This paper addresses the pros and cons educators may encounter if they are involved in a character education program. Those supporting a character education program offer the following reasons: (1) decline of a traditional family structure; (2) erosion of the values system of key institutions; (3) the position of schools as the second most…

The notion of "Personal Writing" has come under sustained attack from several different directions and for a variety of reasons, yet it is a concept that still retains usefulness for writing instructors. One problem with personal writing is that frequently students do not like it or feel it invades their privacy, despite the traditional…

As Martha Nussbaum argues, narratives, and especially novels, provide a way of reflecting on what it means to live well morally, and the emotional responses that stories evoke are crucial to the ability to formulate complex moral judgments. An important aspect of the moral nature of literature is the reader's "empathetic imagination," or…

This paper discusses a theory of the formation of social stereotyping and prejudice in children. This intergroup-developmental theory of prejudice has three primary goals: to account for the development of stereotyping and prejudice across multiple domains; to provide a developmental account of social stereotyping, outlining how developmental…

Although Kohlberg and others have proposed that various social psychological and cultural factors may influence a person's level of moral reasoning, most work in this area has been conducted among relatively well educated persons in so called advanced societies. These two studies investigated stages of reasoning about moral dilemmas among…

Social scientists and educators who favor the developmental approach to values acquisition focus on the individual and his or her own psychological growth as the means to acquiring a healthy set of values. On the other hand, those who favor the transmission approach to values acquisition focus on the instillation of societal and group norms in the…

Composition instructors and their women students stand to lose a great deal should they not continue to explore the "different voice" that women have despite influences of the dominant culture. Carol Gilligan has recently been taken to task by any number of feminist scholars for what they understand to be her tendency to essentialize the…

This study was conducted to learn more about the moral development of Hawaiian children and adolescents and to assess if grade level (grade 5, 7, 9, or 11) or gender were related to the children's reported level of self-esteem. Eighty Hawaiian children and adolescents from low-to middle-income families were interviewed individually, asked to solve…

The status of religious education in Nigerian schools is described with discussion of relationships between religious and moral education in general. The author concludes that there is a strong link between morality and religious education and that it is the duty of religious education teachers to ensure that religious education effectively…

Noting the major objectives of India's Fifth Five Year Plan, including emphasis on cultivation of moral and spiritual values in students, the author discusses India's situation in comparison with the development of other nations and analyzes the question of when or how individual enlightenment affects large groups of people or the development of a…

A general description of values education and how to integrate it into the history curriculum is provided. (DE)

Presents definitions and understandings of moral education, surveys some historical techniques likely to yield starting points for work on a history of moral education, and examines John Locke's theory and practice of moral education. (Author/IRT)

The consequences of Watergate for children, their education, and their ethical and moral commitment is discussed in terms of the child's development of moral judgment, and in terms of the practical issues of how values are transmitted from one generation to another. (Author/AM)

At a time when our nation faces crisis for want of ethical and moral leadership in all facets of our society, the business educator must not shirk the responsibility to teach those intangible characteristics of leadership that are needed by those who prepare themselves for leadership in our society. (Author)

This paper begins by examining two approaches to defining and measuring adolescents' understanding of the public good: (1) theories concerning stages of moral and cognitive development and political socialization; and (2) attitudinal survey methods. Methodological deficiencies of the approaches are identified. The paper presents a new method of…