Cultures include a combination of shared and contested understandings. Although individuals may identify with their culture, they are also critical of practices judged unfair. Cultural practices that privilege one group and restrict the practices of another are sources of conflict and change. (Author)

Suggests, despite serious objections, that it is arguable that the moral domain should be included in psychological appraisals of children, and that the absence of moral dictates could be considered a "mental disorder." Discusses the possible individual and social benefits of including moral descriptors in child evaluations. (DSK)

Service learning was integrated into a business curriculum through phases of exploration, clarification, realization, activation, and internalization. The objective was to promote students' personal (moral) and professional (ethical) development. (SK)

Discusses the development of moral sensitivity in gifted children and its impact on identity formation and development of the self. Also addresses how the phenomenon of asynchrony manifests in moral development of gifted children and the models they develop to give form to their moral concerns. (Author/CR)

Observes that the Kohlbergian model of morality does not give a good account of the ways in which people make moral decisions in their everyday lives. Argues that a functional model of moral judgment and moral behavior derived from evolutionary theory may supply a better account of real-life morality. (DSK)

Investigated how 50 preschoolers evaluated the appropriateness of excluding boys and girls from two types of activities and two types of future roles across different exclusion contexts. Found that straightforward gender-based exclusion was judged wrong. Decisions were justified on the basis of moral reasons. However, children used both moral and…

Assesses the moral reasoning of Hawaiian youths. Findings challenge C. Gilligan's theoretical proposition that gender differences exist in moral development. Implications for counseling theory, research, and practice are discussed. (Author)

Issues of practice, licensure, and education for associate and bachelor's degree nursing indicate a lack of consensus. The perspective of an ethic of care highlights moral dilemmas that must be resolved because the current state of nursing education and practice is ethically dubious. (SK)

Introduces the five essays appearing in Studies in Philosophy and Education (May 2000) that discuss the role of respect in creating democratic citizens and moral persons. These essays are centered on the thematic problem: how are the values of democracy, education, and the moral life linked to each other and how can we better understand what these…

Notes that moral decisions include both moral concepts and factual beliefs. Considers possible sources of variation in factual beliefs and presents research into children's and adults' thinking about practices based on factual beliefs different from their own. Discusses how individuals take these differences into account when judging the seemingly…

Thirty-six students attending an evangelical college completed Loevinger's Sentence Completion Test of ego development and wrote stories in response to 3 Thematic Apperception Test pictures. Findings indicate increased intrinsic moral motivation, broader perception of ethical dilemmas, richer conceptualization of a moral self, and holistic…

Investigated 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds' reasoning about laws and legal compliance. Found that children considered several factors in their judgments, including perceived justice of the law, its socially beneficial purpose, and potential for infringement on individual freedoms and rights. Found that children apply moral concepts of harm, rights, and…

Asserts that this text by Matthews is a remedy to the scant attention paid to philosophical questioning by children. Describes the book's attempt to set children's philosophical questions against a re-examination of children's art and literature, legal issues regarding children's autonomy, and psychological models of the child's cognitive and…

This article explores the moral-ethical implications of the mechanistic world view and related issues such as technological determinism, social Darwinism, and androcentrism. It finds that educational approaches reinforced by the mechanistic world view include positivistic approaches to curriculum, instruction, and research. Recommendations for…

Asserts that, for catechists, being a "faith sharer" is more important than merely imparting knowledge. Presents guidelines that may assist catechists in developing a program that builds both knowledge and character: (1) teach responsibility; (2) encourage self-discipline, independently and as a community; and (3) care for others. (EMH)