TEACHER LEARNING GUIDE

Subject Code : VE2 Values Education II (Foundations of Human Acts)

Module Code : 9.0
Lesson Code : 9.1 Conscience and Freedom
Time Limit : 30 minutes

Actual
Time
Time
Allocation
Components Tasks Allocation
(in
(in
minutes)a
minutes)b
By the end of this module, the students will have
been able to: 1 minute

1. define the meaning of conscience and

freedom;
2. emphasizes the importance of using
conscience in everyday life.

In our previous meeting, we discussed the

Principle of Subsidiarity. 9 minutes

As defined, subsidiarity is the principle of

supplementary assistance.

Before we begin, take a few minutes to draw a

symbolic representation of conscience.

What does your drawing say about conscience?

The concept of conscience is central in every lesson 9 minutes

on morality. It is vital in our day-to-day actions and
decisions. In order to have a better and productive
discussion about conscience, it is necessary to
define the meaning of conscience precisely than the
way it is commonly used.

Before we define the term conscience, let us

analyze the following scenarios that will
emphasize different aspects of conscience. In every
scenario, conscience will mean somewhat different
from its meaning in the given examples below.

Scenario 1.
Gil is at the bookstore, she saw the ballpen on the
display rack. It was a brand that she had been
wanting to have. A ballpen having a smooth
mechanism, beautifully, and finely engineered.
But, she had no money to buy it. She noticed that
Values Education II Page 1 of 7
© 2020 Philippine Science High School System. All rights reserved. This document may contain proprietary information and may only be
released to third parties with approval of management. Document is uncontrolled unless otherwise marked; uncontrolled document are not
subject to update notification.
 the only person nearby was a clerk busy writing
something on the counter. Gil picked up the
ballpen, examined and looked around the area. It
was small enough to slip and put it into her pocket.
She wanted desperately to walk out of the
bookstore with it, but a little voice inside her
troubled her to put the ballpen back.

Scenario 2.
Gio was walking on the street when he saw an old
lady carrying a bag full of groceries and some of
the items fell out. He will probably be late to
school. He didn’t want to help the old lady because
he was in the hurry, but his parents pounded the
idea that he should help the person in need and be
respectful especially to the elderly. It is so
ingrained in him such that Gio could never go
against his conscience.

Scenario 3.
As the end of the game nears, emotions were at
high. The defensive coach advised and told his
team “If you hit them, we will win the game!”.
When the referee threw the ball into the air,
Ricardo leapt up and tried to tap the ball away from
his opponent. But one of his opponents got the ball,
Ricardo then rushed toward his opponent and he
bumped the shoulder fiercely to the ground. The
player laid unconscious on the ground, Ricardo
began to feel bad that he hit and bumped his
opponent savagely. For days and weeks thereafter,
Ricardo suffered with guilt feelings which caused
him bad dreams and anxious moments.
Perpetually, he replayed the scene in his mind, and
he felt dreadful about what he had done.

The story of Gil, Gio and Ricardo point out some

different definition and understanding of
conscience. Each scenario defines one aspect of
conscience. Let’s look at each scenario to see what
conscience means.

“Inner Voice”
Is conscience an “inner voice” such as Gil
experienced in the bookstore? Is there someone or
something that tells us what to do or not to do? The
question is, have we been assigned a conscience
whose voice speaks to us when we face challenges,
a dilemma or a troubling decision?

Values Education II Page 2 of 7

© 2020 Philippine Science High School System. All rights reserved. This document may contain proprietary information and may only be
released to third parties with approval of management. Document is uncontrolled unless otherwise marked; uncontrolled document are not
subject to update notification.
 But, if we analyze the situation of Gil morally, we
may have different views on what our “inner voice”
conveys to us. Is the conscience an accessory of
sorts, like a gadget, a wrist watch, a bag of money
in your pocket?

Conscience is not a voice within us, it separates and

differs from who we are. Conscience refers to our
whole being as a valuable individual who is
yearning to turn toward goodness, and honesty.

Undoubtedly, Gil listened and put the ballpen back.

