The article explores the dilemma of young gifted children (ages 4-8 years) in the evolution and resolution of their own system of morality. The author explains that research and observation has revealed a systematic appearance and disappearance of magical thinking (the hallmark of the onset of reasoning) in four stages. (PHR)

Cragg counters Beck's criticism of his hidden values in the curriculum argument. (MM)

Discusses Kohlberg's moral development theory and the necessity of a holistic theory. Describes Dabrowski's theory of cognitive disintegration. Implies that this theory could become a holistic theory and penetrate the sources of values objectivity. (Author/BH)

Businesses want ethical employees, so students should be taught to recognize a moral issue, think critically though the various alternatives, and decide on the best solutions. (JOW)

Provides background information in health care ethics and an overview of nursing ethics in the recent past. Suggests that communal moral experience should be the starting point for health care ethics research. Includes 60 references. (Author/JOW)

Examines the level of moral development and empathy in adult male sex offenders. Male sex offenders (n=21) and male physical assaulters (n=30) were assessed using the Defining Issues Test and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Results indicate significant differences between group means and norm group means on two dimensions of empathy. (JPS)

Research on the effects of Greek life on college student moral development has generally concluded that membership in these organizations does little to enhance moral development. However, this qualitative case study of one fraternity found otherwise. A fraternity at a large Midwestern university was studied. The fraternity (given the pseudonym…

There has been a trend in contemporary ethics to believe that a morally admirable agent would feel negative self-assessing emotions following even the best possible choice in a moral dilemma. A commonly held reason for holding this position is that agents who are well-brought up are trained to feel negative self-assessing emotions when they do…

Pastoral care in schools has traditionally been associated with notions of help, advice, values development, and children's moral welfare. In the past it has been viewed predominantly as a separate set of extra-curricula activities offered to students by school staff with particular support roles, or "pastors" from affiliated church or…

McCrary's work in the late 1990s suggested that superheroes influence children's development of moral values. Similarly, Bauer and Dettore advocated adults' and educators' monitoring of children's superhero play to help children foster cooperation and conflict resolution skills. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between…

This paper presented the achievements of the expert performance approach. The 10-year rule of expertise is one of them, a very practical rule. However, the expert performance approach does not answer some important questions directly arising out of its main statements. The cognitive-developmental theory of giftedness can help in this regard…

One of the most fundamental questions that can be asked about education is what it is for. Why do we need education? Which are its most fundamental purposes? The most obvious and generally accepted answer is that education aims at providing students with knowledge and skills which match the demands of employers, thus enabling students to find jobs…

This paper explores moral reasoning within the framework of contemporary cultural theory, in which moral functioning is action mediated by tools (such as socially available discourses) within a social and cultural context. This cultural model of a "dialogic moral self" challenges many of the assumptions inherent in the individualistic Kantian…

Liberals champion the view that promoting autonomy--seeing to it that our children develop into individuals who are self-governing in the conduct of their lives--is a vital aim of education, though one generally accredited as being subsidiary to well-being. Our prime goal in this article is to provide a partial validation of this liberal ideal…

The purpose of this article is to explain how a means/ends test can be adapted for the school environment. Public school officials can use a means/ends test to document an analysis of whether dress-code policies will be effective in diminishing risks to the health, safety, or morality of the school population. Elements of policy evaluation--ends,…