COURSE TITLE: MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION (MCED 1011)

Chapter One: Understanding of Civics and Ethics

Unit Objectives
After the successful completion of this chapter, students will be able
to:
1. Define civic education.
2. Define ethics and moral/morality.
3. Differentiate ethics and moral/morality.
4. Discuss the advantages or goals learning Moral and Civic
Education.
5. Explain the competences of a good citizen and
evaluate yourself in line with these competences.
6. Use critical thinking, interpersonal skills and ethical
theories to make judgments on moral issues.
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1.1 Introduction

• This chapter is an introductory part where some

terms/words are conceptualized. For instance:
- Meaning of “Civics”,
- Meaning of “citizen”,
- Meaning of “Citizenship”,
- Meaning of “Ethics”, and
- Meaning of “Moral/morality”.

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Where does the word civics come from?
 The word Civics comes from the Latin word

“civi–tas”, which implies “citizen”, which means “citizen” is

legal member of a state or a Country.

 In simplest terms, citizen refers to the person who is a legal member of a

particular State and who has rights and shouldering duties and

responsibilities in that State.

 Whereas citizenship means legal relationship between the individual or
the person and the state.

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Meaning or Definition of civics
Brainstorming Question:
• What does civics mean?
 Of course, many authorities have defined the concept of civics in many ways.

 The word/term Civics is defined as a branch of social science that studies

roles, rights as well as duties and responsibilities or obligations of citizens.
 It is a science that studies purpose and nature of government, nature of law
and the political system of a given state.
 In short, Civics is defined as the scientific study of roles, rights, duties and
responsibilities of both the government and citizens in a particular state.

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Civic and Ethical Education
What does civic and ethical education mean?
 Civic and ethical education investigates or studies the political,
economic and social realities of the community.
 In addition, civic and ethical education is an important
component of education that promotes citizens to participate in
the public life of democracy, to use their rights and to
discharge or perform their duties and responsibilities.

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1.2 The Definition and Nature of Ethics and Morality

Ethics and Morality are sometimes used interchangeably.

However, these words/terms are different in some concepts.
A) Ethics

• The word ethics is derived from a Latin word “ethos”, which

means “way of living.”
• Ethics is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with human
conduct. In other words, ethics studies what is morally good
and bad and morally right and wrong behaviors (activities).

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• Ethics is also known as moral philosophy, which
scientifically studies moral principles, moral values and
moral reasoning of an individual or a group.
• Ethics explores or studies the nature of rights, moral
responsibilities and how to address ethical problems.

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• Ethics as a branch of philosophy, which is a normative
science, because it is concerned with norms of human conduct
as distinguished from the formal science such as mathematics
and logic, and the empirical (experimental) sciences such as
physics and chemistry.
• In short, Ethics is a scientific study of moral/morality.
• Examples of ethics include: accountability, transparency,
integrity, confidentiality, respect, loyalty, honesty, etc.

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• Generally, the word ethics is the philosophical, theoretical, general
(broad) and abstract as well as analytical study of universal moral
principles in a certain community or social setting.
• Every single individual has some principles, which help him/her
throughout his/her life to cope up with any adverse situation; they are
known as ethics.
1. Ethics is the critical examination and evaluation of what is good, evil or
bad, right and wrong in human conduct or behavior (Guy, 2001).
2. 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 (tracks) and choices (Madden, 2000).

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B) Moral/Morality
• The word “moral/morality” is derived from a Latin word
called “Mores ” which means custom or norm or habit.
• Moral/morality refers to an individual's principle or rule
regarding right and wrong actions or practices.
• It is an individual's principle or rule while deciding what is
right or wrong action (activity).
• Moral/morality is taking responsibility of a given person.

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• Moral/morality is the social, cultural and religious beliefs or values of

an individual, which tells us what is right or wrong action in our

daily life.

• Moral/morality act involves some principles of moral law, which is

called morally good or right, morally responsible or acceptable

behavior (action) of an individual.

