American teens are 40 percent less empathetic than they were three decades ago. Recognizing that students need more than academic rigor to succeed, a growing number of schools are turning their focus to social-emotional qualities like empathy. But which practices enhance empathy and how will principals know if teachers are implementing them…

Improved teacher morale and improved learning for all students go hand in hand. But what, exactly, do we mean by student learning? And what is the aim of this learning? According to Nel Noddings, the success of our efforts to boost teacher morale through greater collegiality, creativity, and continuity will depend on how we answer these questions.…

At a time when the United States faces unprecedented challenges at home and abroad, public schools must do far more to prepare young people to be engaged, ethical advocates of "liberty and justice for all." This article explores what makes some people behave ethically--even at the risk of their own lives--and asserts that developing…

When parents neglect their children's moral education and community influences are negative, schools need to form partnerships and work for change. This article reviews problems encountered when schools attempt to inculcate or clarify moral values and summarizes various authors' opinions on the subject. (MLH)

Provides historical perspective on moral education, discusses links between morality and religion, and recommends several actions to help develop morally mature individuals to ensure the existence of a just and caring society. Insets detail characteristics of morally mature persons and list members of the ASCD Panel of Moral Education. Includes 14…

In today's moral environment, teaching the young high moral standards requires cooperation between schools and families. This article describes four successful approaches: developing a school-community consensus about values, forming parent support groups, creating multifaceted parent participation opportunities, and writing parallel curricula for…

A practicing school administrator sympathetic to the broad aims of moral education asks some questions about teaching moral education in the schools. (Author/MLF)

Although it is often useful to accept students' value statements nonjudgmentally, values clarification theory recommends that teachers go beyond moral leadership and help students learn to think through their personal values and understand what it takes to live a value-directed life. Methods to promote and clarify our "heritage of moral values"…

A summary of what is known today about moral education and a suggested agenda for the future. (MLF)

A reasoned response to questions about teaching moral education in the schools. (Author/MLF)

Describes a required ethics course designed for juniors and seniors at a small Connecticut boarding school. Students explore the ethics of care and justice, examine ethical assumptions behind the school's disciplinary system, consider a series of dilemmas, and discuss complex topics such as abortion, euthanasia, and racism. A sidebar outlines…

South Africa and Namibia, two countries building young democracies, face the task of transforming their public education systems to support the values articulated in their new constitutions. This article describes a project designed to incorporate these values into schools. A group of 50 Namibian teachers, who were enrolled in the author's…

To bring ethics into the curriculum without indoctrinating students with adults' moral incapacities, distortions, and closed-mindedness, educators need to integrate eithics with critical thinking, literature, science, history, and civics instruction. Implementation requires excellent supplemental resources, good leadership, and inservice redesign.…