UPPVMP014 Ethics in Helping Professions

Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Summer 2025
Extent and Intensity
13/0/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Petr Slováček, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Petr Slováček, Ph.D.
Institute of Special Education – Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Contact Person: Mgr. et Mgr. Andrea Silberová
Prerequisites (in Czech)
FAKULTA(FVP) && TYP_STUDIA(B) && FORMA(P) && ROCNIK(2)
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The subject Ethics of Assisting Professions introduces general ethics as one of the philosophical disciplines and significantly complements it with a professional dimension and application to specific ethical problems typical of special pedagogy. The course offers students the opportunity to reflect on their own values and attitudes in comparison with the values of the professional framework of special pedagogy and to take an informed approach to solving ethical problems and dilemmas in the field of special pedagogical theory and practice.
Learning outcomes
Expertise:
- the student is familiar with the basics of ethics, especially in the contexts of special pedagogy, axiology and the normative system
- The student knows the theoretical context of the topic of ethics as a basic philosophical discipline
- the student understands what is an ethical reflection, ethical problem or dilemma
- The student is familiar with the main ethical theories and their applications to specific examples
Professional skills:
- the student is able to incorporate the ethical principles of the profession into special pedagogical practice
- the student is able to assess the norms of ethical behavior with respect to a certain group of people with disabilities at a particular age
- the student is able to reflect on professional and personal value orientation, to assess different starting points of different value-based ethical approaches and identify them in the relevant legal, human rights and professional documents
General competences:
- the student is able to independently apply the principles of professional ethics, ethics in relation to people with disabilities, health disadvantages and social disadvantages
- the student is able to take into account ethical aspects in the search for responsible decisions and actions
Syllabus
  • 1. What is ethics, basic concepts, their relations, division of ethics.
  • 2. Relation of ethics to other disciplines, to special pedagogy, social work, psychology, law, anthropology, religion.
  • 3. Selected concepts of ethics (eg goodness, correctness, duty, autonomy, value, virtue, purpose, means, justice, conscience, guilt).
  • 4. The nature of ethical standards and ways of their origin and justification.
  • 5. Basic ethical theories and their applications (eg virtue ethics, hedonism, utilitarianism, natural law, social contract, ethics of duty, ethics of justice, ethics of care).
  • 6. Ethics of special pedagogy (professional ethics; ethical aspects of special pedagogy). Values ​​in social work.
  • 7. Codes of ethics of helping professions.
  • 8. Relevant Czech and international human rights documents; ethical dilemmas.
  • 9. Human rights as an interface between law and morality: relation to responsibilities and duties.
  • 10. Moral beliefs and codes of ethics in the context of a pluralistic and multicultural society and the global world.
  • 11. Ethics in the context of disability and handicap.
  • 12. Specific target groups in ethical contexts. Practice of ethics.
Literature
    required literature
  • HALÍK, T. Prolínání světů. Ze života světových náboženství. Praha: Lidové noviny, 2006.
  • JANKOVSKÝ, J. Etika pro pomáhající profese. Praha: Triton, 2003. ISBN 80-7254-329-6.
  • MATĚJČEK, Z. Psychologické eseje (z konce kariéry). Praha: Karolinum, 2017. ISBN 978-80-2463-550-7.
  • PANČOCHA, K. Etika výzkumu ve speciální pedagogice. In Etika ve vědách o výchově. Olomouc: ČPdS, 2010. s. 342 - 348, 7 s. ISBN 978-80-244-2654-9.
  • SCHMIDBAUER, W. Psychická úskalí pomáhajících profesí. Praha: Portál, 2000. ISBN 80-7178-312-9.
    recommended literature
  • BONHOEFFER, D. Etika. Praha: Kalich, 2007. ISBN 978-80-7017-047-2.
  • KLIMSZA, L. Úvod do etiky. Historický vývoj etiky. Ostrava: Ostravská univerzita, 2013. ISBN 978-80-7464-464-1.
  • KOHÁK, E. Svoboda, svědomí, soužití: Kapitoly z mezilidské etiky. Praha: SLON, 2004. ISBN 80-86429-35-0.
  • SOKOL, J. Člověk jako osoba. Filosofická antropologie. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2016. ISBN 978-80-7429-682-6.
  • SOKOL, J. Etika, život, instituce: Pokus o praktickou filosofii. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2014. ISBN 978-80-7429-223-1.
    not specified
  • KOPŘIVA, K. Lidský vztah jako součást profese. Praha: Portál, 2015. ISBN 978-80-262-1147-1.
  • MATOUŠEK, O., KODYMOVÁ, P., KOLÁČKOVÁ, J. (eds) Sociální práce v praxi. Specifika různých cílových skupin a práce s nimi. Praha: Portál, 2010. ISBN 978-80-7367-818-0.
  • REEBER, M. Velká světová náboženství. Praha: KMA, 2006.
  • VÁGNEROVÁ, M. Psychopatologie pro pomáhající profese. Praha: Portál, 2004. ISBN 978-80–7178–802–3.
  • GRAHAM, M. Reflective Thinking in Social Work. Routledge, 2017. ISBN 978-1138-7790-13.
  • SLOVÁČEK, P. Etika. In E-learning kurz pro studenty studijního programu Speciální pedagogika Fakulty veřejných politik v Opavě. Opava: Slezská univerzita v Opavě.
Teaching methods
Lecture, seminar.
Assessment methods
Passing the written test according to the evaluation indicators.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2019, Accreditation winter, Winter 2021, Summer 2023, Summer 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Summer 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fvp/summer2025/UPPVMP014