• Moral/morality is more specific practice or action of an individual.

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• Moral/morality is thus a set of rules or principles, which majority of people
considered as morally good or right action.
• Examples of morality include being honest, treating others with respect,
helping those in need, and to maintain loyalty and adhering to laws and social
norms, obligation to refrain from rape, stealing, killing, etc.
• But if opposed to principles of moral law, it is called bad or wrong, immoral,
irresponsible or unacceptable behavior (action or activity) of an individual.
• Examples of immorality are factors such as ignorance, emotion, violence
and bad habit or bad action is negative or immoral act of an individual or
a person.

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 Characteristics of Ethics and Morality
Ethics Moral/Morality
Is philosophical study of the code of conduct, refers to the code of conduct one follows
standards or norms of human conduct and it is
more theoretical, general and abstract. or practices
Is the study of moral conduct (behavior) or is Is moral that one practices
the study of morality that one follows
Is the study of morality, moral principles, and is the conformity of human behavior to
moral decision making. the established code of conduct. If an
action conform to the established code, it
is called moral ,if not immoral
Is the development of reasonable standards Is one’s conduct or behavior or manner.
and procedures for ethical decision-making
Is a set of normative rules of conduct, Has to do with what one should do or
standards that govern what humans ought to should not do.
do in the workplace.

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The Goal of Moral and Civic Education
• Moral and Civic education is a tool to create knowledgeable, active,
competent and responsible citizens.
• It enables citizens to be active participate in social, economic,
political and cultural activities in a given society or country.
• It helps citizens to know the human and democratic rights and
responsibilities of ourselves and others.
• It helps citizens to develop, appreciate, respect others’ culture,
language, religion, etc.
• It helps citizens for developing responsible ways of thinking and
acting.
• It also enables citizens participate in voluntary organizations like
workers’ union, women’s association, youth’s association, community
service clubs, etc.

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1.3 Ethics and Law
• Contrary to morals and ethics, law is a rule, formally
approved by state power or by national or international
political bodies.
• Many laws are instituted or established in order to promote
benefit and security, 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.
• E.g. Breaking the speed limit 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.

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• Second, some actions that are unethical may not be necessarily illegal.
E.g. practicing non-corporal punishment on children is illegal, but it is
not unethical action. This is because such practice or action is good to
properly guide and correct the children’s misbehavior.
• Third, laws can be unethical or immoral. For instance, the United
States had laws permitting slavery in the 1800s but most people today
would say that those laws were unethical or immoral.
• In this regard, many writers maintain that the main function of a legal
system is to enforce or implement a society’s moral and ethical value.

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• Fourth, laws are expressed publicly in statutes or decrees,
penal codes, court rulings, government regulations and so
forth in written form.
• However, many ethical and moral standards are mostly
implicit/unwritten form.

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• Finally, People who break certain laws can be found
imprisoned or executed.
• However, people who violate ethical or moral standards
(principles) do not face these kinds of punishments
unless their actions violate laws.
• Often we “punish” people who disobey moral or ethical
obligations by simply expressing and condemning the
unethical behavior.

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The need to teach citizens about their rights and
duties and responsibilities
• Both rights and duties and responsibilities 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, government of the State has an obligation to
provide health care services because citizens have the right
to access to the health care services.

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• Similarly, the government will be unable to meet the needs of children, the

elderly and the disabled people, if citizens do not agree to share this

responsibility by providing some care for their relatives.

• The government cannot protect the environment if citizens are unwilling

to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste products in their own homes.

• In short, as a citizen, we need a fuller, richer and a balanced understanding

and practice about our rights and duties and responsibilities.

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Class Discussion:

• Discuss the values or importance of having a full and

balanced understanding about one’s rights, and duties and
responsibility.
• Discuss the values of acting according to one’s rights, and
duties and responsibility.

