Recent biotechnology development is growing very fast along with interest in bioethics education. In bioethics education, one should have the sense of respect for life primarily, the knowledge about the basic biological fact, and the informed decision ...
Recent biotechnology development is growing very fast along with interest in bioethics education. In bioethics education, one should have the sense of respect for life primarily, the knowledge about the basic biological fact, and the informed decision making skills.
The purpose of this study is to explore how and what to teach about bioethics in both primary and secondary schools and to plan for the implementation of bioethics education. The result of the analysis is summarized as follows. First, through the discussion of the specialists of the bioethics, the biology education, and the educational school curriculum, the coverages of bioethics education were categorized. And the National Curriculum(from the 3rd to the 10th grade) and the textbooks of five subjects, such as Korean Language, moral education, social studies, science, and Practical Arts (or Technology & Home Economics) in which topics of bioethics were supposed to be dealt with, were analyzed. As the result of analysis, many contents in bioethics education were covered in 5 subjects but they were presented just as the catcher without the designed educational plan. So the contents and objects of bioethics education should be cleared along with school grade and the types of bioethics education such as an independent subject or an integrated subject should be sought.
Second, to examine how bioethical issues were integrated in classrooms, we performed surveys targeting 550 teachers at primary schools and 600 at secondary schools. Six types of questionnaires were prepared for the survey : one for primary school teachers and five for secondary school teachers of five subjects. The results indicated that teachers agreed with the necessity of the bioethics education but the bioethical issues were not taught at their classes because of the limited supply of teaching materials, and the lack of related teaching experiences and the knowledge of the evaluation methods. So for the activation of bioethics education, the development and application of practical teaching materials and teaching methods were needed.
Third, the programs on bioethics education were developed, which help students to understand the given bioethical issues and to make their decision. They were about 'the abortion', 'the replication of the human embryo', and 'the organ transplantation', which were selected to correspond to the results of teachers' answers about the 'what materials should be taught in bioethics education '. Educational effects of these programs need to be explored at following researches and more practical teaching materials which cover the diverse topics about bioethics should be developed.