Previous Events
Conferences and Workshops
Conference at the Joint Services Command and Staff
College, UK Defence Academy, Shrivenham, Wiltshire, 9 - 11 December
2009, hosted by the Defence Ethics Network, the Military Ethics
Education Network and the International Association for Military
Pedagogy
Conference title: 'Military Training and
Education: who needs what, where and when?'
A conference was held at the Joint Services Command and
Staff College, UK Defence Academy, Shrivenham, Wiltshire, 9th, 10th
& 11th December 2009, co-hosted by King College London's
Defence Ethics Network, Hull University's Military Ethics Education
Network and the International Association for Military
Pedagogy.
The core interests of the three groups involved were covered in
a complementary way. The broad conference theme looked at the
competencies, skills and abilities across the board that are
required and expected at the different levels of the military
hierarchy, asking questions such as who needs to know what, and how
does this change through careers? For example, is it still
appropriate to separate training and education in the age of the
strategic corporal? A key part of the conference was dedicated
to specifically looking at ethical and legal awareness within this
environment, addressing the question of what behaviour it is
appropriate to expect of people at different ranks - enlisted, NCO
all the way up to the Chief of the Defence Staff. Finally, some
papers addressed the pedagogical challenges of delivering
training and education, both in the broader sense, and with
reference to the skills required for different levels of moral
autonomy.
As with previous events, delegates were drawn from senior
military officers, parliamentarians, academics and senior
government officials, charities and NGOs. The Secretary of State
for Defence, the Right Honourable Bob Ainsworth MP attended the
event and gave a speech on the conference theme. Trainers and
educators from the different military training and educational
establishments around the world were invited. The
programme comprised a mixture of 20 minute paper presentations
and side-sessions working out who can be expected to know what,
where and when.
All of the organisations involved are keen to ensure that their
findings are disseminated to as wide an audience as possible and a
selection of papers from the proceedings will be published.
Selected papers from the 2008 Defence Ethics conference were
published in a special edition of the Journal of Military Ethics,
‘Saying No: Command Responsibility and Selective Conscientious
Objection' (Vol.8, Issue 2, July 2009). The Military Ethics
Education Network's most recent publication is Carrick, Connelly
& Robinson (eds), Ethics Education for Irregular Warfare
(Ashgate, 2009), while the International Association for Military
Pedagogy, has a forthcoming volume by Annen & Royl (eds)
Educational Challenges Regarding Military Action: Studies for
Military Pedagogy, Military Science & Security Policy Volume 11
(Peter Lang, 2009).
SEMINARS
Political Ethics Seminar
James Connelly was the speaker at a seminar held under the
auspices of the Institute of Applied Ethics at the University
of Hull in the Political Ethics Seminar Series, on Monday 15
March 2010, on 'Teaching Ethics to the Military: a study in applied
philosophy'. Professor Connelly is Project Leader of the Military
Ethics Education Network, and in and January and February this
year, as part of the MEEN project to compare and analyse approaches
to military ethics training around the world, he went on a
research trip to Canada and the US, visiting a number of military
teaching academies and colleges. The paper summarised the project
and outlined some interim conclusions arising out of teaching
observations and discussions.
WORKSHOPS
Ethics Training and Development in the Military:
Part One
This workshop took place on 22 and 23 June
2006 at the University of Hull. Details
Ethics Training and Development in the Military: Part
Two
This workshop took place on 24 and 25 May 2007 at
the University of Hull. Details
These workshops were funded by a grant of £10,863 from the Arts and
Humanities Research Council.
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