As violence, unethical behavior, and disrespect toward others become rampant not only in schools but also in the U.S. today, some commentators blame John Dewey and his ideas on moral education for the dramatic change in schools in the twentieth century. John Dewey, America's chief philosopher of education from the turn of the twentieth century,…

Any democratic society must concern itself with the socialization of its citizens. This begins in childhood, and schools are critical to this process. The interrelations and roles of educating for character (character education, moral education) and educating for citizenship (citizenship education, civic education) are explored, largely in a North…

After distinguishing several ways in which the notion of the moral roots of citizenship and citizenship education can be understood, this paper focuses on the question "Is there some underlying attitude that citizens should have towards their fellow citizens?" It argues for respect, rather than love or care, as being the appropriate attitude, in…

Moral education is the process whereby teachers and other adults support children's growing understanding of right and wrong, their ability to think critically about how their actions affect the well-being of others, and their expression of values such as caring, respect for others, and responsibility. Children's literature is a useful tool for…

Many professors, staff members, and even administrators see campus computers and e-mail accounts as their own private property--a type of employment benefit provided with no constraints on use. The fact is, universities "assign" computer equipment to personnel as tools to help them perform their jobs more effectively and efficiently, in the same…

In this article, the author addresses the problem of content knowledge dominating the school curriculum and the resultant marginalization of sociocivic and moral dispositions. Given the problems associated with teaching dispositions directly, the author offers four curricular aims that collectively develop the attitudes required of democratic…

The study was designed to increase student commitment to Christian education and was conducted in a church youth group of 150 students in grades 6-12, located in a moderate-sized county. The Wednesday evening program for 6th-12th-grade students was attended by a larger number of youth each week than the Sunday A.M. christian education program.…

This paper discusses the concept of character formation as it can be positively impacted by folk arts in education. A long-standing tradition in U.S. education is for the teacher to take a leading role in molding the character of young people, as outlined through the years by such scholars as Thomas Jefferson, Horace Mann, and Rachel Davis DuBois.…

Ethics is of increasing concern to United States colleges and universities, according to a survey of 183 institutions on this issue focusing on two areas--public relations and advertising. A 75% return from 134 institutions disclosed that some 25% offer an ethics course but less than half require one. Overwhelmingly (93%), most respondents…

This book presents the findings of a study of the moral character of the U.S. generation in the 15 to 30 age group. The research results were from a comprehensive study of ethical attitudes and behaviors in the United States. During 1991 and 1992, a survey of nearly 9,000 young people and adults was conducted. Survey topics included value…

Noting that humans do not deal very well with differences despite thousands of years of practice, this paper argues that dealing with differences is an ethical issue for the 21st century to which speech communication departments must respond. The first part of the paper follows R. Johannesen's recommendation that ethical issues, particularly…

This study examined and assessed teachers' and students' use of and reactions to the Heartwood Program, a multicultural, literature-based curriculum designed to promote elementary students' ethical understanding of courage, loyalty, justice, respect, hope, honesty, and love. The Pennsylvania Department of Education Division of Federal Programs…

The Wheel of Right Action and the "WHOOPS! Quotient" both offer students an opportunity to integrate values and ethics into real world situations. The Whoops! Quotient asks students to respond to questions regarding how often they have heard or have made statements of a "white lie" nature within the past week. Responses are…

This experiment evaluated the effects of a semistructured group discussion approach to moral education on the level of usage of the concept of moral intentionality with 68 second grade students. (Author/DEP)

W. Clement Stone responds to questions on education, politics, morality, economics, and motivation. (DW)