Ethical Considerations

1. Sources: van Oord, L. (2007). To westernise the nations? An analysis of IB's philosophy of education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 37(3), 375-390.

2. How could these issues be overcome?

2.1. Collaborative efforts to insure that this information being taught is relayed in a way where students can understand how things have been done in their culture and how others do it elsewhere.

2.2. Teaching native culture and customs in primary years and introducing foreign concepts and practices in secondary school to give students a firm foundation.

2.3. Having healthy dialog on why certain things are interpreted as respectful or disrespectful to create a happy medium and determine how certain subjects will be taught.

3. Should these issues be overcome?

3.1. Yes I believe so in today wold students will eventually be exposed to a number of different things and it is important that they understand who they are and what they believe as well as why others may think differently and be able to respect and communicate effectively in spite of their differences.

4. Summarize your understanding of the ethical issues that may arise or have arisen in your classroom, school, community, country, etc., as a result of the implementation of an internationally based curriculum.

4.1. I can only speak from my own educational experiences because my current school is still implementing certain international elements into our curriculum. The ethical issues I came across in my primary and secondary school education was the religious information we were being taught and all the questions that came along with it. I attended a very divers school with lots of different religions so it was only right to educate us all on the similarities and differences we all shared.  This was not idea for my family but they had no choice in the matter.

5. What would be the ethical issues for making a curriculum international in a nation where developing international understanding was associated with supporting western culture?

5.1. Loss of the nations true culture and identity in order to be accepted by the outside world.

5.2. Culture clashes/breakdown or miscommunications in terms of certain practices that may be acceptable in a western culture that may be offensive in others.

6. What would be the ethical issues in a nation where developing international understanding is considered a positive, but where there are many different cultural groups represented within the community with competing ideas on who is ‘right’ in the international community?

6.1. Adopting new ways of thinking and teaching that contradict local culture, traditions and beliefs.

6.2. Conflict will arise when people make a decision and it goes against what they have always done. Relationships and trust will be lost and broken creating a divide in communities.