Ethics and the University brings together the practice of ethics in the university (academic ethics) and the teaching of practical or applied ethics in the university. The book offers an explanation of practical ethics' recent emergence as a university subject, discusses research ethics, and explores the teaching of practical ethics, including sexual ethics. Michael Davis situates the subject of ethics within the university into a wider social and historical context that will be helpful in sorting out the complex issues.
If cultures are always in the making, this book catches one kind of culture on the make. Academics will be familiar with audit in the form of research and teaching assessments - they may not be aware how pervasive practices of 'accountability' are or of the diversity of political regimes under which they flourish. Twelve social anthropologists from across Europe and the Commonwealth chart an influential and controversial cultural phenomenon.
The authors developed this textbook in response to an increasing interest in ethics, and a growing number of courses on this topic that are now being offered in educational leadership programs. It is designed to fill a gap in instructional materials for teaching the ethics component of the knowledge base that has been established for the profession. The text has several purposes: First, it demonstrates the application of different ethical paradigms (the ethics of justice, care, critique, and the profession) (...) through discussion and analysis of real-life moral dilemmas that educational leaders face in their schools and communities. Second, it addresses some of the practical, pedagogical, and curricular issues related to the teaching of ethics for educational leaders. Third, it emphasizes the importance of ethics instruction from a variety of theoretical approaches. Finally, it provides a process that instructors might follow to develop their own ethics unit or course. * Part I provides an overview of why ethics is so important, especially for today's educational leaders, and describes a multiparadigm approach essential to practitioners as they grapple with ethical dilemmas. * Part II deals with the dilemmas themselves. Ethical dilemmas written by the authors' graduate students bring readers face-to-face with the kinds of dilemmas faced by practicing administrators in urban, suburban, and rural settings in an era full of complexities and contradictions. * Part III focuses on pedagogy and provides teaching notes for the instructor. The authors discuss the importance of self-reflection on the part of both instructors and students, and model how they thought through their own personal and professional ethical codes as well as reflected upon the critical incidents in their lives that shaped their teaching and frequently determined what they privileged in class. (shrink)
This book is based on papers presented at Wake Forest University, where three forums co-sponsored by the Center for Creative Leadership were held to address the ...
& A college development officer is offered a generous gift by a donor whose identity would embarrass the institution. Should the development officer accept? & A volunteer lies about his level of giving, but classmates believe him and match his "gift." Should donors be told the truth? & A development officer must explain to a donor the difference between naming an endowed chair and selecting the person to fill the chair. Where is the line between reasonable donor expectations and intrusion? (...) "There was a time, barely a generation ago, when most college fund raising was a placid, back-porch operation... That pattern, like so much in higher education, began to change dramatically... On the heels of all this change comes this splendid volume by Deni Elliot. The new fund-raising environment raises a host of ethical questions that were largely unknown or unrecognized by earlier generations of fund raisers... The great value of this book is that it provides some clear-eyed guidance through the ethical thicket that is modern higher education fund raising. The great charm of the book is that it provides this important service with such eloquence and good taste... Anyone involved in modern fund raising will find something of value in this book." -- G. Calvin MacKenzie, Academe "This volume provides college and university development officers and administrators practical help with recognizing difficult ethical situations and discerning the correct ethical response. It can also serve as a guide for donors who wonder what's reasonable for them to expect from fund raisers." -- Resources in Education Contributors: Allen Buchanan, James A. Donahue, Marilyn Batt Dunn, Deni Elliott, Bernard Gert, Judith M. Gooch, Bruce R. Hopkins, Frank Logan, Mary Lou Siebert, Holly Smith, and Eric B. Wentworth. (shrink)
Provision of education for children under five has recently become a political concern. At the same time, this relatively small field has been attracting increased research attention, with many early years practitioners seeking routes to initial and higher degrees. This book offers essential guidance for researchers and newcomers to the field, outlining opportunities in research as well as useful, sensitive and appropriate methods for researching childhood education.
