This critique of Nisan's (1987) study of morality and convention addresses methodological considerations for cross-cultural research on children's moral and conventional concepts. (PCB)

Discusses four levels on an indoctrination continuum: the values clarification approach, Emile Durkheim's approach, Lawrence Kohlberg's approach, and the revolutionist's position. Argues that moral education is not extreme indoctrination and that the milder forms of indoctrination are necessary in education. (MM)

Suggests that religious education has a distinctive responsibility to enhance pupils' understanding of life, enlarging their range of skills, responses, and sympathies while liberating some greater sense of hope and possibility. Discusses ways for teachers to achieve these goals. (GEA)

Maintains that the content and methods of moral education are inextricably intertwined. Develops a view of moral education which recognizes the synthesis of content and process in students' school and home life. (JDH)

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)

Study 1 involved a standard interview of first- and third-graders, who consistently rated hypothetical conventional infractions as affectively neutral but tended to regard moral transgressions as affectively negative. Study 2 experimentally manipulated affect prior to a controlled recall task involving moral and conventional stories. (Author/KS)

Reviews Kohlberg's research on moral development and criticizes standard issue scoring, a measure of individual developmental stages of moral judgment. Discusses problems with the Moral Judgment Interview's content and scoring, suggesting longitudinal, comparative, and gender-related research needed to resolve problems of validity and reliability.…

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between moral judgment and personality or attitude toward authority; variation of attitude toward authority through adolescence; and bias of Kohlbergian moral development toward a liberal political philosophy. Results were discussed in terms of the political and psychological features of…

Describes a study of German children's moral reasoning about prosocial conflicts, and of the interrelations of moral reasoning and prosocial behavior. Reports that hedonistic reasoning decreased from preschool to fourth grade, but direct reciprocity, needs-oriented, and approval/interpersonal reasoning, and reasoning involving references to…

Influence of motive-outcome valence matching and outcome foreseeability on perception of intentionality and moral judgments were compared. Preschool children and adult subjects were asked directly to make attributions of intentionality to and a moral judgment of the 21 story characters. Findings suggest that outcome foreseeability significantly…

The longitudinal changes in moral judgment and ego development in a young adult sample (n=61) were investigated, while controlling for verbal ability. Findings suggest that moral development continues into the young adult years and that verbal ability may moderate sex differences in moral judgment. (Author/BW)

Sixty second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade children were given opportunities to donate money to other children in order to establish age-related differences and demand characteristics contributing to variability in donating behavior. Discussion focuses on necessity of incorporating both qualitative and quantitative dimensions in general models of the…

Discusses a model that allows teachers to provide content and instructional strategies that are appropriate to students' stages of both mental and moral development. The model (called the Three Step Approach) is based on Lawrence Kolberg's theory and provides opportunities for students to actively explore value-laden issues. (JN)

Growing public concern with student discipline, increases in student suicide rates, homicides, and high pregnancy rates of teenage girls are causing educators to give renewed attention to the concept of "character development" in public education. (MD)

Studies the ways in which citizens rationalize their obedience or disobedience to the law. There is a clear correspondence between cognitive structure, or moral reasoning, and political-legal predispositions. Political involvement is the catalyst which converts moral development into political maturity. (Author/CS)