Abstract:

The development of teachers’ ethical formation was clearly justified by the results of the first part of this study - a preliminary study concerning ethical-deontological thought among portuguese teachers. By the analysis of the results we could understand that teachers’ conceptions about ethics in teaching “are far from being uniform, in spite of the fact that some dominant tendencies can be found”. This lack of uniformity seemed to have in itself a strong formative potential, emphasizing the theoretical study of ethical themes/issues through texts of ethics thinkers, through confrontation, through dialogue and by sharing ideas with colleagues or through the discussion and awareness of ethical dilemmas common to so many professionals. There’s also the fact that most teachers have shown a strong need and interest in being given some formation in this area “as they feel a gap between the formation they are given and the need that they feel concerning ethical formation”.
“The need of giving teachers the opportunity of becoming aware of the articulation between deontology and ethical-moral education of their students” also became very clear. And this is possible by promoting moral development and ethical formation so that it can create a school as a privileged place of ethical behaviour/attitudes. The ethical formation of teachers is in the second phase of the previously mentioned project that we are presenting. It’s a continuous teachers’ formation developed in two phases: the first phase is a formation workshop, and the second phase is based on an informal formation, organized in action research cycles, which is still being developed. Through this we intend to present some results of the first phase of this formation, as it is the one from which we have more precise data. The formation workshop was developed during three months, with 17 teachers included 12 classes (250 students). This formation was centred in an approach to the teacher’s role as a moral educator in different ethical perspectives, in the approaches and strategies in ethical-moral formation of students, among other contents.
Concerning formation strategies we intend to emphasise the experience in formation in strategies of ethical formation (in an isomorphic perspective of formation, promoting in this way the experience of ethical formation of the students) as well as the action research, a transversal process of the whole formation. In moments of autonomous work teachers have made some research in their working contexts and collaborating with each other they planned and they have developed some small intervention projects in ethical formation of their students, and consequently of improving/changing their working contexts. As an element of evaluation of the workshop each group of teachers presented a portfolio having several reflections (individualized or in groups) that, after being analysed enabled us to get to some results on the effects of the formation given to teachers, on conceptual and practical changes concerning ethical issues as well as on knowledge about strategies of ethical formation, of citizenship and of the awareness of one’s own role as a moral educator, among others. In this meeting we intend to show some types and levels of change that have been found in teachers having formation as well as some indicators of ethical formation of students. We also intend to show the work that has been developed so far, by evaluating it and reflecting on it.