Estland / Estonia / l'Esthonie
Tallinn, Estonia
I. Philosophy is taught in Estonia at comprehensive (upper-secondary) schools (called gymnasium in Estonia) in grade 11 or in grade 12. The subject is optional. The students are 16-18 years old.
There are usually 1-2 lessons (45 minutes a lesson) per week throughout the year.
Ethics is taught at comprehensive schools and in some lower-secondary schools in the same grades (8-9 grade in case of lower secondary school).
The course of history of philosophy was introduced at schools in the beginning of the 90s. In the period 1996-2000 the problem-driven course of philosophy was an obligatory subject for all students in grade 12.
Ethics was introduced in the beginning of the 90s as well but it has not been obligatory and the number of schools teaching ethics increases relatively slowly.
From 1996-2000 the problem-driven course of philosophy was an obligatory subject for all students in grade 12. Before that period and currently philosophy is taught as optional subject.
Ethics is an optional subject.
At schools where philosophy is taught the course is usually followed by one written or oral examination. There are no centralized tests.
At schools where ethics is taught the course is usually followed by one written or oral examination. There are no centralized tests.
There might be only one alternative course or ethics and philosophy might be taught simultaneously.
Sometimes there are supplementary working groups for both subjects.
First time the team of students from Estonia took part from IPO was in Warsaw in 2005.
II. There are some sample curricula for teaching what teacher may choose.
There are some sample curricula for teaching what teacher may choose.
In philosophy teaching the main attention is usually on western philosophy.
In ethics teaching the preference of fundamental subjects depends very much on the teacher's professional background. There are no obligatory methods. Current trends in the Estonian pedagogical practice emphasise more and more “active” teaching methods (analyses of texts with discussion, dialogue, group work etc).
Many science and social science teachers make efforts to include relevant philosophical topics into their courses.
There are no special curricula to integrate philosophy and other subjects.
Ethics is sometimes integrated with literature, history etc.
Unity of Europe is not a separate topic in philosophy or ethics curricula but as a rule it is a cross-curriculum topic.
III. For philosophy teachers university study is necessary, also for ethics teachers university study is necessary. For philosophy teachers university diploma (BA degree plus special pedagogical course) is necessary and also for ethics teachers university diploma (BA degree plus special pedagogical course) is necessary.
There are two different degrees of qualification for teachers of philosophy and of ethics: Degree of qualification BA (Bachelor of Arts) or MA (Master of Arts).
The study of philosophy has 3 years (6 semesters) on the undergraduate level (BA degree) and 2 years (4 semesters) on the graduate level (MA).
Ethics courses are the part of the philosophy curriculum (15 ECTS on average on BA level).
Practical training for teachers of philosophy and ethics consists of 6 ECTS on MA level, the same for teachers of ethics.
Additional courses of philosophy are available in request and the popularity of these is growing year to year.
b) the same situation is for teachers of ethics, but the number of additional courses for ethics is smaller compared to philosophy courses.
IV. From 1995 to the present years a joint philosophical summerschool (Filosofiaa Virossa) with Finnish and Estonian teachers is organized in Estonia.
In May 2000 the workshop concerning Estonian philosophy in general was organized by students of the University of Tartu.
In June 2001 the Centre for Ethics of the University of Tartu was established as an interdisciplinary unit. The Centre for Ethics promotes teaching on different levels at schools.
In 2002 the first UNESCO Philosophy Day was celebrated by Finnish UNESCO ASPnet, Finnish Association for Teachers of Philosophy and Philosophy of Life and AIPPh Baltic Sea Net. An Estonian student got a diploma on an essay contest. Estonian philosophy teachers with students are continuously participating on UNESCO Philosophy Day events.
In February 2004 the local Association for Teachers of Philosophy was organized. The same year first Estonian local Philosophy Olympiad was organized.
In 2005 Estonian team of philosophy students took part from IPO in Poland.