Ethics Curriculum

Ethics is a subject that is critical to our school philosophy. Ethics provides an opportunity for a student to reflect on the issues that concern them in their personal and social development. It helps students reflect on his or her place in the life of the school and the community and the role that they will eventually play as mature, inquisitive and contributing members of their communities. 

Below is a list of topics that comprehensively addresses the needs of our students and objectives as defined by our mission statement. These topics are distributed by grade and quarter. Since the school year is divided into quarters, each grade level will be assigned four topics to study throughout the year, one for each quarter. Each teacher is assigned one topic as his or her specialty, and that teacher will teach his or her subject only during the quarter assigned to their respective topic.

RFS Conduct & Values
  • Promote pride and appreciation for our school, environment and atmosphere while educating students about the conduct code and rules.
Health and Safety
  • Explore issues of fitness, nutrition, environmental health, mental health, safety at home and drug use. Specific attention should be given to drug use.
  • Understand good mental health. What does it mean to by emotionally healthy? What are feelings? What reactions do they produce in us? 
Human Growth and Development
  • Analyze principles of human growth and development across the life span focusing on the stages of development and corresponding physical, emotional and psychological processes. Themes: biological, social, familial processes, search for meaning and purpose during each stage.
  • Understand the biological, psychological, and social processes that occur during adolescence. Themes: sexual, emotional and social identity.
Personal Identity and Relationships
  • Help students to explore individuality, family awareness and social development.
    Themes: personality, friendships, family identities/trees, etc.
Medical Ethics
  • Analyze ethical issues such as abortion, euthanasia, cloning, stem cell research, etc.
Decision Making
  • Explore the different styles of decision making. Lateral thinking. Analytical thinking, emotions and decision making, etc.
Study Skills
  • Help students enhance study skills such as memorization, time management, approaches to revision, exam taking, not taking, etc.
Service and Cooperative Work
  • Help students recognize the value of community service and working cooperatively.
Values and Cultural Diversity
  • Explore with students the different methods of resolving conflicts and mediation within our home, school and community.
  • Explore with students broader global issues such as human rights, injustice, concepts of peace, security, international laws regarding human rights and injustice, etc.
  • Promote awareness on nonviolent peacemaking.
Conflict Resolution
  • Explore with students the different methods of resolving conflicts and mediation within our home, school and community. 
  • Explore with students broader global issues such as human rights, injustice, concepts of peace, security, international laws regarding human rights and injustice, etc.
  • Promote awareness on nonviolent peacemaking.
Quaker History, Faith, and Practice
  • Educate students on the Quaker story and particularly the history of the Friends School in Ramallah.
  • Educate students on Quaker beliefs and worship practices.
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