Background: The aim of the study was to explore the validity of the social-moral awareness test (SMAT) a measure designed for assessing socio-moral rule knowledge and reasoning in people with learning disabilities. Comparisons between Theory of Mind and socio-moral reasoning allowed the exploration of construct validity of the tool. Factor…

In this essay, Ryan Bevan explores the pedagogical implications of taking virtue epistemology as the philosophical foundation of educational theory rather than following the instrumentalist approach that is currently dominant. According to Bevan, the critical thinking strategies characteristic of instrumentalism generally work to further the…

Catharine Macaulay, an 18th century English historian, published her educational philosophy in "Letters on Education with Observations on Religious and Metaphysical Subjects" in 1790. The ultimate goal of her educational process, to "bring the human mind to such a height of perfection as shall induce the practice of the best morals", (Macaulay,…

A historical and theoretical analysis of the copyright environment demonstrates that both the economic rights associated with copyright and the moral rights often associated with copyright perform social functions. The latter have not been as universally embraced or adopted as the former. The lack of enthusiasm for moral rights is argued to be…

This paper argues for an alternative notion of spirituality for education, based on Theo de Boer's idea of a spirituality of the desert. Rather than depicting an inner, additional region named the spiritual, spirituality here is thought of as a discourse that depicts the everyday world in a particular way. In dialogue with David Purpel's analysis,…

Bioethics is concerned with the moral aspects of biology and medicine. The bioethical relevance of aggression and violence is clear, as very different moral and legal responsibilities may apply depending on whether aggression and violence are forms of behaviour that are innate or acquired, deliberate or automatic or not, or understandable and…

In a recent essay entitled "Ex and the City": on cosmopolitanism, community and the "curriculum of refuge", Molly Quinn (2010) introduces her readers to a poetic exploration of cosmopolitanism and curriculum change. She begins and inconclusively ends her essay with poetic language and affirmation of cosmopolitan justice through…

In the article "Magic, Morals and Health" the reader is treated to Dr. Warren Johnson's thoughts about health and society, and the role of health educators. If one stays with Dr. Johnson's train of thought, one will find Dr. Johnson is concerned that: (1) A large segment of society tends to base at least some of their beliefs about health on…

A mediation model using a sample of 1059 adolescents (56% girls; "M" age = 16.02, SD = 1.37) tested relations between parenting, adolescent moral identity, and the formation of psychological distance towards others. In short, adolescent moral identity mediated relations between parenting and the ways in which adolescents oriented others in their…

Moral education is concerned with depolarising the tension between loyalty and sedition, but little work has been done in the field to describe and map the territory between these poles. This paper proposes that the concept of "dissent" accomplishes this task and satisfies the need for a construct which describes the condition of "sitting apart…

Much more than a musical genre, hip-hop culture exists as an animating force in the lives of many young adults. This article looks beyond the moral concerns often associated with rap music to explore how hip-hop as a larger set of expressions and practices implicates the educational experiences, activities, and approaches for students. The article…

There are powerful forces of resistance that must be acknowledged when introducing educational reforms that foster ecological intelligence. The foremost source of resistance is the paradigm gap that now separates generations. That is, the vast majority of university professors, classroom teachers--and thus the general public that has been educated…

The importance of proper language, in the context of multicultural education, and how it can be of help in conflict prevention is discussed. A brief discussion of what a model does and how a scientific model is constructed is provided. A circular model is developed where it is proposed that thought, language, and action, as the three most…

The authors review the history of the concept of freedom in humanistic counseling theory and present a contemporary rationale for including certain negative implications of existential indeterminate free will in the theoretical foundations of the profession. Implications for counseling and a table of definitions that clarifies unique constructs…

Values-inspired issues remain an important part of the British school curriculum. Avoiding moral relativism while fostering enthusiasm for spiritual values and applying them to non-curricular learning such as school ethos or children's home lives are challenges where spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development might benefit from…