I seek to answer the question of whether publicly funded higher education ought to aim intrinsically to promote certain kinds of ‘‘blue-sky’’ knowledge, knowledge that is unlikely to result in ‘‘tangible’’ or ‘‘concrete’’ social benefits such as health, wealth and liberty. I approach this question in light of an African moral theory, which contrasts with dominant Western philosophies and has not yet been applied to pedagogical issues. According to this communitarian theory, grounded on salient sub-Saharan beliefs and practices, (...) actions are right insofar as they respect relationships in which people both share a way of life, or identify with one another, and care for others’ quality of life, or are in solidarity with each other. I argue that while considerations of identity and solidarity each provide some reason for a state university to pursue blue-sky knowledge as a final end, they do not provide conclusive reason for it to do so. I abstain from drawing any further conclusion about whether this provides reason to reject the Afro-communitarian moral theory or the intuition that blue-sky knowledge is a proper final end of public higher education. I do point out, however, that the dominant Western moral theories on the face of it do no better than the African one at accounting for this intuition. (shrink)
Abstract The view that links a subjectivist view in ethics to an open approach to moral education is challenged, as well as the converse view that an objectivist ethical view entails a conformist approach. An objectivist analysis involves recognizing the possibility of error or moral misjudgement, while a subjectivist analysis is consistent with strong conviction. It does not follow from the fact that there are different ideas about right and wrong that anyone should view them all impartially. (...) And a liberal theory of moral education need not be morally neutral. Attempts to define a liberal view by distinguishing procedures of moral reasoning from substantive moral positions have not been successful. Liberalism is a moral point of view involving commitment to certain principles. (shrink)
Machine generated contents note: -- Dedication Acknowledgements List of Tables and Figures List of Abbreviations Introduction Chapter One: From Neoliberalism to Third Way Chapter Two: Professionality, professions and teachers' work Chapter Three: Ethical teacher professionality and the ethical teacher Chapter Four: Understanding the context Chapter Five: New Zealand curriculum reform, 2002-2007: break or continuity? Chapter Six: Policy Chapter Seven: Seeking out spaces Chapter Eight: Challenges to the development of ethical teacher professionality in The New Zealand Curriculum Chapter (...) Nine: Critical implementation of The New Zealand Curriculum: building a knowledge democracy Bibliography Notes Index. (shrink)
This article addresses conceal and carry laws on higher education campuses as ethical and social dilemmas. The Second Amendment reads, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” (U. S. Const. amend. II 1791 ). Proponents for conceal and carry laws on college and university campuses often interpret the Second Amendment as an overarching right to have weapons, regardless of (...) location. Opponents of such legislation argue that allowing guns on campuses would be a mistake and student safety can be addressed in other ways. Throughout the 2010–2011 legislative sessions Arizona and Texas have been on the cusp of passing pro conceal and carry laws which would allow higher education students to carry weapons on campus. Over two decades states have increased access to weapons, while most in the U.S. have sentiments against their neighbors carrying arms (Kranz 2006 ). While the Second Amendment provides the right for individual to carry arms, higher education campuses are regarded as a subset of the population, a space for maturing adults and not a place for concealed weapons. (shrink)
The Foundations and Futures of Education series focuses on key emerging issues in education as well as continuing debates within the field. The series is inter-disciplinary, and includes historical, philosophical, sociological, psychological and comparative perspectives on three major themes: the purposes and nature of education; increasing interdisciplinary within the subject; and the theory-practice divide. Around the world there is concern about the climate of values in which young people are growing up. Liberal ideas about personal morality and the value of (...) individual choice are spreading worldwide, but often meeting resistance from more traditional values. Everywhere people look to education to promote the right values and help stem the tide of values that are seen as threatening. But what is it that we should be expecting education to do? This book, written by a philosopher of education, casts new light on that question by seeing values education, not as a separate activity within schools, but as an aspect of education that both reflects the surrounding climate of values and can help to change it. Graham Haydon argues that all of us - whether as teachers, parents, students or citizens - share in a responsibility for the quality of that ethical environment. We must ensure that what happens in schools will: · enable young people to appreciate the diversity of our ethical environment · help them find their way through its complexities · contribute to developing a climate of values that is desirable for all. This book shows that values education is too demanding to be left to parents and too important to be entrusted to government initiatives. For teachers engaged in values education - including those teaching citizenship, personal and social education, or religious education - this book brings a fresh perspective to what they are doing, within a realistic view of their responsibilities. For students of education it shows that practical issues can be illuminated by insights from philosophy. (shrink)
This research aimed to assess the potential of alternatives to extrinsic pecuniary rewards for cultivating employees’ commitment in denominational higher education institutions in Indonesia. Two ethics-related variables, namely ethical climates and ethical ideologies, were chosen as possible predictors. A model delineating the nexus between ethical climates types, ethical ideologies, and various forms of organisational commitment was developed and tested. A two-step structural equation modelling procedure was used as the primary means in testing the hypothesised relationships. (...) The research involved staff of nine Catholic higher education institutions in Indonesia and comprised 642 respondents. Results of the research revealed a negative relationship between egoistic climates and affective commitment. Benevolence climate was shown to have potential for generating not only affective, but also continuance commitment. However, our results suggested those climates that cultivate continuance commitment needed further examination. Principle-based climates were found to positively influence staff’s affective commitment through their positive impacts on staff’s idealistic ethical ideology. As expected, the principle-cosmopolitan was shown to have a negative influence on relativism. A number of managerial and scholarly implications are discussed. (shrink)
This book sets out to generate new ways of reflecting ethically about the purposes and values of contemporary higher education in relation to agency, learning, public values and democratic life, and the pedagogies which support these.
Moral education through service learning at post-secondary level is an important but under-researched field. Most existing studies center on its learning outcomes like academic progress, personal development, communication, and leadership skills, with only a few evaluating the moral development of college students participating in service-learning projects. The lack of study on moral development in service learning indicates a need for clarification of the theoretical underpinnings of service learning, John Dewey's ideas on moral growth, in particular his (...) model of moral imagination and the implications thereof, for current service-learning research and practice. We argue that Dewey's work here can help strengthen .. (shrink)
The book develops the notion of situated ethics and explores how ethical issues are practically handled by educational researchers in the field. Contributors present theoretical models and practical examples of what situated ethics involves in conducting research on specific areas.
