For 30 years, Project Adventure (PA) has created adventure education programs that help participants face their fears, understand how others feel, and build creative group process. School-based PA programs help students take responsibility for their own behavior, while PA techniques are widely used in adventure programs for at-risk and adjudicated…

This study surveyed ninth- and eleventh-graders' evaluations of social exclusion based on social group membership. Responses indicated that participants found exclusion less wrong than denying resources, and used fewer moral and more conventional reasons to justify judgments. Participants relied on their group knowledge or stereotypes in…

Proposes using illustrated fictional literature to promote in young children aesthetic appreciation of human creations and the natural environment. Defines aesthetics and recommends both "good" stories and books with vicarious encounters as two useful categories of stories with moral reasoning accessible to primary grade children. Offers three…

Summarizes recent state initiatives in values education, highlighting actions in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and California, that promote values education programs and policies. Legislatures, typically, have chosen personnel to promote moral education, or have passed resolutions, or added language to existing codes regarding the necessity of…

Reports on the results of 2 studies that use a non-Kohlbergian approach to categorizing justifications for moral judgments by Australian subjects from 7 to 15 and from 7 to 21 years. These studies support the view that moral reasoning up to late adolescence is largely a product of socialization. (KO)

Examines changes in patterns of prosocial motivation between grades 2 and 12 in samples from West Germany, Poland, Italy, and the United States. Uses a questionnaire to assess within-subject preference for 5 prosocial motives: hedonism, self-interest, conformity, task orientation, and other-orientation. (MW)

Reviews research on interpersonal and moral development of urban and rural students and young adults in Iceland, the United States, Europe, Japan, and China. Asserts that knowledge structures used to make meaning in a socio-moral conflict situation are highly dependent on the culture. (CFR)

Reports on a study of views of friendship among 20 5- and 6-year-old British students. Finds that boys and girls were able to interpret friendships as transactions. Also finds differences between boys and girls on their understanding of "bad friends." (CFR)

Discusses how a prisoner applied education in psychology to his own $2 N:4rehabilitation. Argues that any motivated inmate student can find moral and ethical growth and development in the study of psychology. Suggests how some developmental theories relate to the inmate's life and evolution from guilt and blame to self-acceptance. (DK)

Outlines an instructional approach for teaching moral thinking, based on considering consequences of alternative options. Discusses R. M. Hare's two-level theory of moral thinking, and cautions against relying solely on critical thinking for moral education. Suggests students must learn open-minded thinking, be aware of the consequences of their…

Discusses what teachers should do when older elementary students lie. Guidelines for handling the situation are presented along with suggestions for making children feel good about telling the truth. Three activities for encouraging truthfulness in the classroom are suggested. (SM)

In light of recent demands for teaching moral values in the public schools, examines the history and success of such efforts in U.S. education, from Bible-based curricula to self-esteem training and students' rights movements. Suggests guidelines for choosing and implementing principles of good conduct in schools. (CJS)

Compared 16 fourth- and fifth-grade boys who participated in Discovery, developmental program in which students with history of inappropriate classroom behaviors acted as peer tutors for kindergarten students, to 16 control participants. Found no significant increase in moral development among Discovery participants but did find significant…

Reports on a longitudinal study of four toddlers and the relationship of the development of moral awareness to maternal communications. Concludes that a 17-18-month period is a crucial transition period and calls for research into the relationship between emotional development and moral awareness. (CFR)

Asserts that today's students must cope with considerable hostility and find the courage to survive aggression (e.g., through organized religion). Without religion in schools, educators lose values that teach children to be ethical, contributing citizens. Teachers must be leaders in moral development in order to help students understand how their…