Ethical-deontological education need of higher education teachers. Subsidies for a debate

The changes made to higher education in response to globalisation and “informationism” (Castells, 1997) bring with them the need to re-question its purposes. Documents such as the “World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-first Century: Vision and Action” and the Bucharest Declaration stress the ethical role to be played by these institutions in today’s world and in the ethical training of students for this world. Despite some theoretical reflections on several aspects of university life, there is a clear lack of empirical studies concerning how teachers see the ethical dimension of their functions, how they encourage the ethical development of their students and whether or not the feel they need for ethical training that would help them better perform their professional functions.An exploratory study based on 14 interviews of polytechnic and university teachers aims to contribute to constructing this knowledge. The data obtained constitute material for a debate on these issues.