This paper reviews Kohlberg''s (1969) theory of cognitive moral development, highlighting moral reasoning research relevant to the business ethics domain. Implications for future business ethics research, higher education and training, and the management of ethical/unethical behavior are discussed.
In this article, I attempt to bring some colour to a discussion of fraught topics in education. Though the scenes and stories (from education and elsewhere) that feature here deal with racism, the discussion aims to say something to such topics more generally. The philosophers whose work I draw on here are Stanley Cavell and Judith Butler. Both Butler and Cavell develop (or depart from) J.L. Austin's theory of the performative utterance. Butler, following Derrida, argues that in concentrating on the (...) illocutionary force of utterances (their capacity to do things), Austin fails to account for the force of words themselves. The iterability of language means that words are never at one with themselves. They carry their old contexts with them as they enter into new ones. This has important consequences for ethical issues that pertain to what Butler calls the ?performativity? of gender and race. Though we are performed by language, this performance has a dynamic quality that leads to the reshaping of identity. In contrast, for Cavell, the disappointing aspect of Austin's thought relates to the latter's neglect of the perlocutionary effect of language ? what is done ?by words?. By taking on this project, Cavell embraces the unconventional aspects of language characterised by ?passionate? expression and exchange. Butler and Cavell approach the performative utterance from different directions. In the last part of this article, the significance of this difference is discussed in relation to the provision of a moral education with regard to tackling issues surrounding racism. (shrink)
Theatre in Education is a recognized form for exploring ethical issues in schools. Although the relationship between functional, didactic objectives and theatre artistry is recognized as complex and difficult, there has been little analytical work to elucidate its nature. This article takes the form of a case study intended to illuminate this tension by analysing a play that toured recently in secondary schools in Birmingham, UK. It concentrates on two aspects of this particular performance: its transgressive elements ? (...) the way in which it played with the boundaries of institutionalised values ? and the features of its narrative that tended, in Eco's term, towards an aesthetic of openness. Rather than attempting to offer a clear?cut theory, this article examines how these essentially theatrical elements of the performance meshed with the play's ethical agenda. I conclude that, despite the risks of transgressive play, it was the playful and open aspects of the enacted narrative that energized the students' moral engagement and subsequent reflection, and suggest that this has implications for moral pedagogy beyond the field of theatre. (shrink)
This article reviews 172 studies that used the Defining Issues Test to investigate the moral development of undergraduate college students and provides an organisational framework for analysing educational contexts in higher education. These studies addressed collegiate outcomes related to character or civic outcomes, selected aspects of students' collegiate experiences related to moral judgement development and changes in moral reasoning during the college years as they related to changes in other domains of development. Findings suggest that (...) dramatic gains in moral judgement are associated with collegiate participation, even after controlling for age and entering level of moral judgement. Although many studies used gross indicators of collegiate context (e.g. institutional type or academic discipline), studies that examine specific collegiate characteristics and educational experiences are better suited to identifying factors that contribute directly or indirectly to changes in moral judgement during the college years. Implications for student development practice and future research are discussed. (shrink)
This book takes a major step in the philosophy of education by moving back past the Enlightenment and reinstating Aristotelian Virtue at the heart of moral education.
While many books focus on the broader socially ethical topics of widening participation and promoting equal opportunities, this unique book concentrates specifically on the lecturer's professional responsibilities. Bruce Macfarlane analyzes the pros and cons of prescriptive professional codes of practice employed by many universities and proposes the active development of professional virtues over bureaucratic recommendations. The material is presented in a scholarly yet accessible style and case examples are used throughout to encourage a practical, reflective approach.
Practical ethics in context -- Teaching and learning ethics in an ethical environment -- Aspirations, activities, and assessment -- The theoretical toolkit -- Systematic case analysis -- Relativism and moral development -- A bridge across cultures.
