Study Programmes 2016-2017
PEDA1231-2  
Deontology
Duration :
30h Th
Number of credits :
Master in education (120 ECTS)3
Lecturer :
Florence Pirard, Marianne Poumay
Coordinator :
Florence Pirard
Language(s) of instruction :
French language
Organisation and examination :
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents :
Deontology addressed in this course initially relates to all functions carried out in the field of training and education (teachers, trainers, educational advisors, educational resource producers, accompaniers, assessors, researchers, etc.) where the relational dimension and question of power relationships is central. It involves:
  • researching meaning in complex daily practice,
  • consultative work and collaboration with other actors,
  • taking into account existing normative frameworks (beyond the application of procedures and rules),
  • an interdisciplinary approach (psychology, law, communication, philosophy, sociology, etc.).
It involves dealing with questions such as practitioner fairness, responsibility to third parties, confidentiality, professional integrity, information, falsification or plagiarism, etc. in terms of an approach involving various legal, moral and ethical aspects.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit :
This course will enable students to:
  • differentiate and identify links between: - deontology, moral standards and ethics, - norms and values, - confidentiality, respect for professional confidentiality, shared confidentiality, the need for discretion, etc.,
  • identify the diversity of situations in which deontological problems can present themselves to masters in educational sciences,
  • develop reflexive skills based on the analysis of real situations in relation to functions carried out in educational sciences. These skills in particular deal with responsibility towards third parties, protection of private life and freedom of participation, intellectual property and freedom of expression, evaluation,
  • develop a view on the meaning given to deontology in the field of educational sciences based not only on situations proposed during class by each student with the group, but also upon deontological or ethical principles.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
  • analyse a real situation which poses deontological problems based on their spontaneous representations and personal references,
  • research useful and relevant documentary references in relation to the chosen situation (legal texts, guides, professional articles, scientific articles, etc.) and to conduct interviews with resource persons,
  • integrate these elements and resources into a critical analysis of the situation, leading to the identification of possible and admissible behaviours,
  • communicate the results of the analysis of the situation to a peer group and to encourage a discussion to go further with this analysis,
  • draft a report which takes the analytical approach into account in its various phases and its conclusions, highlighting the links established with the deontological principles set out in various publications.
Those outcomes match the development of the 5th competence of the reference grid for the Master in Educational Sciences at ULG. Nevertheless, the development of competencies nr 1 and 4 will be targeted as well, and also partly evaluated.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
none
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
The lecturers organize some pleniary introductive sessions and give students a file containing relevant documents. Groups of students identifie a situation experienced either personally or by a third person, related to education and asking deontological questions. They present the lecturers the selected situation following a grid that will lead to validation. During their group work, they also benefit from "critical friends", to whom they present their work in order to debate end enrich the case. Based on consultation with different resource persons and documentary research, the students analyse the situation, leading to proposals for both management and preventative measures. The students link their analysis to existing deontological principles. Case analysis will be the subjetc of a group written report (December) as well as an oral presentation (January).
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
  • A reading list containing different types of documents: - scientific articles from different disciplines, - legal texts, - professional documents.
  • Presentations mainly by the lecturers and a few testimonies.
  • On line feed-back by the teachers on preliminary descriptions of the cases.
  • Office hours to answer questions of the student groups on their cases.
  • Group work, partly organized during class time.
Recommended or required readings :
A reading list will be made available to students. This is the basis for work carried out during class and a reference for the analysis of situations carried out by each student at the end of the course.
Assessment methods and criteria :
By December 9th, the students hand in the written report related to the chosen case analysis.
Each student has also played a role of critical friend towards other students groups.
In January (date and room to be set), each student will take part to a half day session during which he will (with the members of his group):
  • present to his/her peers and teachers the chosen deontological case and the analysis made (based on PPt presentation),
  • answer questions based on his/her presentation.
The assessment criteria are posted on the online space.
Work placement(s) :
Organizational remarks :
Contacts :
Florence Pirard, lecturer, contactable by preference by email florence.pirard@ulg.ac.be
Marianne Poumay, lecturer (m.poumay@ulg.ac.be) Jasna Vorgic, secretary (B32, 2nd floor, office 2.4b) jasna.vorgic@ulg.ac.be
Teaching Assistant : Catherine Lesire (catherine.lesire@ulg.ac.be)
 
Items online :
Online space
A reading portfolio as well as the PowerPoint presentations used during the course are available on the online space of the course, together with other resources.