Beyond Justice

Abstract

The central argument of this paper is that it is inconsistent to both morally educate children and to punish them. This is because the aims of punishment, according to the traditional theories, are, in the case of children, incompatible with the aims of moral education. Finally it is suggested that as no obvious general justification of the punishment of children is forthcoming, therefore the onus of justification must rest with those who, in a particular case, wish to punish children.     

Teacher Authority in Schools: A case study from Finland

This paper discusses the nature of teacher authority in Finnish schools. Current trends in Finnish teacher education are presented with an emphasis on the high academic status of teachers. The empirical findings examine moral dilemmas in schools as identified by teachers and students. The methods of the study include interviews and essays. The analysis of the data reveals that the most problematic conflicts in schools are related to teacher-given punishment. The teachers have failed in practising their deontic authority. Teachers' behaviour has included manipulative means to control life in the classroom. The results of the study indicate that moral dilemmas in schools and the nature of teacher authority in solving these conflicts should be addressed more in pre-service teacher education.     

Moral Decision‐Making,Religious Reinforcement and Some Educational Implications

Abstract

There is a fundamental gap between people's assertions as to what is right or wrong and their actual behaviour. This has been traditionally attributed to akrasia or weakness of the will. This paper examines this concept, and the related positive concept of KRAT, and considers what moral education can do about it. Claims by R.B. Braithwaite and others that religious traditions can provide reinforcement are examined and attention is directed to some important qualifications. The implications for moral education are considered, and it is argued that attempts by moral educationists to get to grips with this weakness must involve their own participation in moral debate and in decisions concerning the moral ethos of society.

Anyone who observes human behaviour through moral spectacles soon discovers that there is a significant gap between people's assertions as to what is right or wrong and their actual behaviour. This gap is traditionally attributed to akrasia or weakness of the will. Any attempt to get to grips with moral education must (a) take cognizance of this phenomena and (b) consider what, if anything, can be done about it. In this paper I aim to do three things: (i) to draw attention to some significant factors associated with akrasia, (ii) to explore claims that religious traditions can help to overcome such weakness and (iii) to draw some general conclusions from these points for moral education.     

Learning from the Imaginary

Abstract

Much educational practice is based on the view that children can advance their moral “understanding by exploring the imaginary worlds of creative writers, or by creating their own imaginary worlds. It is here argued that it is a mistake to rely on such explorations as a source either of moral didactic or of morally important knowledge about people. There are, however, grounds for believing that they can contribute importantly to moral education by extending children's vision of moral possibilities and perhaps byincreasing their skill in coming to understand people.     

Policies,Agendas, and Practices Influencing Doctoral Education in Physical Education Teacher Education

ABSTRACT

If teaching physical education is a moral activity, it follows that there is a moral component to the preparation of teachers of physical education and thus a moral component to the preparation of teacher educators. In this article, I examine the major policies, agendas, and practices that influence doctoral preparation in physical education teacher education. I argue from both a utilitarian and realist perspective that we can best serve children and youth in schools by being knowledgeable of the contexts and effects of these policies, agendas, and practices in educating future professors of physical education teacher education.     

Moral and Religious Education for Nigeria

Abstract

The paper considers moral and religious education programmes appropriate for Nigeria. Starting with a brief analysis of the current crisis in moral, spiritual and political beliefs, the paper progresses by analysing traditional Nigerian education and the approach to moral education which it advocated. It then analyses the epistemological underpinnings of traditional moral education as well as the social institutions supporting it. A brief section outlining certain shortcomings in traditional education follows. This is then followed by a consideration of contemporary approaches to both moral and religious education by focussing on the question of the possible independence of moral from religious education. Having agreed with certain writers that the two are independent, the paper concludes with a sub‐section on the aims of moral education as a distinct activity.     

Moral beauty and education

ABSTRACT

This article seeks to rekindle a version of the age-old view that aesthetic education can contribute to the development of virtue. It proceeds as follows. First, it introduces the moral beauty view, whereby the moral virtues are beautiful, and the moral vices ugly, character traits. Second, two ways in which moral beauty and ugliness can manifest themselves are considered: in people and in artworks. Third, it is argued that character education couched partly in aesthetic terms, and coupled with the cultivation of a sensitivity to moral beauty and ugliness, promise a solid and motivationally robust anchor for moral character development. It is suggested that introducing the notions of moral beauty and ugliness in our conceptual repertoire, coupled with the presence of moral beauty in our surroundings, can undergird more traditional pathways to virtue, whilst being congenial to the maintenance of virtue. Before closing, three objections against these suggestions are addressed, and some avenues for exploring the notion of moral beauty vis-à-vis moral motivation and education are proposed.     

“Darker than any prison,hotter than any human flame”: Punishment,choice, and culpability in A Clockwork Orange

Contemporary textbooks in criminal justice use A Clockwork Orange to illustrate issues of correctional and sentencing practices. This article challenges criminal justice faculty and students to use the film to explore the political and social realities of punishment, in particular the examination of the moral question of “voluntariness” and the implications for “treatment” as a mechanism of social control. This paper explores the moral questions of state sponsored social control and using the film satire invites the student to examine their beliefs about the political and social realities of punishment and rehabilitation.     

