Compared with children, adults are widely assumed to possess more mature moral understanding thus justifying deference to their moral authority and testimony. This paper examines philosophical discussions regarding this child-adult moral relation and its implications for moral education, particularly accounts suggesting that the moral status of…

The purpose of this study was to examine how moral reasoning develops for 236 students enrolled in either a diversity course or a management course. These courses were compared based on the level of diversity inclusion and type of pedagogy employed in the classroom. We used causal modelling to compare the two types of courses, controlling for the…

Highlights Piaget's stages of development and discusses their implications for better parenting. (MP)

Provides an overview of Kohlberg's five stages of moral reasoning and Damon's levels of positive justice. Argues that a conditioning approach to moral development is inadequate, suggesting teaching methods for facilitating moral development based on helping children understand principles and reasons. (RH)

One of the major purposes of values education is to help students develop more complex ways of reasoning--to facilitate cognitive development. The purpose of moral education in a cognitive developmental framework becomes the stimulation of the student's capacity for moral judgment. With this goal in mind, the teacher must first be prepared to…

Teaching strategies to help elementary social studies teachers teach distributive justice--i.e., fair sharing of available resources--are provided. Also described are the approximate age levels and the different levels of reasoning associated with distributive justice. (RM)

The author is concerned that teaching strategies based on the values clarification approach (VCA) and on Kohlberg's stage theory of moral development might be premature. The VCA has been adopted widely despite concerns about threats to privacy of participating students, infringement on rights of parents to shape their children's values, and…

The author outlines Kohlberg's stage theory of moral development and points out some of its questionable consequences for education. He discusses discrepancies found to date in the empirical evidence. Finally he proposes a new interpretation of Kohlberg's model and suggests some of its educational consequences for home and school. (Author/SJL)

This paper discusses moral development and illustrates ways that it can be fostered in children both in the home and in the classroom. Moral education is discussed in terms of four basic questions: (1) Is there a need for it? (2) If so, is it the job of the schools to teach morality? (3) What is moral development? and (4) If fostering moral…

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)

Moral education is becoming one of the most important topics in school systems today. Schools are fast learning that they must do something to try to teach students good values and even more to teach students how to reason about values. Research studies suggest that athletes are less morally reasoned and less sportsmanlike than their peer groups;…

There has been a long-standing debate about the proper relationships between teacher preparation and liberal education. The current wave of concern about the quality of teacher preparation, combined with enrollment declines in colleges of education, has led to major reorganization in some institutions which have moved significant portions of the…

Compares five designs of an undergraduate ethics course at Saint Edward's University (Texas) in a 5-year study involving 318 students. Reveals the effectiveness of directly targeting and teaching in tandem the elements of moral reasoning. Bases study on Lawrence Kohlberg's moral development theory. Argues that this approach best develops moral…

This monograph is designed to reinforce the development of school curricula that supports student development in affective, interpersonal, and moral domains. The contents, which reflect the Alberta Education Developmental Framework, delineate students' developmental processes, and indicate the kinds of support students need in order to learn…

Written for the classroom teacher, this book examines the relationship of Lawrence Kohlberg's psychological theories to educational practice and articulates a sequence of steps necessary to understand the role of the moral educator. Part I discusses educational psychologist Jean Piaget's six stages of moral development. It also examines Kohlberg's…