But what if Gil, on another occasion, listened to her
“inner voice” suggesting that she should run away
with the glue instead? In other words, conscience
be presented as an “inner voice” that should be kept
pure, untarnished, unexplored, and untaught?

Upbringing
Can conscience be associated with our upbringing?
Like in Gio’s story, our parents taught us good
manners and right conduct. We were told to do
things properly, appropriately, and rightfully
according to their views and opinions. As a result,
those “pieces of advice” are ingrained and
inculcated into us. Consciously or unconsciously
we hold on to those ideas from childhood to
present.

Significant people in our lives, especially those in

our early stages of life, molded and shaped our
sense of right and wrong.

Associating conscience with our upbringing serves

to remind us that, like morality, the formation of
our conscience has a family, community, and
cultural influence.

Similar explanations apply to this understanding of

conscience as apply to the “inner voice” concept.
In the story of Gio, he should follow his parents’
advice to help others, especially the elders.
However, he also needs to critically examine and
choose the most important things to do. Since he
will be late to school, will he follow his parents’
advice to help the old lady? Or will he just ignore
her to avoid tardiness?
Undeniably, our parents and other authorities
taught us valuable lessons but there are more
lessons to learn.

Values Education II Page 3 of 7

© 2020 Philippine Science High School System. All rights reserved. This document may contain proprietary information and may only be
released to third parties with approval of management. Document is uncontrolled unless otherwise marked; uncontrolled document are not
subject to update notification.
 Feelings
If I were to ask you, what do you associate with
conscience, many of you may answer “guilt
feelings”. Guilty conscience means feeling bad,
unhappy, miserable about something we did. On
the other hand, “good conscience” refers to the
positive and good feeling that results when we do
something good, grateful and wonderful.
Conversely, “clear conscience” means not feeling
responsible and accountable for any wrongdoing in
a particular situation or issue.

Ricardo, feels guilty about hurting his opponent

during the basketball game. Do you think that
feeling works as a conscience? Actually, people
can feel guilty about their actions even though they
are not clearly responsible for the consequences of
those actions. He may intentionally bump his
opponent but never thought it would cause his
opponent harm and accident. For this reason,
Ricardo’s feeling guilty is inadequate and
insufficient explanation for what we mean by
conscience.

Our feelings of guilt and lack of guilt certainly are

related to conscience. This will be explained
thoroughly in our lesson on the kinds of
conscience.
Let us now come up with the definition of
conscience.

Conscience is a moral code and decision-making

that involves consciousness and awareness that
there is a concept of right and wrong.

According to www.dictionary.com, conscience is

the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one’s
conduct or motives, impelling one toward right
action.

Conscience begins and originates with our

fundamental awareness about right and wrong.

IMPORTANCE OF CONSCIENCE
● Helps us to appreciate our capacity in
decision-making
● Helps to develop our awareness through
self-examination
● Develop the capacity to evaluate right from
wrong.

Values Education II Page 4 of 7

© 2020 Philippine Science High School System. All rights reserved. This document may contain proprietary information and may only be
released to third parties with approval of management. Document is uncontrolled unless otherwise marked; uncontrolled document are not
subject to update notification.
 ● When we follow our conscience, we
always strive for goodness and truth.
● Helps to investigate personal motives and
pattern of behavior.
● Make judgments to the best of our ability.
● Evaluate and assess the quality of our
actions and decisions during, and after
making judgements.
● Looking toward possible consequences to
our decision.

To further cultivate your character, let’s explore the

topic about freedom.
Let us use the scenarios from our previous lesson-
Conscience.

Scenario 1. Gil’s story

Since Gil has conscience, she knew that stealing
the ballpen was wrong. However, she may have the
ability to know that stealing is wrong, she can still
choose to steal the ballpen if she wants to. With that
she will be performing the wrong act freely.

Scenario 2. Gio’s story

Gio will be getting late for school. But because of
his conscience, he cannot endure seeing the old
lady having a hard time carrying the bag full of
grocery items. He should have ignored the old lady,
acting like he didn’t care, but because of his
conscience, he freely acts upon the old lady’s
situation. He helped her despite that he will be
marked tardy.

