This paper explores the long-term impact of study visits to south India undertaken by UK teacher education students from 1999-2002. The research involved students who had been on the study visits ten to fifteen years earlier. All the participants completed an extensive open-ended survey and the themes which then emerged were investigated through…

"Drugsbridge" is a humanistic programme providing a "zone of transformation" for discussion and debate on drug use. Twelve young people and six unrelated parents met over four carefully designed and facilitated sessions. Qualitative data enable evaluation of the processes and impact of these. The article highlights three…

Describes an experimental death awareness workshop based on Kubler-Ross' theory. The effects of the workshop reveal cognitive and emotional changes indicating participants in the workshop to be moving towards an acceptance of death. (Author)

While supporting the concept of affective education, the author warns that ill-trained or unscrupulous purveyors may use its techniques in ways that invade children's privacy and manipulate their emotions. She advises cautious implementation of affective education, with attention to staff development and careful screening of classroom materials.…

Describes a group process experience, Work Exploration and Discussion Group (WEDG). This step in the rehabilitation of psychiatrically disabled was found to be useful because it gave clients the opportunity to face their fears about working and to clarify their own work values before initiating placement efforts. (Author)

A total of 59 studies were reviewed, 33 focusing on values clarification and 26 on moral development. The research on values clarification indicated that little or no confidence is warranted regarding its potential curricular effectiveness. However, the research base for the moral development approach indicated that cautious optimism is…

Values clarification may be one of the tools counselors and psychological educators can use to help males determine their own value preferences. Research on values clarification over varying time sequences needs to determine if the spacing of values clarification strategies has an effect. (Author)

Aside from being an invasion of privacy, values clarification exercises are inappropriate for most elementary students who, still in the concrete operations stage of mental development, are incapable of generalizing moral principles. It would be better to teach concrete problem-solving processes until the formal operations stage is reached. (SJL)

Character education often uses exhortations and extrinsic inducements to make children behave and work harder. Extrinsic rewards and awards erode intrinsically motivated behavior. Programs should answer five basic questions, avoid indoctrination, and provide students with opportunities to construct meaning around moral concepts and to change…

Studied the effects of implicit instruction, explicit instruction, and values clarification instruction. All treatment groups reported significantly higher knowledge scores than did the control group, but only the explicit instruction treatment was able to produce any changes in attitudes or behavior. (Author)

Educating for Success, an instructional program designed to enhance college student self-esteem through analysis of personal successes and strengths, values identification, conflict management, and positive reinforcement was validated with 394 first-year college students in experimental and control groups. Results showed significant improvement of…

Identifies four major problem areas in current moral education research. Reviews research programs to determine their effectiveness. Identifies the elements of moral psychology. Examines possible alternative pathways of moral development. Relates individual moral development to group morality. Concludes with some broad guidelines for future…

Criticizes character education programs that tend merely to present moral values to students, believing this produces socially responsible behavior. Argues listing values is simplistic and ineffective. Recognizes the situational complexity that confounds making moral choices. Suggests character education must contend with value conflicts and guide…

Encapsulates five brief reports on cutting edge issues in moral education research. Discusses strengths and weaknesses of different administrative approaches to creating a character education program. Addresses the inherent dichotomy between military service and democratic values. Considers issues of data verification and abuse of power. (MJP)