Ethics is not GMRC

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By Diane Auza (Central Mindanao University) 

“May batang nadapa, ano ang iyong gagawin?”

A. Tawagan ang kaibigan mo at tumawa kayo sa kanya

B. Tulungan ito

C. Wag pansinin

D. Sharon Cuneta 

Kidding aside, Ethics IS NOT = GMRC/Values Education. Oh, man, I wonder whether these people who decide on these things are actual teachers (actively) teaching. If they are, they should see for themselves how most college students are still at a loss. 

We are actually risking and leaving future professionals intellectually and morally unprepared for the weight of the decisions theyll face. The world is not black and white. Being “nice” does not always mean you are doing what is right. It takes ethical reasoning to improve judgement. It takes skill, and like any skill, it must be trained, challenged, and developed ESPECIALLY when a student begins to pursue in fields (medicine, engineering, business, law, education) each of which carries its own ethical dilemmas. 

I once had a class, everyone around the same age group, part of the same program, and YET they never think alike. Some can’t even wrap their heads around the fact that others could think differently from them. These are the students we are building for the future. How do they make ethical decisions when profit conflicts with public good? What should one do when institutional policies clash with human dignity? These aren’t simple questions, and they don’t stop being relevant just because you turned 18 or you graduated from high school or SH. Heck, not all people at that age even think about these things. 

I understand it may be tiring and cumbersome. I was once a student, too. When I was still starting to teach for the first semester, I asked some of my friends about their experience with GE classes and usually their dissatisfaction is often tied with the experience of teachers letting students report in class. That was the common complaint and I get it, too. This unfairly replaces the burden, from the role of a teacher with that of the student who mainly wants to focus on their major subjects. If anything (as a sort of compromise), we should prohibit placing a huge chunk of the semester for student-reporting in GE classes. These classes (like Ethics) should build character that strengthens your chosen field--not distract you from it.

If taught well, Ethics would not derail you from your profession. It should deepen it. And if a student gets to see it that way (as they anticipate what it is like in the real world), they will find its value. 

I could only hope. We don’t want to breed “another cog in the system”. This is all too depressing and absurd. We NEED people who recognize value in their humanity. How can we do that if our education system only favors what is marketable?

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