Purpose/methods: This study investigated the relationship between ethics education and training, and the use and usefulness of ethics resources, confidence in moral decisions, and moral action/activism through a survey of practicing nurses and social workers from four United States (US) census regions. Findings: The sample (n = 1215) was primarily Caucasian (83%), female (85%), well educated (57% with a master's degree). no ethics education at all was reported by 14% of study participants (8% of social workers had no (...) ethics education, versus 23% of nurses), and only 57% of participants had ethics education in their professional educational program. Those with both professional ethics education and in-service or continuing education were more confident in their moral judgments and more likely to use ethics resources and to take moral action. Social workers had more overall education, more ethics education, and higher confidence and moral action scores, and were more likely to use ethics resources than nurses. Conclusion: Ethics education has a significant positive influence on moral confidence, moral action, and use of ethics resources by nurses and social workers. (shrink)
Certain difficulties pervade the course of moral education and in this essay a broad picture of these shall be sketched. Moral educators need to understand the problems they will face if they intend to enhance their performance; this includes knowing the limits of moral education, and not going beyond their capacities. These difficulties may be put in two groups, one internal, which is within the control of moral educators; the other external, which is beyond the control (...) of moral educators. Internal difficulties concern the gap between moral cognition and moral conduct. Since moral educators are not saints and suffer from vices themselves, students might learn the contrary of what educators mean to convey. External difficulties are more complicated. In this essay the author concentrates on proving how moral education provides an incentive to breach morality itself. The author shall also endeavor to show that a higher standard of morality might cause greater failure in moral education. Under this logic, we need to first deal with the external difficulties in order to tackle internal ones, for they are intertwined. (shrink)
Since manager's decisions impact organizational goals and organizational ethical behavior, this researcher investigated the degree to which there are differences in the moral reasoning ability of business managers of selected industries and whether there are significant differences between top, middle, and first-line management levels. To determine the relationship between managers' locus of control and their moral reasoning ability, this study considered three independent variables: reported organizational ethical climate, locus of control, and selected demographic and institutional variables. (...) For a foundation, this researcher relied on Kohlberg's theory of moral development, Victor and Cullen's ethical work climate theory, and Rotter's theory of internal—external locus of control (which evolved from Carl Jung). The short form of Rest's DIT instrument measured the moral reasoning abilities of the participants. The selected demographic and institutional variables (age, work tenure, education, gender, management level and industry category) provided the useful information to investigate these relationships of moral reasoning ability of individual managers. A survey questionnaire was sent to 400 managerial and executive level employees at a random sample of Fortune 500 firms throughout the United States: Dun and Bradstreet provided the researcher with a proportional stratified random sample of these 400 managerial and executive level employees at a variety of organizations. Interestingly, women in this study exhibited slightly higher (more external) mean I—E scores and (more principled) higher mean “P” score than men. While both of these results were anticipated, neither was significant. However, one major finding of this study was the statistically significant relationship between age and perceived organizational ethical climate types (Caring, Law and Code, Rule, Instrument, and Independence). Another major finding revealed a statistically significant relationship between management levels and organizational ethical climate. (shrink)
In recent years there has been an increase in the number of calls for moral education to receive greater public attention. In our pluralist society, however, it is difficult to find agreement on what exactly moral education requires. Philosophical Discussion in Moral Education develops a detailed philosophical defence of the claim that teachers should engage students in ethical discussions to promote moral competence and strengthen moral character. Paying particular attention to the teacher's role, this (...) book highlights the justification for, and methods of, creating a classroom community of ethical inquiry. (shrink)
While the concept of internationalization plays a key role in contemporary discussions on the activities and outcomes sought by universities, it is commonly argued that it is poorly understood or realised in practice. This has led some to argue that more work is needed to define the dimensions of the concept, or even to plot out stages of its achievement. This paper aims not to provide a definition of internationalisation for those working in higher education. On the contrary, it (...) seeks to open up discussion on internationalisation by considering Derrida's reflections on hospitality and the metaphysics of presence. In so doing, it will be shown that internationalisation is an ethical demand that is as much about being unsettled by thinking about ourselves and others, as it is about mobility programs and online education, and about being ‘late’ rather than surrendering to the space-time compression of modernity. (shrink)
Principles of research ethics, derived largely from Western philosophical thought, are spreading across the world of higher education. Since 2006 the Japanese Ministry of Education has required universities in Japan to establish codes of ethical conduct and ensure that procedures are in place to punish research misconduct. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 13 academics in a research-intensive university in Japan, this paper considers how research ethics is interpreted in relation to their own practice. Interviewees articulated a range of (...)ethical issues connected with data gathering and interpretation, applying for and using research funds, relationships with peers and research subjects, and the dissemination of results. The paper also explores the effect of personal values and cultural norms on the Japanese interpretation of research ethics identifying the impact in terms of the treatment of graduate research students and decision-making processes. (shrink)
Avec le mouvement de professionnalisation de l'enseignement, la compétence éthique est devenue une caractéristique désirée du professionnalisme dans l'enseignement.
This study investigated several basic research questions suggesting a positive relationship between education and cognitive moral development. More specifically, these research questions examined the relationship between government mandated ethics education and cognitive moral development by testing the efficacy of a compulsory ethics intervention. Kohlberg's (1969, 1984) Cognitive Moral Development Theory was applied to test the efficacy of compulsory ethics education on the moral development of real estate salespeople used comparative statistical measures of ethical reasoning ability.The (...) results of this research, while somewhat counterintuitive, suggest that the value of compulsory ethics education as an intervention to improve the moral reasoning of real estate salespeople is highly questionable. However, the results of the study do provide new insights into the relationship between ethics education and cognitive moral development. (shrink)
