Learning Continuum of Ethical Understanding (Version 8.4)

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This element involves students identifying and examining values and exploring rights and responsibilities of individuals and groups in a range of contexts and practices.

Students use instances of expressed values to explain social interactions and to determine rights and responsibilities in social and legal domains. They recognise and interpret points of view in ethical contexts. In developing and acting with ethical understanding, students:

  • examine values
  • explore rights and responsibilities
  • consider points of view.

Level 1

Typically by the end of Foundation Year, students:

Examine values

identify values that are important to them

Explore rights and responsibilities

share examples of rights and responsibilities in given situations

Consider points of view

express their own point of view and listen to the views of others

Level 2

Typically by the end of Year 2, students:

Examine values

discuss some agreed values in familiar contexts

Explore rights and responsibilities

identify their rights and associated responsibilities and those of their classmates

Consider points of view

recognise that there may be many points of view when probing ethical dilemmas and identify alternative views

Level 3

Typically by the end of Year 4, students:

Examine values

identify and describe shared values in familiar and unfamiliar contexts

Explore rights and responsibilities

investigate children’s rights and responsibilities at school and in the local community

Consider points of view

describe different points of view associated with an ethical dilemma and give possible reasons for these differences