This book examines the nature of moral issues in education while attempting to provide both a clarification of the issues and suggestions as to what might be done in the social context. The job of the school is not to teach morals but provide students with appropriate ways to respond to moral issues and dilemmas. Suggestions are given for teaching…

Arguing that there is still no single, noncontroversial foundation on which the world's present multi-structure of ethics can be built, this paper examines a scientific ethics approach. It is postulated that in North American culture, the approach to instruction in ethics for youth is haphazard at best. Society does not provide an adequate means…

The process by which human beings, as they grow toward maturity, develop values is not an automatic one. The process can be fostered by a number of teaching strategies. The strategies include the techniques of self-discovery, the provision of learning environments that encourage growth, and the practice of specific skills. This volume provides a…

This paper discusses the work of Emile Durkheim and his interest in developing a science of ethics that would enable the social sciences to guide social and political policy. One of his main policy interests was education, specifically the construction of moral values. Durkheim proposed a secular approach to morality and moral education. Moral…

The introductory chapter clarifies key terms and lays the background for different theories of moral development. Chapter 2 surveys competing models from various schools of thought on the initial origins of morality in childhood. The works discussed include those of Freud, Jung and Piaget. Chapter 3 includes: Erik H. Erikson's sociocultural…

A college composition instructor who approached her course from a feminist perspective found it difficult to overcome students' arguments and frustration until she obtained the help of an ethnographer. The ethnographer got involved with the instructor's evening classes on a regional campus for an entire semester. It was discovered that male and…

Home economists in vocational education are viewed as a diverse group of educators qualified to implement education for character concentrating on values that will remain with students in tomorrow's world of work. Educators should consider making a wholehearted commitment to teaching moral values and developing good character in students. A few…

This book presents an overview of the interplay of religion and public education. The book states that schools must take religion seriously, and it outlines the civic, constitutional, and educational frameworks that should shape the treatment of religion in the curriculum and classroom. It examines religion's absence from the classroom and the…

This book presents a comprehensive and critical assessment of contemporary character education theory and practice from a variety of perspectives: historical, cultural, philosophical, psychological, empirical, political, and ethical. The essays in this book are divided into five sections intended to help develop a well-grounded understanding of…

This book comprises articles exploring the origins and development of guilt and its relationship to adaptive behavior and mental illness in children. The articles are grouped in four sections, covering the nature of guilt; how guilt develops; inducing, instilling, and alleviating guilt; and guilt and adjustment. The articles are: (1) "How Does…

This booklet provides an overview of stages and levels of cognitive development. Particular attention is given to language skills, the growth of understanding and memory, levels of thinking, altruism, and conscience. The importance of parents' influence on the development of their child's thinking abilities is emphasized. Nine resources that…

The concept of autonomous identity, derived from Piaget's theory of personality, is distinguished from other applications of the term "autonomy" in psychological theory. Introductory comments suggest that both biological and mental development express autonomy in the same two senses: as self-regulating and progressively self-liberating.…

This paper describes the content, techniques, and benefits of a life history course, which was designed to extend the traditional goal of psychological development through autobiography into a spiritual context. The three major components of the course are described. The format of the lectures is presented, focusing on concepts, ideas, and tools…

Michel Foucault's work is already well-known in the field of education. What is not yet well-known is that Foucault's oeuvre as a whole incorporates within itself and offers for wider consumption a number of key educational themes. For purposes of clarity, these themes can be reduced to three, dealing with what might be called the past, present,…

There is a widely felt need to do something in education about the moral wasteland of contemporary American society. It is appropriate for English teachers to posit some usable dimensions of moral education. Seven cornerstone principles appear to be universally involved both in the lives of literary characters and in the kind of heart-deep…