Machine generated contents note: Preface (Paul Standish).Introduction: Reading R. S. Peters on Education Today (Stefaan E. Cuypers and Christopher Martin).Part I: The Conceptual Analysis of Education and Teaching.1. Was Peters Nearly Right About Education? (Robin Barrow).2. Learning Our Concepts (Megan Laverty).3. On Education and Initiation (Michael Luntley).4. Ritual, Imitation and Education in R. S. Peters (Bryan Warnick).5. Transformation and Education: the Voice of the Learner in Peters' Concept of Teaching (Andrea English).Part II: The Justification of Educational Aims and the Curriculum.6. (...) R. S. Peters' Normative Conception of Education and Educational Aims (Michael Katz).7. On the Worthwhileness of Theoretical Activities (Michael Hand).8. Why General Education? Peters, Hirst and History (John White).9. The Good, the Worthwhile and the Obligatory: Practical Reason and Moral Universalism in R. S. Peters' Conception of Education (Christopher Martin).10. Overcoming Social Pathologies in Education: On the Concept of Respect in R. S. Peters and Axel Honneth (Krassimir Stojanov).Part III: Aspects of Ethical Development and Moral Education.11. Reason and Virtues: The Paradox of R. S. Peters on Moral Education (Graham Haydon).12. Autonomy in R. S. Peters' Educational Theory (Stefaan E. Cuypers).Part IV: Peters in Context.13. Richard Peters and Valuing Authenticity (Mike Degenhardt).14. Vision and Elusiveness in Philosophy of Education: R. S. Peters on the Legacy of Michael Oakeshott (Kevin Williams).Index. (shrink)
Educational philosophers and sociologists have pointed out the potential risks of an educational trend of therapy, which seems to have connotations with Western macro-discourses of individualisation, popularised psychology and privatisation of the public room. The overall purpose of this article is to discuss potential risks and possibilities regarding moralaspects of therapeutic approaches in education from a teacher perspective. I will present the non-mandatory Swedish topic Livskunskap, life competence education (LCE), in a case study in the field of (...) therapeutic education. The article is based on a small, qualitative empirical study of teachers? experiences of teaching LCE and observations of LCE lessons. The empirical material is analysed through two theoretical lenses, the first being critical aspects of therapeutic education, the second being an educational theory of the ethics of care, mainly developed by Nel Noddings. (shrink)
This essay is an attempt to understand how technological metaphors, particularly computer metaphors, are relevant to moral education. After discussing various types of technological metaphors, it is argued that technological metaphors enter moral thought through their functional descriptions. The computer metaphor is then explored by turning to the hacker ethic. Analysis of this ethic reveals parallels between the experience of computer programming and the moral standards of those who are enmeshed in computer technology. This parallel suggests that (...) the hacker ethic is being pushed by a computer metaphor and its functional descriptions in a direction of individualism and systems thinking. After examining some possible implications of the computer metaphor, this essay offers suggestions concerning how technological metaphors may be critiqued. (shrink)
Abstract The article argues the value of contemporary adolescent fictions in Moral Education, on grounds not of content but of their treatments of moral and political issues. Two contrasting models, based on the literary concepts of ?realistic? and ?modern? forms of narrative, are used to highlight the stylistic and structural distinctiveness of these contemporary texts??and to make clear their appropriateness for a Moral Education which involves not only induction into public life, but also into the discourse of (...) the public domain. Four contemporary texts, dealing with aspects of public life, and exemplifying a broad range of sub?genres and treatments, are then examined in the light of this perspective, and a summary statement of their particular features is made to justify their appropriateness for a critical Moral Education. (shrink)
Ancient Chinese ideas of moral education could be said to have five main dimensions ? philosophical foundations, content, principles, methods and evaluation ? which are described in this paper. An analysis of the fundamental features of Confucian thinking on moral education shows that it took the idea that human beings have a good and kind nature as its logical starting point. It built a system of ethical norms, based on the idea that an individual's feelings come from (...) the inner mind, combined with external rites. Its methods of moral education are diverse, with an emphasis on learning from exemplars, environmental conditions and practice, as well as the cultivation of moral responsibility and social commitment. Its quintessential ideas were ?virtue lies in practice? and ?life is moral education?. The paper concludes by arguing that Confucian thinking on moral education has ongoing value for research and practice in contemporary moral education. (shrink)
This article provides a personal viewpoint on and outline of the author's contribution to learning disability in India. It refers to her doctoral research on policy and the status of people with disability in India. It puts forth the view that although India addresses diversity in many ways it tends to exclude people with disability from national programmes. It argues that inclusive education should be context- and culture-specific and that inclusive programmes can develop, albeit incrementally, despite the fact that systemic (...) change has not taken place. The article ends with the suggestion that moral and ethical considerations demand that people engaged with inclusion need to work towards inclusion of all children wherever necessary and that each individual first of all needs to internalise the change within themselves. (shrink)
Integrity : a shared moral value -- Religion, nature and intuition as possible sources of moral truth -- Some distinctions and some mistakes -- Rights and procedures -- Principles that define morality -- Reasons for being moral -- Relativism -- Second order principles -- Moral vs. social, ecological and sexual values -- Moral vs. health and safety values -- Moral questions in education -- The question of moral education -- Forms of moral (...) education. (shrink)
Abstract Science education and moral education are mutually relevant. An education in science provides the factual information necessary to apply and revise ethical principles. In addition, science education aims to achieve certain propensities, e.g. impartiality, that are identical to some of the goals of moral education. Moral education, in turn, gives potential scientists the necessary principles and propensities to make certain decisions in the context of discovery, in the acceptance of hypotheses and in the conduct of (...) inquiry. Science education and moral education can be combined in various ways although some recent theories of moral education, e.g. the values clarification approach, and Matthew Lipman's philosophy for children approach, have neglected the potential of science education for moral education. (shrink)
Abstract This study examines gender differences in professional school students? ethical sensitivity and moral reasoning, two aspects of Rest's four?component model of moral development. Results indicate that men and women dental students differ in general sensitivity to ethical issues, but not in recognition of issues of care or justice, nor in moral reasoning. Our results contribute to a re?interpretation of Gilligan's gender?difference arguments, and suggest new directions for research in moral development.
