Presentation from the 2nd Scientix Conference, 24-26 Ocotober 2014, Brussels, Belgium

1. Ethics of working with children and
students
Mari-Liisa Parder
University of Tartu, Centre for Ethics
Brussels, 26th October 2014

2. Ethics
• Ethics deals with values and virtues,
good and bad, right and wrong.
• Ethics is not just the blind acceptance
of rules, but a critical reflection on why
it is really the case that we should
regard something as moral or immoral.

3. Three important questions
• Why to do it? – Ethical analysis of the
objectives of the activity.
• How to do it (listening and empowering
of children) ethically? Developing
guidelines for practitioners.
• What are the consequences of these
activities

4. Ethics and children
• Vulnerability
• Responsibility
• Children’s autonomy
• Consent/assent

5. Ethics and students
• Responsibility
• Students autonomy
• Consent

6. Ethics and professional
• Role of the professional
• Professional as a role model

7. Critical reflection
Student Campus tour guide is having a group of children
around the university. They are accompanied by two adults.
The adults talk between themselves about the ethnic
background of the children in front of them. They are doing
offensive remarks about the children's background in a fairly
quiet voice so that only the tour guide hears them.
Once most of the children are out of the hearing distance they
turn to the guide and say that she should speak slower
because these children aren't the brightest ones and most of
them come from uneducated foreign families.
How would you react if you were the tour guide?

8. Possible actions
1.I would agree to talk slower.
2.I would reply fairly loudly that in my opinion these are some of
most wonderful children I've toured thus far and they understand
more than it seems.
3.I would quietly reprimand the adults for their behaviour.
4.I would tell the adults that I would like to discuss this matter with
them after the tour.
5.I would turn to the pupils and ask them what they think of two
persons who talk about others behind their backs.
6.I would ignore them for now but later I would inform the school
about the two adults and their behaviour

9. Thank you!
Mari-Liisa Parder
www.eetika.ee/en
mari-liisa.parder@ut.ee
University of Tartu, Centre for Ethics
See more: http://elearning.siscatalyst.eu/

10. Thank you!
Mari-Liisa Parder
www.eetika.ee/en
mari-liisa.parder@ut.ee
University of Tartu, Centre for Ethics
See more: http://elearning.siscatalyst.eu/