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• Sastry et al. (2011), presented four issues to look into the
interaction between rights and duties.
• First, one's right implies the other's duty. This means, every
right of an individual automatically imposes a duty and
responsibility on others.
• For example, the right to freedom of movement imposes a
duty and responsibility on others not to interfere with the
right of movement of any body, except regulated (ordered)
by law.
• Second, one's right implies one's duty and responsibility to
recognize similar rights of others.
• This implies that every exercise of right is subject to some
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 is no way to affect
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the rights of others.
• Third, one should exercise his/her rights for the promotion of
social good.
• If any person tries to misuse his/her rights, it in turn affects the
rights of others or the rights of tha society at large.
• At this time, the State (the government) has a duty and
responsibility to take appropriate legal action to prevent such
immoral acts of the person.
• For example, if a person tries to abuse or misuse his right to
freedom of speech and expression, the State (the government) can
take legal action to prevent and correct it .
• As a result, any such action by the State is justified or
acceptable.

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• Fourth, the State (the government) has the obligation to
discharge or fulfill duties towards its citizens.
• Similarly, as the State guarantees and protects the rights of
everybody, one has a duty and responsibility to support
the State in its legal endeavors.
• Therefore, there must be a balance between citizens’ rights
and obligations.
• For this reason, civics and ethics course provides to citizens
to ensure that each individual becomes an informed citizen
capable of thinking effectively as well as responsibly in
carrying out their duties and observing their rights.

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The Need for Participant Political Culture
• Taylor (1999) describes political culture as the norms of
conduct between the various political actors operating in the
society.
• 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 are
perceived to have.
• Generally, political culture defines the roles which an
individual may actively play or participate in the political
process.

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• Almond and Verba (1963) construct three political cultures. They
are:
a) parochial cultures,
b) subject cultures, and
C)participant cultures.
a) Parochial cultures: In parochial (narrow-minded) cultures, citizens
have low cognitive, low affective, and low evaluative orientation
regarding the political systems, government powers and
functions, and even their privileges (rights) and duties and
responsibilities.
• In such political culture, the role of citizens in the political sphere
of their country is insignificant or very poor. 26
b) Subject cultures: In subject cultures, there is high cognitive,
high affective, and high evaluative orientation towards the
political system and policy outputs.
• However, subject cultures are most compatible with

centralized, authoritarian political structures.

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 C) Participant cultures: In participant cultures, members of the
society have also high cognitive, high affective and high
evaluative orientation to the political system, and
recognize the self as an active participant in the political
system.
• 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 or flourish when citizens
understand and participate actively in the civic and
political life of the country.
• In this connection, informed and educated participation is
more important for democratic development and
democratization process .

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Discussion Question:
• Among the three above political cultures, which
political culture best describes the current Ethiopian
political situations?

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• 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 knowledge and competences to
deal with the tensions between individually and socially centered norms
and obligations.
• Besides, small parts of the population or citizens politically active
and support the norm of democratization.
• That is, although many modes of political participation are available,
most citizens still rely on or depend on only a regular voting.
• But, it is clear that democratic political activities cannot be restricted
only to a ballot box every five years election campaign.

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• In active citizenship, participation is not only restricted to the
political dimension or aspect rather it should also includes
socio-economic, cultural and environmental activities.
• In this connection, the young generation should possess a
combination of knowledge, skills, positive attitudes and
values at their life span.
• So that they can develop and practice civic or public skills,
offering opportunities for open discussions about political,
socio-economic, cultural and environmental activities.
• The young generation should also fully discharge or perform
their role as citizens and make informed and educated
decisions about election candidates and public policy.

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The Need for Relevant Knowledge, Skills and Positive
Attitudes
• Relevant knowledge, skills and Positive Attitudes are useful
in dealing with or resolve a particular problem at a period of
time.
• Right knowledge, skills and positive attitudes are very
essential ingredients needed to ensure harmony and
peaceful co-existence among people.