Through a critique of a recent argument by Larry Nucci, this article claims that for many religious believers, religion and morality cannot be wholly separated. Accordingly, efforts at moral education that seek to ignore the role of religion in moral judgement will fail to engage with the realities of many students' moral frameworks. In contrast to Nucci's claim that religion is irrelevant to moral judgement, this essay argues that morality is only weakly independent from religion. (...) class='Hi'>Moral knowledge does not derive exclusively from religious sources, but none the less involves relevant (and sometimes critical) religious considerations. Accordingly, moral education in American public schools needs curricula that help students explore and understand various moral rationales and motivations from a variety of cultural sources, religious and otherwise, providing opportunities for students to engage with difference and develop the capacity for mutual respect and (when necessary) reasonable disagreement. (shrink)
Abstract: This paper is based on the premise that one major reason for adolescent pupil dissatisfaction in our schools is the neglect of moral and social education as an essential ingredient of all genuine education. A model is presented to demonstrate the importance of three aspects of the learning situation: academic learning, interpersonal learning and the locus of authority, in the class. This reveals four typical learning contexts which are examined in turn. It is argued that though learning (...) at the academic and interpersonal levels where authority lies with the teacher may have certain benefits, it is inadequate and indeed restrictive in terms of producing a fully educated young person. Learning at the academic and interpersonal levels where authority lies with the pupil(s) is then considered and examples discussed in each case. An important conclusion is that learning at the interpersonal level where authority lies with the pupil(s) must be provided if young people are to have any real possibility of attaining moral maturity and of feeling the school has taught them anything about the meaning of being human. (shrink)
During its evolution Chinese moral education has developed pronounced ideological aspects. This stems from traditions of first equating politics with morality, phrasing them both in the same language, and then of encouraging correct moral and political relations and behaviours through education. This trend dates back three thousand years to Zhou Gong and continued through Confucius and his followers. From 1949, through the Cultural Revolution and the present transition to a market economy, a similarly unified approach to political, (...) ideological and moral education has been effected through the organizational medium of deyu. As well as providing a historical overview, this paper examines the ideological function and political structure of deyu and the changes that are occurring within it. In the light of current changes in China, deyu is now starting to shift its focus away from ideological education and towards citizenship education. This reflects important changes in core values, to include individualism, economic initiative and consumerism, all of which confront Chinese society and education with distinct challenges and opportunities, and suggest even further reform of deyu during the 21st century. (shrink)
Abstract It is suggested that there are three broadly held views about sport in relation to the moral life??the positive view, the neutral view and the negative view. Following a brief examination of morality and moral education the first of these views is upheld by arguing that sport as fairness is inherently concerned with the moral. It is further argued that sport is a valued human practice concerned with the virtues and that as a part of the (...) curriculum is an integral part of moral education. An initiation into sport, like other aspects of moral education, involves such processes as judging, caring and acting. In all these processes the role of the teacher is considered. Finally two manifestations of a successful initiation into sport are presented with particular reference to the development of character and to the phenomenon of sportspersonship. (shrink)
Abstract The relationship between poststructuralist theory and ethics or values in education is a complex and relatively unexplored one, yet in classrooms the ethical implications of theory are lived out daily in the relations between teachers and children. Teachers who are interested in bringing the insights of poststructuralist theory into their work with children still tend to refer back (consciously or otherwise) to the ethics of versions of liberal humanism in making value judgements. The incongruence which results can undermine (...) changes that a teacher wants to bring about. One approach to this dilemma can be through narrative. Narrative, or story, is one of the ?technologies of the self most available to teachers and children for the construction, regulation and care of selves (as knowers, as learners and as moral agents), including the ongoing construction of values associated with feminine and masculine gender identities. Deconstruction of children's classroom and lived narratives can make this process visible. This paper will explore the specific and differing values made visible in one story told by five children. (shrink)
From the perspective of an African ethic, analytically interpreted as a philosophical principle of right action, what are the proper final ends of a publicly funded university and how should they be ranked? To answer this question, I first provide a brief but inclusive review of the literature on Africanising higher education from the past 50 years, and contend that the prominent final ends suggested in it can be reduced to five major categories. Then, I spell out an intuitively (...) attractive African moral theory and apply it to these five final ends, arguing that three of them are appropriate but that two of them are not. After that, I maintain that the African moral theory prescribes two additional final ends for a public university that are not salient in the literature. Next, I argue that employing the African moral theory as I do enables one to rebut several criticisms of Africanising higher education that have recently been made from a liberal perspective. I conclude by posing questions suitable for future research. (shrink)
