David Carr (2002) has argued against the use of developmental theories as a basis for curriculum development in moral education. Although we find common ground with some aspects of Carr's arguments, we disagree with several of his criticisms of the cognitive-developmental approach to moral education. He confuses romantic ideology (as espoused by…

This paper presents a metatheoretical analysis of "approaches" to moral education and how we make sense of them. Such approaches are commonly analyzed with simple, binary category schemes, for example, being categorized as either 'indirect' or 'direct' in nature. This kind of minimal framework clearly oversimplifies the complex nature of any…

This paper sets out to explore connections between a number of plausible claims concerning education in general and moral education in particular: (i) that education is a matter of broad cultural initiation rather than narrow academic or vocational training; (ii) that any education so conceived would have a key concern with the moral dimensions of…

The issue of values has been a longstanding concern of mathematics education research. Attempts have been made to analyze the specifically mathematical values which characterize the practice of mathematics teachers. In this paper we draw on one teacher's articulation of her practice to explore values issues in the teaching of mathematics, drawing…

This essay subjects to philosophical scrutiny a well-known theory in social psychology, the theory of a belief in a just world ("BJW"-theory). What are the implications of the theory for moral philosophy, in general, and moral education/schooling, in particular? Should parents and teachers discourage or encourage children to believe in a just…

The premise advanced here is that reading is of religious and spiritual significance; consequently, when literacy is secularized, divorced from faith and considered apart from readers' beliefs and values, there are consequences for learning. It is suggested that current educational policy which legitimates the view that literacy is more concerned…

Given that many in neuroscience believe all human experience will eventually be accounted for in terms of the activity of the brain, does the concept of moral or values education make sense? And, are we not headed for a singly deterministic notion of the self, devoid of even the possibility of making choices? One obvious objection is that this…

The role of ethics in bioscience undergraduate degrees is now widely accepted, but how ethics should be taught, who should teach it and what the curriculum should include are matters for debate. This article discusses teaching strategies: specialist options, or embed ethics in other courses, or both; use of professional philosophers, or…

Teaching in socially just ways and in ways that produce social justice requires the recognition that learners need access to the knowledge deemed valuable by the content domains, even as the knowledge they bring to their learning must not only be recognized but valued. In this review, the author revisits that notion of teaching as the fusion of…

The author of this paper, an ethicist, states that he considers himself fortunate to be in a field undergoing a resurgence; however he also is aware of how academic efforts to promote moral development often lack a deep appreciation of the underlying character of ethics. He argues that, in order to further the moral maturation of today's students,…

Introduction: An understanding of legal, ethical, and cultural concerns and an ability to communicate when faced with clinical dilemmas are integral to the end of life decision-making process. Yet teaching practicing clinicians these important skills in addressing conflict situations is not strongly emphasized. Methods: A one-day interactive…

This paper suggests that the current confusion regarding character formation is related to a postmodern dilemma about the nature of the individual child. By looking at John Dewey's concept of "potentials," and by applying this concept to his ideas about the self and experience, this paper develops a naturalistic version of the idea of…

Ethics training in graduate psychology programs has blossomed in the last decade but the debate continues regarding how graduate ethics should be taught. While an effective model of ethics training is being discussed among professors, student input has been negligible, and information from students in counseling psychology programs nonexistent.…

Journalism instructors are concerned that the credibility of images and consequently of words will suffer if the image content, as the photographer took the picture at the time, is altered by a computer operator far removed from the actual scene. Any discussion of picture manipulation ethics must take into account where and why a picture was…

A growing number of Americans believe that the public schools have a responsibility to include moral education in their curriculum; and, in fact, 31 states are currently offering courses aimed at teaching students some aspect of traditional values in the expectation of producing concerned citizens who will preserve our democarcy. Each moral…