Contemporary approaches to moral education are influenced by the "domain theory" approach to understanding moral development (Turiel, 1983; 1998; Nucci, 2001). Domain theory holds there are distinct conventional, personal and moral domains; each constituting a cognitive "structured-whole" with its own normative source and sphere of influence. One…

Objective: Attachment theory offers an intriguing formulation of protection and risk that ties together key aspects of behavior, emotion, and cognition. The authors present links among attachment status, other developmental domains, and the development and maintenance of externalizing disorders to illustrate an approach to integrating attachment…

"What does deep ethical understanding look like and how can we measure the progression of this aptitude?" Qualitative and quantitative data collected from students in Contemporary Moral Problems courses over two successive semesters revealed that the development of moral reasoning skills is a slow process. The progression of moral…

This article suggests that church-linked universities and colleges can and should show that there is an alternative to the expediency and pseudo-utilitarian thinking which currently dominates higher education. Such institutions can and should serve as beacons of a virtuous approach to education which can show others a more positive way forward.…

Inherent in the missions of colleges and universities with a Christian tradition is a goal of building a strong community. These campuses seek to foster a sense of belonging for their students, and they employ principled approaches to the development of effective policies for all aspects of student affairs. Simultaneously, they frequently face…

This 72-item bibliography presents an overview of publications related to moral development. The listing includes books and articles related to individual moral character development and how schools are involved in the development process. (EH)

This paper presents findings of a study that identified the levels of moral development and ethical reasoning processes of school board members and school district attorneys. The two groups were selected because of the quasi-judicial role that board members play and because of the increasing legalization of the schooling process. A survey of 155…

The Integrated Character Education model recognizes both the affective and cognitive factors involved in educating the whole child and ultimately the responsible adult. The basic question is how to transmit the values of a common heritage from one generation to the next, while supporting the personal development of youth. The goals of Integrated…

This research paper critiques the philosophical basis, developmental appropriateness, and effectiveness of a school honor system and questions whether a school honor system is still an appropriate tool for character instruction in the twenty-first century. Characteristics which induce a subculture of academic deceit, as well as attributes which…

This document contains texts of or notes for six presentations that were made at the 1989 and 1990 annual meetings of the Midwest Philosophy of Education Society. The document begins with a preface explaining that material from the meetings is or is not included and where the additional information may be found. The articles included are: (1)…

This document describes the use of the case study method of behavioral science research in an investigation of exceptional moral commitment. The aim of the study was to learn more about the nature, development, and expression of this kind of exceptional commitment. The paper discusses why this particular research method was chosen as the most…

This paper provides an overview of the literature evaluating the outcomes of adult correctional education programs. The goal was to identify research that assessed the effects of correctional education on inmates. The paper focused on four possible outcomes: (1) Do inmates who participated in education programs while incarcerated have lower…

Cultural context is not the sole source of human knowledge. Postmodern theory, in both its deconstructionist and affirmative approaches, offers an incomplete basis by which to study race, class, and gender, and undermines ethical interaction. Deconstructionism calls for the abandonment of generalizable research findings, asserting that the concept…

A value-based approach to the study and application of ethical principles is proposed. After a brief introduction to the problems of the concept of value within the framework of ethical theory, it is demonstrated that values are epistemological predicates. This "predicate" understanding of value statements is used to critique a popular…

Although Kohlberg has stated that his moral reasoning theory is a refinement of Jean Piaget's and John Dewey's approaches, some educators have concluded that Kohlberg has misinterpreted Dewey's approach. However, the statement that Kohlberg is not of the Deweyan tradition seems unfounded. Actually, a thorough examination shows that numerous…