracy.
 Democracy can only thrive when citizens understand and participate actively in civic and political
life from the perspective that participation is important, but informed and educated participation is
more important.
 However, there are many factors challenging the democracy and democratization process of
countries including Ethiopia.
 For instance, individual interests seem to be more important and dominant in the socio-economic
and political structure of a given State.
 Apparently, many citizens lack the competences and knowledge to deal with the tensions between
individually and socially centered norms and obligations.
 Besides, small parts of the population support the norm that a citizen should be politically active.
That is, although many modes of political participation are available, most citizens still rely on
voting only.
However, it is clear that democratic political activities cannot be restricted to visiting a ballot box
every five years. Likewise, the self-understanding of people as recipients/consumers instead of
active citizens seems to be important challenges in the democratization process. That's why
people in a democratic country are supposed to have in-depth understanding on democratic
behavior and able to behave democratically: individuals sense of identity and their ability to
tolerate and work together with others who are different from themselves; their desire to
participate in the political process in order to promote the public good and hold political
authorities accountable; their willingness to show self-restraint and exercise personal
responsibility in their economic demands and in personal choices-which affect their health and the
environment. Without citizens who possess these qualities, democracies become difficult to
govern, even unstable. For this reason, civics and ethics has been given to inculcate these
competencies upon learners and, in turn, advance and strengthen the democratization process.
 In active citizenship, also, participation is not restricted simply to the political dimension rather it
also includes socio-cultural and environmental activities.
This understanding of active citizenship is ethically-driven where activities should support the
community and should not contravene the principles of human rights and the rule of law . The role
to be played by civics and ethics is, therefore, acculturation learners with the attributes of active
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citizenship, democracy and equip them with the skills of participation in civil society, community
and/or political life to ensure that the young possesses a combination of knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and values at their disposal. So that they can develop and practice civic skills, offering
opportunities for open discussions about political and social issues, fully discharges their role as
citizens, and make informed and educated decisions about candidates and public policy.
Generally, the subject plays undeniable role in democratization process through solving societal
problems, socializing and re-socializing individuals by instilling desired values, helping
individuals develop feeling of respect to others, develop a sense of belongingness and patriotism,
and the like.
3) The Need for Relevant Knowledge, Skills and Positive Attitudes: Relevant knowledge is a type of knowledge
which is useful in dealing with a particular problem at a period of time.

However, knowledge would remain inert knowledge unless it is functional or put into practice to achieve a certain
goal. Still knowledge would remain infirm if the person is not equipped with right attitudes and requisite skills
which are basic to enable him/her perform his/her role as a credible member of a society.

Hence, the State in question will do better in its bid for development if most of her citizens are skillful in one field
or the other and also demonstrate positive attitudes at the work place.

Right attitudes are very essential ingredients needed to ensure harmony and peaceful co-existence among people. It
is reasonable to claim that skillful manpower is a pre-requisite for every nation that wishes to develop but a skillful
manpower without positive attitudes to work is likely to result in counter production because vices like corruption,
bribery, abuse of power, lateness to and work absenteeism among others will pop their ugly heads.

For this reason, civics and ethics is acknowledged as an essential subject from the perception that it can be a useful
cure for the ‘social ills’ often associated with young people: that is, tendencies for anti-social behavior and political
apathy among young people, or, what Osler and Starkey (2006) describe as ‘youth deficit’.

At the local community level, it is assumed that social and environmental problems can best be resolved through
an understanding of what it means to be a citizen.

4) The issue of fostering intercultural societies: The recognition of cultural diversity is certainly meritorious, but
civics and ethics education could move a step forward by appealing to the notion of inter-culturalism, which
explicitly asserts the need for relationship, dialogue, reciprocity and interdependence.

Beyond differences of semantics, civics and ethics education is a useful instrument not only towards tolerating or
celebrating each other, but also about nurturing dynamic exchanges based on interaction, openness and effective
solidarity.

The subject helps to integrate the best traditions of multicultural and intercultural education to develop political
and pedagogical strategies that contribute to overcome discrimination and to nurture genuine, inclusive dialogue
among cultural groups.

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The issue of inclusiveness: By framing a universal concept of citizenship constructed on the attributes/identities
and practices of male subjects, gendered relations and the private sphere have been neglected. Civics and ethics as
a subject is thought to nurture new and inclusive relations and practices in both public and private spaces that
recognize gender differences while ensuring inclusiveness and equity. It should also go beyond the idea of quotas
for women in formal politics, or strategies to empower women to play male politics. Hence, promoting democracy
and inclusiveness in public spaces as well as in families, workplaces, unions, and other institutions become the area
of focus of civics and ethics.

5) The issue of peace-building: in an environment characterized by increasing militarization, terrorism, civil wars
and genocidal acts, it is urgent for citizenship education to advance pedagogical strategies to promote cooperation,
dialogue, and a sustainable peace that is based on justice. It is obvious that civics and ethics alone cannot bring
peace to our planet, yet it can make a valuable contribution to create the subjective conditions for more peaceful
situations. This includes the development of competencies for peacemaking, conflict resolution, healing,
reconciliation and reconstruction.

It also includes an understanding of nonviolent civil disobedience philosophies, strategies and skills. A peace-
oriented citizenship education can foster the development of values, attitudes and skills to nurture peace within
ourselves and in our personal relationships, and to create the conditions for peace in our own communities and in
the global community.

The aim of moral/ethical and civic education is to provide people to make decisions by their free wills. You can
teach norms easily, but you cannot teach easily to obey these rules unless you teach ethics.

Therefore, teaching ethics has an important and necessary place in education. Students who graduated from
universities may be well educated persons in their professions but it is not enough. Aristotle also says,
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”

Citizenship and Moral Education is based on and seeks to promote in students core moral, ethical,
democratic, and educational values, such as: Respect for life, Respect for reasoning, Fairness,
Concern for the welfare of others, Respect for diversity and Peaceful resolution of conflict
To sum up, the goals of teaching civics and ethics at any level of educational institutions is to
produce competent, high moral standard society and responsible citizens who can ask and use
their rights and fulfill their obligations in accordance with the laws of their respective country.
Democracy doesn’t deserve its name without citizens’ participation. Ever since Pericles this claim has been defended
and discussed. The question is not whether citizens should be involved in democratic decision-making processes, but
how much engagement and participation is required for a vibrant democracy. Citizens’ involvement, however, cannot
be taken for granted but depends heavily on resources, motivations, and social contacts. Orientations and activities of
citizens that strengthen democracy and which, in turn, are strengthened by democratic experiences are summarized
under the label active citizenship. Citizens cannot fulfill these ambitious tasks adequately without specific
competences; that is, citizens need to have “a combination of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values” at their
disposal enabling them “to become an active citizen” (Hoskins et al., 2011).

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