Bioethical Themes in University Teaching of Future Educators and Teachers Original scientific article

Abstract Bioethics, as a newer scientific discipline answers questions about the life of the contemporary man in an interdisciplinary way, and we use education to express what kind of a society and what kind of a man we want. Values on which the educational system in the Republic of Croatia is based are viewed as a new possibility to develop the Croatian national, cultural, and spiritual identity within complex globalization processes. In the era of globalization, informational and technological improvement, one of the hardest efforts of the modern age is the upbringing of children in the changed circumstances, which consequently reflects on the style of education and the conditions in which education is conducted. The aims of the upbringing focus the educational practice and the pedagogical action, while the responsibility and the complex task is bestowed upon educators/teachers. The importance of initial education of educators/teachers is irrefutable today. To be an educator is a vocation/profession with specific professional standards and ethical rules of the teaching profession, inspired by the values of social inclusion and the needs of the child/pupil. This paper deals with a comparative analysis of study programmes and learning outcomes in the Integrated Undergraduate and Graduate University Teacher Study, as well as University Study of Early and Preschool Education at the Faculty of Education in Osijek, focused on the (bio)ethics, education and ethics of the teacher’s calling. Students, future preschool/primary school teachers during the study need to be made aware of the sensitivity in ethical decision-making in the future profession, as well as solving the problems which influence on building the character, because ethics and bioethics need to fulfil important social and individual aspects of education.