Shaping the Identity of the New Maltese through Ethics Education in Maltese Schools

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show how changes in the social fabric of Malta have resulted in amendments to the school curriculum in respect to the teaching of moral values. The curriculum now caters for a new subject in schools called Ethics, which is aimed at students who opt out of the mainstream Catholic Religious Education classes. As educators directly involved in its introduction in Maltese schools, as well as in the training of the subject teachers, we reflect on how this new subject relates to the development of both Maltese and migrant students’ identities. We highlight some of the challenges the subject of Ethics presents to parents, teachers and students, and the tensions some students encounter between the religious values taught at home and secular values taught at school.

Keywords

• identity
• ethics education
• moral education
• European values
• religion
• Philosophy for Children