Scenario 3. Ricardo’s story

Ricardo wants to win in the basketball league. His
coach advised them to “hit” their opponent to avoid
possible score when their opponent shoots the ball.
He should have not obeyed his coach from the
beginning since he knew that hitting others is a
wrongful act. But doing it may give them a chance
to win the game. However, what happened was,
when he bumped his opponent, he never thought it
would cause harm to the opponent. He
unintentionally wanted to cause such damage and
injury to the player. With that, he felt sorry and felt
guilty for what happened to the player. What if he
didn’t hit/bump the player? Will they still win the
game? For sure, no one will get hurt if Ricardo
chooses not to cause harm to others.

Values Education II Page 5 of 7

© 2020 Philippine Science High School System. All rights reserved. This document may contain proprietary information and may only be
released to third parties with approval of management. Document is uncontrolled unless otherwise marked; uncontrolled document are not
subject to update notification.
 Man may choose to do, act, decide or choose
something and in this sense, he is free.

What is freedom? “Freedom is the power, rooted

in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or
that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's
own responsibility.”

Freedom is one of the greatest, and most valuable

gifts to man; the reason why man is morally in
control and can be made responsible for his actions
and decisions. A person is free because he is the
master of his own actions and of the principle of his
actions.
Choice does not exhaust freedom. Perfect freedom
constitutes the necessity of the good, which means
wanting the good necessarily to the point of being
indifferent to evil, not an external coercion but
something that is totally voluntary, coming from
the will. Thus freedom in the fullest sense consists
in the NECESSITY and not in the POSSIBILITY.
The possibility of choosing between good and evil
so that one can actually choose evil is only a sign
of freedom.
Our choices and actions therefore matter. Nothing
is indifferent because our actions either build or
destroy our character. It matters whether we agree
or disagree, help or ignore, hope or despair, love or
hate, forgive or avenge. Everything matters.

Non-graded Activity
10 minutes
Reflect on the following:
A. Have you ever felt guilty and sad for an
action and decision that harmed another
person even though unintentionally you
cause him/her harm? If so, explain the
situation
B. Would you like to become freer? Why or
why not?

In summary,
1 minutes
Conscience is a moral code and decision-making
that involves consciousness and awareness that
there is a concept of right and wrong.
According to www.dictionary.com, conscience is
the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one’s
conduct or motives, impelling one toward right
action.

Values Education II Page 6 of 7

© 2020 Philippine Science High School System. All rights reserved. This document may contain proprietary information and may only be
released to third parties with approval of management. Document is uncontrolled unless otherwise marked; uncontrolled document are not
subject to update notification.
 IMPORTANCE OF CONSCIENCE
● Helps us to appreciate our capacity in
decision making
● Helps to develop our awareness through
self-examination
● Develop the capacity to evaluate right from
wrong.
● When we follow our conscience, we always
strive for goodness and truth.
● Helps to investigate personal motives and
pattern of behavior.
● Make judgments to the best of our ability.
● Evaluate and assess the quality of our
actions and decisions during, and after
making judgements.
● Looking toward possible consequences to
our decision.

Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to

act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform
deliberate actions on one's own responsibility.
a
suggested time allocation set by the teacher
b
actual time spent by the student (for information purposes only)

References:

Bristow, P. E. (1997). Moral dignity of man. Dublin, Ireland: Four Courts.

Burggraf, J. (2012). Made for freedom: Loving, defending and living God's gift. New York,
USA: Scepter.

Translated Notes from Arregui, J. V., &Choza, J. (2002). Filosofía del hombre: Una
antropología de la intimidad. Madrid, Spain: Rialp.

www.dictionary.com
www.catholicculture.org
www.communio-icr.com
www.stjeromeonline.org

Prepared by :ANNA LUZZETTE A. LIGON Reviewed by : NATALIE D. BASQUEZ

Position : Special Science Teacher III Position : Special Science Teacher I
Campus : Central Luzon Campus Campus : Main Campus

Values Education II Page 7 of 7

© 2020 Philippine Science High School System. All rights reserved. This document may contain proprietary information and may only be
released to third parties with approval of management. Document is uncontrolled unless otherwise marked; uncontrolled document are not
subject to update notification.