In the quest for quality in early childhood education, it is important to explore the subtleties that define socio-culturally relevant pedagogy. A qualitative, multi-case study approach was used to explore perspectives of teachers about socio-cultural influences on their teaching in kindergarten classrooms in Ghana. Four teachers from two…

Examines the distinctions and interrelations between necessary and contingent knowledge and relates these concepts to the distinction between scientific and empirical validity. Considers how these distinctions can be applied to an understanding of morality, arguing for a relational rather than absolutist approach to questions of necessity. (JPB)

The relationship among substance abuse counselors' education, experience, recovery status, and cognitive development (conceptual complexity and moral reasoning levels) was examined in a simultaneous multiple regression. Significant relationships were found between counselors' level of conceptual complexity and moral reasoning and their education.…

Differences between cognitive development and social learning theories as they relate to moral development are assessed and an attempt is made to reconcile the points at dispute through the development of an alternate paradigm of the moral development process. Some material from Chinese and American socialization experiences is presented to show…

This study explored the relationship between children's sense of justice for a criminal offender and their cognitive level. Subjects were 60 children, 10 boys and 10 girls at each of the following developmental or cognitive levels: preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Each child was individually pretested for cognitive…

Pairs of elementary school children at different concept development levels were given problems to discuss, in order to examine the prediction, derived from the equilibration model, that when two children holding different beliefs must arrive at a consenus, the child possessing the higher level of cognitive development will prevail over the child…

Moral competence is more difficult to attain than scientific competence. Since language comprehension plays a central role in conceptual development, and moral language is difficult to learn, there is a common deficiency in moral conceptual development. This suggests a theory of non-spontaneous solutions to moral problems. (Author/MS)

Explores parallels in children's moral and mathematical judgments. Considers how children coordinate these judgments with concepts of authority, particularly when using conventionally determined symbol systems to convey logical and social meanings. (JPB)

Working toward a definition of a developmental model, evaluated how children (N=385) perceive their natural environment by coding their responses to words "Nature is" presented to them on a piece of paper. Results are discussed in terms of age/grade levels corresponding to characteristics of literalism, organization, and moralism. (JN)

A brief summary of social studies research from 1976 to 1983 is divided into five parts. "Cognitive Thinking and Cognitive Process Research" presents a definition of critical thinking, recommendations for cognitive process instruction, and results of cognitive process research concerning the relationship between learning style and…

This study describes the steps taken to measure the integrity of an intermediate concept measure and test the assessment strategy of a well-validated dental ethics curriculum. Because this curriculum, which had been in place for 15 years, had consistently been shown to influence moral judgment, it was posited that a cross-sectional comparison…

This selective bibliography cites recent ERIC documents and journal articles focusing on Piagetian theory, research and practice. Entries include title, author and descriptors. Also included are an abstract and ordering information for each ERIC document and an annotation and journal citation for each journal article. Entries are drawn from…

This book is the first volume of a collection of papers from the Seventh Interdisciplinary Conference on Piagetian theory and its implications for the helping professions social work and psychological services. More than 40 papers are included. Areas explored in the papers include development of prosocial behavior in children; the effect of…