Moral Education In Theory And Practice

Children must be taught morality. They must be taught to recognise the authority of moral standards and to understand what makes them authoritative. But there’s a problem: the content and justification of morality are matters of reasonable disagreement among reasonable people. This makes it hard to see how educators can secure children’s commitment to moral standards without indoctrinating them. In A Theory of Moral Education, Michael Hand tackles this problem head on. He sets out to show that moral education can and should be fully rational. It is true that many moral standards and justificatory theories are controversial, and educators have an obligation to teach these nondirectively, with the aim of enabling children to form their own considered views. But reasonable moral disagreement does not go all the way down: some basic moral standards are robustly justified, and these should be taught directively, with the aim of bringing children to recognise and understand their authority. This is an original and important contribution to the philosophy of moral education, which lays a new theoretical foundation for the urgent practical task of teaching right from wrong.

The Theory and Practice of Virtue presents a series of connected essays - drawing on the thoughts of such diverse figures as Josef Pieper, Plato, Lawrence, Kohlberg, and Martin Luther- which explore theories of virtue and the practical task of being virtuous.

The Theory and Practice of Virtue Education offers the reader a comprehensive and authoritative account of both the theoretical and practical complexities of cultivating virtue in education and beyond. The book moves beyond the usual philosophical literature that merely discusses virtue in the abstract, and offers scholarly, research-informed suggestions for practice. Drawn from a highly successful international conference organised by the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, the chapters in this volume offer a unique insight into the varieties of approaches that leading scholars have identified for putting the learning and nurturing of virtues into practice. Featured are chapters from internationally acclaimed scholars primarily in the fields of philosophy, psychology and education, which are categorised under three headings: philosophical and theoretical foundations for cultivating virtues; developing virtues in practice; and nurturing specific virtues. Beginning with chapters that examine differing theoretical complexities of virtue education, the book then moves on to explore different approaches to nurturing virtue in the classroom and beyond. This practical approach is further evidenced in the final section, where individual virtues are discussed. The Theory and Practice of Virtue Education highlights the theoretical complexity of putting virtue education into practice and, as a result, is of real use to researchers, academics and postgraduates in the fields of education, philosophy, psychology, sociology and theology. It should also be essential reading for educators in character and virtue.

There is a growing consensus in society on the need for schools and colleges to address the issue of moral education, despite argument over the philosophy that should guide it. This compilation is reflective of the cognitive developmental approach associated primarily with Lawrence Kohlberg and his colleagues. Broad in scope, Part 1 offers an overview of theoretical perspectives on moral education. Part 2 looks at several innovative approaches to the implementation of moral education theory. Chapter topics include: the relationship between families and schools as forces in moral education; the use of literature to teach moral reasoning; an educational program that stimulates thought about moral decisions through its examination of the Holocaust; and a discussion of the potential value of competitive sports teams in moral development. Part 3 focuses on the role that schools can play in the development of democratic values and ways of thinking.

Volume IV looks at the development of moral education, with particular relation to the context of cultural pluralism. Taking a theoretical approach, it discusses philosophical issues of moral relativism as well as the application of theory to good practice.

First published in 1985. Kohlberg and his colleagues claimed that all one need do in moral education is change the stage or structure of an individual's moral reasoning, and changes in moral behavior, ego and personality style would occur. As moral education entered the 1980s, many important problems remained. The question of the legitimacy of the highest stage is still being considered. The problem of the relationship between judgment and action is receiving much attention and reformulation as well. The role of affect in moral functioning has been sorely overlooked until very recently. A further issue is the implication of the particular realm of one's life (family, school, peer group, workplace, church) for the form and effectiveness of moral education. Finally, how can self-acknowledged moral transgressions in typical individuals be incorporated into the theory? This volume reflects these problems.