The analysis is based on some moral experiences taking place during a terrorist attack on the Norwegian Labor Party's youth camp on the island of Utøya (outside of Oslo) July 22, 2011, where 69 young people were killed and several seriously injured. After the attack many of the survivors told stories of how strangers spontaneous had helped and…

Character is defined broadly by leading authorities, including concepts such as practicing apt behavior and teaching right from wrong. Virtue and moral undertones tend to pervade most experts' use of character, although in secular settings, the notion of ethics is more prominent. Overall, developing in students a desire for the good is how most…

This article describes briefly the growing emphasis in Australia on values education as evidenced by the Australian Government's National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools (2005), and the responses of the respective States and Territories. Arguing that the major approaches to the teaching of values (the trait approach often…

Addresses the dilemma that value clarification theorists have exposed themselves to a charge of relativism because they wished to avoid the indictment that they were moralizers in the classroom. Concludes that it is possible to teach values in a way that respect for universally valid values is fostered. (JOW)

Educators seek to nurture in the hearts and minds of students a sense of moral thinking, action and behaviour. What these constitute is dependent on one's perspective, or worldview. Moral thinking and action emerge from worldviews or visions of life--religious or secular. In the history of common or public schools educators have linked moral…

Contends that values clarification is an inadequate mode of moral education. Presents values clarificationists' explanations of the approach; analyzes the asssumptions and implications of the values clarification program; and demonstrates the limitations of the approach for developing virtuous character. (WL)

A critique of widely held objections to the virtues approach to moral education addresses such problems as: distinguishing virtues; defining individual virtues; emphasizing conduct or reason in virtues; the contexts for understanding conduct; justifying the selection of virtues; and defining the scope of the virtues. (CB)

"Values and Teaching", by Raths, Harmin, and Simon (1978) is examined in the context of Dewey's approach to moral education. While the books' authors claim that their approach is practical, the relationships among such concepts as "overdissenting", "aggresssive", "overconforming", and "submissive"…

Notes that both liberals and conservatives have criticized values clarification courses on the grounds that they assume only one correct position regarding values: ethical relativism. Maintains that values clarification fails to live up to its own claims of openness and neutrality. (Author/JM)

Agrees that Ryan's article highlights an important problem in moral education, but describes Ryan's view of narcissism as narrow and his account of the past idealized. Argues that a school program combating narcissism is not sufficient because individualism is so deeply rooted in our culture. (10 citations) (AJL)

Value neutrality and values clarification fail to foster critical thinking about values. The values articulation approach identifies the rationality that is applied to value claims. It avoids noncognitivism and moral relativism and suggests ways the discussion of values in the classroom prepares students to deal with broader moral issues. (VM)

Defines rationality and morality and contends that learning to be moral must be based on more than value-neutral approaches which stress process over content. Argues that instruction in moral principles need not be simple bald exposition, but must include proofs, evidences, and arguments, making it nondogmatic and fully compatible with the…

Describes development of theories of moral education, including those of William McGuffy, John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and Lawrence Kohlberg. Illustrates relationship of Kohlberg's stages of moral maturity to Piaget's stages of cognitive development. Notes criticisms of Kohlberg's theory, and describes alternatives including behavior modification and…

Moral relativism, spearheaded by values clarification techniques, has transformed the ethos of South Australian schools. The theory and practice of innovative pedagogy in the realm of moral values is critiqued. Suggestions as to how a secular system of education can avoid moral anarchy without relapsing into ideological indoctrination are made.…

Argues that middle- and high-school students benefit from class discussions of personal and societal values and the role they play in decision making. Presents two stories of real-life difficult choices and their consequences. Presents brief descriptions of five current controversial issues (with suggested questions) for classroom discussion to…