Exposes the structural-functionalist roots of Kohlberg's theory of moral development, questioning the application of Kohlberg's ideas in the classroom, reviewing Kohlberg's Just Community model, examining Durkheim's and Dreeben's theories and their similarity to Kohlberg's moral theory, critiquing Kohlberg's conception of the Just Community…

Participation and competition in some sports are associated with lower stages of moral reasoning. Coaches can foster moral development by starting with the right mental model, holding benchmark meetings about team values, setting goals for physical and character skills, making time for guided discussion sessions, building community, modeling…

It seems evident why Americans have so embraced the notion of self-esteem. On the one hand, an overriding cultural value has been placed on the development of the individual, who emerges all too often as just another material commodity. On the other hand, everything about a distraction/entertainment-driven culture is about feeling good, putting…

This article reports on two values education programmes currently available for UK schools, which are associated with two Hindu-related organisations, the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University and the Sathya Sai Service Organisation, UK. Attention is paid to the development of the programmes, the educational context in which they seek to embed…

Social information processing and moral domain theories have developed in relative isolation from each other despite their common focus on intentional harm and victimization, and mutual emphasis on social cognitive processes in explaining aggressive, morally relevant behaviors. This article presents a selective summary of these literatures with…

In modern Western moral and political theory the notion of the liberal subject has flourished as the locus of moral experience, interpretation and critique. Through this conceptual lens on subjectivity, individuals are enabled to shape and regulate their interactions in arguably desirable ways, e.g. through principles of respect for persons and…

This chapter argues for the essential role of culture in forming the basic constructs and theories of developmental psychology. The case is made for the need to overcome the cultural insularity of core developmental concepts and methods in order to create a psychology that is more truly universal.

Many school districts have implemented "packaged" programs designed to teach character education. Millions of dollars have been spent on these programs, yet society continues to produce more "characters" than students "with character." This article describes a shift from the "programmatic" mindset to a solution that is not packaged or purchased.…

The article presents one perspective on how children can be encouraged to develop moral judgement. The recalcitrance that Piaget encounters in his attempts to teach his own daughter a specific mundane rule provide a focus for much of the discussion. The differing impact of two separate strategies for conveying the point of rules, both on immediate…

Sport and exercise psychology research appearing in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (RQES) over the past 75 years can be characterized by re-emerging themes--hot topics in the 1930s remain hot topics now. Re-emerging themes include sportsmanship/moral development, social development/significant others, self-perceptions,…

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…

Noting that research on cognitive development and on values are normally separate, the author shows the connection by closely examining different ways in which teachers relate to students. Modes of discipline based on positional authority, and even force, rather than on an ethical dialogue, not only reduce students' self-esteem but also limit…

Any democratic society must concern itself with the socialization of its citizens. This begins in childhood, and schools are critical to this process. The interrelations and roles of educating for character (character education, moral education) and educating for citizenship (citizenship education, civic education) are explored, largely in a North…

Moral education is the process whereby teachers and other adults support children's growing understanding of right and wrong, their ability to think critically about how their actions affect the well-being of others, and their expression of values such as caring, respect for others, and responsibility. Children's literature is a useful tool for…

All colleges teach ethics across their undergraduate curricula, yet relatively few institutions do so deliberately. That is, few colleges make explicit attempts to coordinate or integrate the various ethical lessons their students might be learning. This does not mean that most colleges are bad for students' ethical development; research shows…