Nel Noddings is arguably one of the premier philosophers of moral education in the English?speaking world today. Although she is outside the mainstream theory, research, and practice traditions of cognitive?developmentalism (the Kohlberg legacy) and of character education (which is in public ascendancy), her body of work is unrivalled for originality of insight, comprehensiveness and coherence. Whilst Carol Gilligan's In a different voice (1982) introduced the ethic of caring into academic and public discourse, it is Noddings ?who has done most (...) to outline a specific feminist position on moral education? (McClellan, 1999, p. 104), and whose influence extends to educational practice. This essay explicates Noddings's vision in sufficient depth to make the foregoing claims credible. Thematic focus is given to her attention to the ethical self or ethical ideal. The paper also examines Noddings's perspective on character education and the need to incorporate a morality of evil into any serious educational philosophy or practice. It is less a critical appraisal of that vision and perspective than an invitation to others to more fully engage with Noddings's writings.1. (shrink)
I argue that lying has many dimensions, hence, some putativecases of lying may not match our intuitions or acceptedmeanings of lying. The moral lesson we should teach must be that lying is not a simple principle or feature, buta cluster of features or spectrum of shades, where anythingin the spectrum or cluster is considered lying. I argue thatthe view regarding lying as a single principle or featurehas problematic meta-ethical implications. I do a meta-ethicalanalysis of the meaning of lying, (...) not only to indicatesuch problems, but also the need to teach the act ofrational discussion and meta-ethical analysis. I arguethat the process of meta-ethical analysis and rationaldiscussion should be part of moral education, in that itmay help to develop critical thought about the abilityand practice of making good and rational moral judgments. (shrink)
My professional interest originally focused on curriculum planning and development, but for the last 30 years I have been researching, publishing and teaching in the field of human rights education. Suddenly, I became a human rights educator. Suddenly? No, nothing in our personal and professional life is the result of an abrupt occurrence. We are subjects of a particular history, a succession of events and narratives, located in time, space and circumstances. I constructed myself, consciously or unconsciously, as a human (...) rights educator as a consequence of many personal factors. Being the son of the first Rabbi in Chile, I felt, at a very early age, that I was different and suffered from discriminatory behaviour, prejudice and intolerance. In addition, I started to learn about the Holocaust. I lived in a poor neighbourhood and poverty had a profound impact on me. During the 1960s and 1970s many political changes took place in Chile. Severe human rights violations occurred, not only in Chile but also in the different contexts of many other Latin American countries. I became much more aware of, and sensitive to, human rights and their ethical implications. I decided to make use of my educational knowledge towards recovering democracy. I became a strong supporter of human rights education as an ethical and moral imperative throughout Latin America. (shrink)
Abstract Emile Durkheim (1858?1917) is rightly called the father of the sociology of education. Although he saw his major task to be the establishment of sociology as an academic discipline which would be taught in French universities, he was obliged to spend much of his time lecturing on education. This was required by the wording of his university appointments; first in Bordeaux, then in Paris. His interests in education covered large areas, including the purpose of education, the social qualities of (...) the group who were taught in the classroom, punishment and the history of higher education. What, however, concerned him most was moral education which he saw as the key to education as a whole. With him, as with all of France at the time, the burning issue was the teaching of secular morality to the young. This was the subject he covered in L'Education morale (1925). A lecture, recently discovered and translated here, reflects in a sharper way than in the book the issue of secular, moral education. The questions he raises can be seen to be relevant to the teaching of morality in schools today. (shrink)
In this paper we explore potential problems of intersection between teachers' beliefs about the aims of education, a conceptual requirement of antiracism education and moral education. Our objective is to show how the reform of moral education to better accommodate antiracism concerns may depend on paying more attention to how teachers understand this intersection. Based on our analyses of teaching experiences and an exploratory, qualitative study of 20 recently certified teachers, we identify a framework for differentiating three (...) class='Hi'>ethical perspectives that teachers often take in articulating and justifying their beliefs about the ideal aims of education. Then, based on our analysis of contemporary programmes of antiracism education, we use illustrative material from our study to identify points of disjuncture that can occur between the aims of such programmes and teachers' beliefs through which those aims are filtered. In particular, we seek to illustrate how the essential political aims of antiracism education that focus on structural relationships between/among social groups can be, in the first instance, occluded by an ethical perspective that centres on the welfare of discrete individuals or, perhaps even more insidiously, reduced to a well-meaning and nice-sounding ethical perspective that focuses on the quality of interaction between/among individuals. (shrink)
We report an empirical assessment of suggestions that education in the appreciation of rights may be an effective agent of moral education. A children's rights curriculum was developed that was incorporated into the existing health and social studies curricula in Grade 8 classes (age 13-15) at five different schools over a 6-month period. The curriculum was designed to teach adolescents about their rights and responsibilities under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in an egalitarian and (...) student-centred manner. Assessment of the impact of the rights curriculum showed that, when compared with their peers who did not receive the rights curriculum, the adolescents who did indicated higher levels of self-esteem, perceived peer and teacher support and increased rights-respecting attitudes. (shrink)
Abstract: This article sketches out the implications for moral development theory, axiology and moral education of Dabrowski's theory of Positive Disintegration. Dabrowski's idea of the necessity of lower level disintegration before integration can take place on higher levels is explored, as is his central and unique contribution of the concept of multilevelness of behavioural organization and functions, particularly the importance given to emotional development as the source of objective valuing. A basic assumption is that there is an (...) emprically observable development of the capacity to make value judgements and the ability to establish one's own hierarchy of values independent from cultural conditioning. Dabrowski's insights rescue moral theory from much of its confusion and root it in the vital, existential, whole person. (shrink)
