Resources for teaching Ethical Education

Our Education Officers give a run through of new resources and courses and developments in all things Ethical Education:

Ethical Education Calendar

The Ethical Education Calendar for 2021 / 2022 are available to download here:

 New and improved Learn Together Resource Bank! 

The Learn Together Resource Bank is now entirely searchable by topic, strand and class grouping and many of the items up there are actual lessons that are good to go! Teachers can also upload their own resources. Many thanks to Simon Lewis from Carlow ETNS who organised the project  and teachers from  Carlow, Newbridge,  Firhouse, Citywest and Portlaoise Educate Together  schools who were involved in the original initiative. 

A selection of resources for teaching the Learn Together / Ethical Education 

  • Dr Patricia Kieran of Mary Immaculate College of Education and Prof. Aislinn O’Donnell of Maynooth University have developed an invaluable resource  when teaching about beliefs and religions.  
  • The BBC has some wonderful  resources  for teaching about religious belief. These resources include child-friendly videos  and simple question and answer formats. 
  • An Foras Pátrúnachta also has some lovely resources. This padlet explores world beliefs and Cuaillí Beatha is applicable to all four strands of the Learn Together. These resources will also be very useful when planning Gaeilge lessons as commercial Gaeilge workbooks tend to highlight Christian festivals and celebrations while giving little or no exposure to festivals and celebrations from other beliefs.  
  • During the lockdown, Fionnuala wrote a short children’s novel on the whole experience. The Budgie Diaries is applicable to the Moral and Spiritual strand (primary) and offers an opportunity for children to talk through the whole process. Curriculum links and a short selection of possible activities are also included. 
  • A new section has been added to the second-level Ethical Education resource bank to provide links to some excellent resources for teachers to support anti-racism teaching and approaches in schools. 
  • The image below is of a selection of books that support teaching and learning across the different strands of both the second-level Ethical Education curriculum and the primary Learn Together Ethical Education curriculum. A more comprehensive list of recommended picture-books is available from the national office.
Texts included in the Ethical Education resource pack for second-level schools
  • The Educate Together Moodle site contains a wide range of resources and supports to teach the Learn Together and Ethical Education curriculum, including a number of courses that are free to Educate Together teachers, including;