| Moral and value education has been the subject of a number of studies, each of which has expanded on the studies prior to it. Three pivotal studies are those done by Drs. Piaget, Kohlberg and Turiel. These studies each focused on a different method of teaching morals and values but there are common threads that run between them all.
Values Through Cooperation and Decision Making
Jean Piaget’s 1932 study examined how well children learn basic morality. He concluded that moral development follows a similar path through all children. Like all skills, the basic functions are learned first and the more advanced functions follow.
Piaget applied this theory towards teaching moral development. His idea was that children would develop morally if they had to cooperate with one another to solve problems. By working together they would gain an understanding of what kept the group together – namely, the individuals in the group working together and avoiding morally wrong decisions.
A good example of this is lying – if one person lies about his or her progress then the entire group suffers, which cats to everyone’s detriment rather than simply saving embarrassment or punishment for the liar. By forcing children to apply these skills they develop morally by seeing the consequences of poor moral development.
Tolerance for Values
Kohlberg developed Piaget’s research in 1969. He concluded that children need to be taught that morality is subjective rather than absolute; it depends on peoples’ individual perception.
Using this theory as a model, he decided that teachers need to teach children to respect one another’s viewpoints. By appreciating the fact that morality is subjective, children will appreciate and respect other people’s definition of it, and therefore also respect other people’s viewpoints. In a roundabout way, this does teach the absolute moral values of respect, tolerance, and treating people right.
Kohlberg’s teaching model used the school as a community. Rather than impose absolute rules, a teacher in the Kohlberg model acts as a facilitator for discussion rather than an absolute authoritarian. Rather than simply follow the teacher’s rules, the children follow the rules that their community agrees upon, which teaches them the importance of other people’s morals and beliefs.
Values Teaching and the Socratic Method
Ellior Turiel’s theory of moral education was that it cannot be taught like objective subjects can. Rather than be told what to do, children need to arrive at moral judgments on their own.
This is very similar to Kohlberg’s method, but differed in how it was applied. In Turiel’s model the teacher asks the student leading questions that force him or her to think about not just what moral rules to follow but why he or she should follow them. By internalising the values behind morality the student will have a deeper, longer-lasting understanding of them.
Conclusions on Values
All three of these researchers support one conclusion: morals and values cannot be taught in conventional ways. Children need to learn, through one way or another, the reasons behind morals and values rather than just a set of rules. The way to do this is to have the children arrive at these values on their own – a bottom-up rather than top-down approach.
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