In this article, the complexity or possible confusion in public attitudes to ethical issues is explored. The characteristics of the ?Soviet person? as once instilled in schoolchildren are listed and elucidated. Results of nationwide surveys of the Russian population carried out most recently in 2004 are used to illustrate the values that Russian people subscribe to today. The mass media, the world of business and the Church are seen as promulgating conflicting values, while a large majority of the population (...) appear to believe that the State should intervene in moral education by laying down principles to be observed. The situation is fluid, in that attitudes are changing, but continuity with earlier Russian or Soviet viewpoints can often be detected. There is evidence that educators are resisting both the business ethic and the licentiousness of the mass media. Society has not yet reconciled traditional Russian community spirit with the spirit of enterprise. (shrink)
This article raises a number of interrelated issues. It first considers the need for a disability-aware education for everyone, including post-school leavers. This has both structural and curricular implications. At the structural level, it is argued that if we are to move towards a more ethical educational system, institutional discrimination must be dismantled. At the curricular level, the notion of a "culture of resistance", with distinctive moral characteristics, is explored. The article next considers the moral education of (...) disabled people, covering such issues as recognition of alternative perspectives, building on life-experience and the development of self-confidence and self-esteem. In conclusion, it is suggested that a moral education in an ethical system would integrate universalising understandings of the principle of justice, and its application, with the development of contextual thought which can take account of the value and uniqueness of individuals and the particularity of their educational needs. (shrink)
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. (shrink)
The Higher Education and Employment strand of the Learning for Life project focused on exploring some of the values of 169 students and graduate employees (Arthur et al. 2009a , b ). A major theme suggested by participants, which arose naturally from the data and emerged from people’s accounts during in-depth interviews, involved the close relationship they felt existed between voluntary work and core values. It is this aspect of the project that is reported. There are several important and (...) new findings that will be highlighted, including: voluntary work as a dimension for the development of character, personal development and a venue for developing people’s skills (which universities and employers often seek in their processes of recruitment); the types of voluntary work conducted by students and graduate employees; the role of ethnic minorities; people’s moral motivations behind engaging in voluntary work; the rise of the gap year volunteer; and the link between voluntary work at university and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the working world. (shrink)
It is widely agreed that Aristotle holds that the best moral education involves habituation in the proper pleasures of virtuous action. But it is rarely acknowledged that Aristotle repeatedly emphasizes the social and political sources of good habits, and strongly suggests that the correct law‐ordained education in proper pleasures is very rare or non‐existent. A careful look at the Nicomachean Ethics along with parallel discussions in the Eudemian Ethics and Politics suggests that Aristotle divided public moral education or (...) law‐ordained habituation into two types. One type is a defective form practiced by the Spartans, producing civic courage and similar defective virtue‐ like states motivated by external incentives. By contrast Aristotle endorses the law‐ordained musical education described in Politics 8. The chapter argues that Aristotle considers the well‐habituated state of proper pleasures in virtue to be best cultivated by this kind of musical education; and that this explains both his emphasis on good laws and on their scarcity. (shrink)
In Natural Ethical Facts William Casebeer argues that we can articulate a fully naturalized ethical theory using concepts from evolutionary biology and cognitive science, and that we can study moral cognition just as we study other forms of cognition. His goal is to show that we have "softly fixed" human natures, that these natures are evolved, and that our lives go well or badly depending on how we satisfy the functional demands of these natures. Natural Ethical (...) Facts is a comprehensive examination of what a plausible moral science would look like.Casebeer begins by discussing the nature of ethics and the possible relationship between science and ethics. He then addresses David Hume's naturalistic fallacy and G. E. Moore's open-question argument, drawing on the work of John Dewey and W. V. O. Quine. He then proposes a functional account of ethics, offering corresponding biological and moral descriptions. Discussing in detail the neural correlates of moral cognition, he argues that neural networks can be used to model ethical function. He then discusses the impact his views of moral epistemology and ontology will have on traditional ethical theory and moral education, concluding that there is room for other moral theories as long as they take into consideration the functional aspect of ethics; the pragmatic neo-Aristotelian virtue theory he proposes thus serves as a moral "big tent." Finally, he addresses objections to ethical naturalism that may arise, and calls for a reconciliation of the sciences and the humanities. "Living well," Casebeer writes, "depends upon reweaving our ethical theories into the warp and woof of our scientific heritage, attending to the myriad consequences such a project will have for the way we live our lives and the manner in which we structure our collective moral institutions.". (shrink)
In the name of efficiency, the practice of education has come to be dominated by neoliberal ideology and procedures of standardization and quantification. Such attempts to make all aspects of practice transparent and subject to systematic accounting lack sensitivity to the invisible and the silent, to something in the human condition that cannot readily be expressed in an either-or form. Seeking alternatives to such trends, Saito reads Dewey’s idea of progressive education through the lens of Emersonian moral perfectionism (...) (to borrow a term coined by Stanley Cavell). She elucidates a spiritual and aesthetic dimension to Dewey’s notion of growth, one considerably richer than what Dewey alone presents in his typically scientific terminology. (shrink)