Education as a Moral Practice

The interest in moral education has focused largely on the teaching of morality or on nurturing moral qualities and virtues or on the "moral atmosphere" of the school; but little, comparatively speaking, has been written about education itself as essentially a moral practice. Failure, in this respect, has damaging results. First, the practice of education goes adrift from its moral roots — and serves particular ends such as economic well-being or citizenship as conceived by those in power. Secondly, the programmes of moral or personal and social education are isolated from the moral context in which they make sense. These issues are addressed in the lecture.     

The Impossibility of Teaching a Private Morality

Abstract

The rejection of hypothetical questions about moral action, as a method of teaching in moral education, is a rejection of rules. The rejection of rules in favour of a morality that is private to the individual leads to the contradiction that action taken on the basis of private moral decision‐making is the opposite of what we mean by ‘morality’. Nothing is left to constitute moral education.     

How Schools Can Create a Moral Curriculum

Abstract

Against the background of public concern over the moral education of the young, the contemporary constructions imposed upon schools in England by politicians, the intellectual forces arising from post‐modernism and the pressures of a pluralistic society are examined. The deep structures and slow‐growing processes which can cultivate a sense of moral values in a human community are related to how some schools have successfully achieved a moral community, in which all are valued and can make a contribution. The personal vocation and professionalism of teachers is fundamental.     

Transforming Moral Education

Abstract

The anomalous character of approaches to moral education that focus on love and an ethic of care is explained in this paper. It is then argued that if moral education is to foster generative love, education itself must be redefined and moral education as we know it must be transformed.     

Moral Theory and Educational Practice: a Reply to Ian Gregory

Abstract

Taking terminological questions as a starting point the authors give an overview of the theory and practice of moral education in Germany. Special emphasis is given to the historical background of current theories of moral development as well as to legal and political questions concerning the present state of moral education in W. Germany. The authors are clear about the ways which should be chosen and the issues which should be dealt with if moral education is to meet the tasks and challenges posed by modern society and by problems of democracy, peace, and ecology. Nevertheless, they are sceptical whether these will be attempted by moral education in W. Germany.     

Christian Contributions to Moral Education

Abstract

Moral Education theory commonly attacks religion‐based morality as authoritarian and wants to divorce ME from RE. Three significant Christian documents, the Fourth R (the Durham Report on RE), Teaching Christian Ethics and The Child in the Church are used to support the claims that the relationship between Christianity and Ethics is more subtle, and that Christians can help young people consider issues in moral education in a balanced way and thus arrive at their own conclusions. A study of Christianity has significant contributions to make to moral education.     

Self-determination theory,morality, and education: introduction to special issue

ABSTRACT

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is an empirically based organismic theory of human motivation, development, and well-being that shares many points of interest with the fields of moral development and moral education. Yet, SDT has been largely disconnected from these fields so far. How can we define and empirically assess autonomous moral motivation? How is moral autonomy achieved in the course of development? And what are the relationships between leading a moral life and happiness? These questions have been occupying moral psychologists and educators for a long time. They are focal for SDT, as well. This special issue highlights various lines of intersection between SDT, morality and education. Contributions either expand SDT into the moral domain or incorporate elements of SDT into moral theory with the ultimate goal of integrating fields that inherently belong together.     

Some Effects of Teaching Designed to Promote Understanding of Racial Issues in Adolescence

Abstract:

Moral education must be based on universal religious values, such as equality and faith, if it expects to have an impact on character development The central objective of our moral education programme is co‐operation. To specify what is meant by co‐operation, three of its aspects ‐‐ courtesy, consultation and service ‐‐ are discussed. Methods of facilitating moral development fall into three categories: ground rules, modelling, and moral reasoning. These methods must be used jointly if they are to be effective. Releasing the potential of both the society and the individual constitutes the goal of moral education.     

Moral Socialisation in a Multi‐Racial Community

Abstract:

Various claims have been made for a connection between moral education and science. The most prominent of these‐‐'evolutionary ethics’ ‐‐ is examined and found to be philosophically unjustifiable. However, after an analysis of the form and content of scientific reasoning, it is concluded that some other claims are justifiable, in that there are connections of identity between science and morality in terms of logic, relevant knowledge, perspectives, and certain virtues, especially virtues of the will. These connections can be of value for moral education.     

Book Reviews

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the current situation and problems of moral education in Canada today. After a brief summary of some multicultural dimensions of the Canadian context, three difficulties in point of view are discussed. The first concerns the status and nature of official policy on moral education within Canadian educational jurisdictions. The second identifies two general directions of contemporary change in Canadian society with high potential to affect moral education in incompatible ways. Finally, it is argued that the most crucial problems revolve around the central role of the teacher in moral education efforts.