A TEAM of five Loreto College Ballarat students have won the Victorian Ethics Olympiad.<\/p>\n
Held via Zoom recently, Ann Chalakkal, Ella Gudgeon, Eloise Davenport, Bridie Carey and Remi Currie competed against 12 other schools from across the state.<\/p>\n
Deeply thinking about high-profile but complex ethical issues of the world, they unpacked and discussed them from more than one perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the course of the day we had a practice round, and three actual rounds which were marked. Before the competition we were given eight case studies to look at that had very relevant information,\u201d Ann said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne case study was about defunding the police and the Black Lives Matter movement in America, and there was another on the Tiger King, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n
Remi said the team was asked to look at these examples and more, and the ethical questions surrounding them to see how they \u201capply to a wider society.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were posed each question, discussed them as a team, and had six minutes to present on our ethical view,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The opposing competitors then had three minutes to give comment, but not in a debate-style format.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not trying to be right. It\u2019s about working together as two different teams to come up with the best position on the ethical dilemma,\u201d Ann said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like a competition, it\u2019s a discussion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe students on the other end of the computer are just likeminded people interested in social justice and questioning the world that they live in.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut having public speakers, and three year 11s on our team who have studied unit two religion and society and had a really strong understanding of the ethical theory behind it, that really gave us a solid foundation and helped us move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Previously participating in the Victorian Philosothon, this \u201csparked an interest in all areas of thinking\u201d for Ann.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthics was another opportunity that came up and I thought, I\u2019d love to do that. There\u2019s always been a curiosity in me to want to know more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Remi values the opportunity to have a strong understanding of what\u2019s going on in society.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important that we go out of our way to ask these questions, go beyond our own perspectives, look at things from another point of view, and look at the consequences of our actions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Loreto team will now tackle the International Ethics Olympiad on Saturday, 3 July, exploring the same cases as they did in the Victorian Olympiad.<\/p>\n
They will compete against approximately 33 teams online, including finalists from around Australia, and students from Singapore, New Zealand, Canada, Hong Kong and China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A TEAM of five Loreto College Ballarat students have won the Victorian Ethics Olympiad. Held via Zoom recently, Ann Chalakkal, Ella Gudgeon, Eloise Davenport, Bridie Carey and Remi Currie competed against 12 other schools from across the state. Deeply thinking about high-profile but complex ethical issues of the world, they unpacked and discussed them from […]<\/p>\n