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• It is reasonable 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.
• For instance, which associates like corruption, bribery, abuse of power,
lateness to work and absenteeism from work are among unethical attitudes.
• 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 or problems’ often
associated with young people: what Osler and Starkey (2006: 437) describe as
‘youth deficit’.
• At the local community level, it is assumed that social and environmental
problems can best be resolved through a good understanding and positive
attitude of citizens.

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Group Discussion:
• What would happen in a State if its citizens lack
relevant knowledge, skills and positive attitudes?

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The issue of fostering or encouraging intercultural societies:
• Civic and ethical education could move to the notion or idea of
interculturalism, which explicitly asserts (emphasizes and underlines)
the need for relationship, dialogue, mutuality and interdependence.
• Civic and ethical education is also a useful instrument not only towards
tolerating each other.
• And it is also important about nurturing or cultivating and raising
dynamic exchanges based on communication, openness and effective
solidarity.
• The subject (civic and ethical education) helps to integrate the best
traditions of multicultural and intercultural education to develop
political and pedagogical strategies that contribute to overcome
discrimination, encourage genuine and inclusive dialogue among
cultural groups.

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 The issue of inclusiveness
• Civics and ethical education as a subject is thought to nurture or
encourage new and inclusive relations in both public and private
levels that recognizes gender differences while ensuring
inclusiveness and equity.
• Hence, to promote democracy and inclusiveness in public levels as
well as in families, in workplaces, in unions and in other institutions,
knowledge, skill and positive attitude of civics and ethics is so
vital.

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The issue of peace-building: In an environment characterized by increasing
militarization (conflict or war based on armed forces), terrorism, civil wars and
genocidal acts, civic and ethical education is urgent for citizenship education
to promote cooperation, dialogue and a sustainable peace and justice.
• It is obvious that civic and ethical education is not only bring peace and justice
to our planet, but it can also make a valuable contribution to create more
peaceful situations in a given community.
• This includes the development of competencies for peacemaking, conflict
resolution, reconciliation and reconstruction (restoration) of the situation.

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• Civic and ethical education again includes an understanding of non-
violent civil disobedience philosophies, strategies and skills.
• A peace-oriented citizenship education can foster or encourage the
development of knowledge, skills, positive attitudes and values to
nurture or raise peace within ourselves and in our personal
relationships.
• Civic and ethical education also creates conditions for peace in our
own communities and in the global community at large.

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• The aim of civic and ethical education is to provide people to
make decisions by their free wills.
• You can teach norms easily, but you cannot teach easily to
obey laws and rules unless you teach moral and ethics.
• Therefore, teaching civics and 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 for
those students without good morality and ethical values.
• Aristotle also says, “Educating the mind without educating
the heart is not education at all.”

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Civic and ethical Education seeks or attempts to promote students core
moral, ethical, democratic and educational values, such as:
o Respect for life

o Respect for reasoning (respect for way of thinking of others)

o Concern for fairness

o Concern for the welfare (Concern for benefit and happiness) of

others
o Respect for diversity

o Peaceful resolution of conflicts, etc.

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• Citizens cannot fulfill or cannot perform core moral and
ethical values adequately without specific moral and ethical
competences or capabilities; that is, citizens need to have a
combination of knowledge, skills, positive attitudes and
values “to become an active citizen” (Hoskins et al., 2011).

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• In sum, the goals of teaching civics and ethics at any level
of educational institutions is to produce competent, high
moral standard society or very responsible citizens who
can ask and properly use their rights and fulfill their
obligations in accordance with the laws of their
respective country.
• Democracy doesn’t deserve its name without active
citizens’ participation.

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Chapter Summary
• Different authors define civic and ethical education in
different ways.
• But the most cited or accepted definition of civic and ethical
education is an education that studies about the roles, rights,
duties and responsibilities of citizens.
• Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals or studies with the
rightness and wrongness of human behaviors.
• In this regard, Ethics is the study of moral/morality.
• Whereas morality is defined as a set of personal and social
values, rules, beliefs, laws, emotions, and ideologies
collectively governing and arbitrating (deciding and
determining) the rightness and wrongness of human
actions or activities.

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