On the Importance of Moral Education: An Examination of Some Arguments For and Against Formal Moral Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62876/lr.vi44.6269Keywords:
moral education, values, naturalism, indoctrinationAbstract
In this article, the author examines some arguments for and against formal moral education. Regarding the arguments in favour of formal moral education, this examination focuses on two arguments: the 'sociological argument' –or the argument about the social benefits of moral education–, and the 'naturalistic argument'. As for the arguments against formal moral education, the analysis also focuses on two arguments: the 'argument about indoctrination', as well as the 'argument about academic priorities'. These two arguments against formal moral education will finally be rebutted to conclude that today formal moral education has more powerful reasons to be defended and promoted than to be relegated or rejected.
Downloads
References
Abor, J., & Adjasi, C. “The Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on Higher Education”. En Africagrowth Agenda, January-March (2010): 25-26.
Adams, R.. Decadent Societies. (USA: North Point Press, 1983).
Australia’s Safe and Supportive School Communities Working Group. “A Review of Literature (2010-2014) on Student Bullying”. (2015). Disponible en: (99+) A review of literature (2010-2014) on student bullying by Australia's Safe and Supportive School Communities Working Group | Alondra Baay - Academia.edu
Barkway, P. Psychology for Health Professionals. (Australia: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier. 2013)
Battistich, V. A. “Character education, prevention, and positive youth development”. In Journal of Research in Character Education, 6 (2). (2008): 81-90.
Battistich, V. A. “Effects of a school-based program to enhance prosocial development on children's peer relations and social adjustment”. In Journal of Research in Character Education, 1 (1). (2003): 1-16.
Battistich, V., Schaps, E., & Wilson, N. “Effects of an elementary school intervention on students’ “connectedness” to school and social adjustment during middle school”. In The Journal of Primary Prevention, 24 (3). (2004): 243-262. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOPP.0000018048.38517.cd
Benson, P. L., & Roehlkepartain, E. “Youth Violence in Middle America”. En Midwest Forum, 3 (1). (1993). Disponible en: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED384478.pdf
Blasi, A. “Moral Character: A Psychological Approach”. In Lapsley D. K., & Power, C. (Eds.) Character Psychology and Character Education. (USA: University of Notre Dame Press. 2005).
Blasi, A. “Bridging Moral Cognition and Moral Action: A critical Review of the Literature”. In Psychological Bulletin, 88. (1980): 1-45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.88.1.1
Bohlin, K. Teaching Character Education through Literature. (USA: Routledge Falmer. 2005). DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203299838
Campbell, M. A. “Cyber bullying: An old problem in a new guise?” En Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 15 (1). (2005): 68-76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1375/ajgc.15.1.68
Chambers, D., and S. Lavery. “Introduction to Service-Learning and Inclusive education.” En Service-Learning, (International Perspectives on Inclusive Education, Vol. 12), Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, (2017): 3-19. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620170000012001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620170000012001
Collins, R. "Building bridges through service learning: there are many advantages of a service-learning requirement." En District Administration, vol. 46, no. 9, (2010): 89. Disponible en:
Building bridges through service learning: there are many advantages of a service-learning requirement - Document - Gale Academic OneFile
Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos. Disponible en:
https://www.un.org/es/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., Schellinger, K. B. “The Impact of Enhancing Students' Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions”. En Child Development, 82 (1). (2011): 405-432. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x
Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. “Promoting Social and Emotional Development Is an Essential Part of Students’ Education”. En Human Development, 54 (1). (2011): 1-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000324337
Gutmann, A. Democratic Education. (USA: Princeton University Press. 1987).
Haidt, J. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. (USA: Vintage Books. 2012).
Hauser, M., Tonnaer, F., & Cima, M. “When moral intuitions are immune to the law: a case of study of euthanasia and the act-omission distinction in the Netherlands”. In Journal of Cognition and Culture 9. (2009): 149-169. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/156770909X12489459066147
Hauser, M. Moral Minds: How Nature Designed our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong. (USA: Harper Collins. 2006).
Haynes, C., y Berkowitz, M. “What can schools do?” (2008). En USA Today. Disponible en:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070220/character_main.art.htm
Helwig, C., Turiel, E., & Nucci, N. “Character Education After the Bandwagon has Gone”. Paper presented in, L. Nucci (Chair), Developmental perspectives and approaches to character education. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, Marzo (1997). Disponible en:
http://media.wix.com/ugd/bb64eb_91bd523501b0488cb2ee97597e1e9171.pdf
Houghton, K. “There Have Always Been Bullies”. In Huffpost Healthy Living. (2011). Available at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristen-houghton/there-have-always-been-bu_b_819952.html
Leming, J.S. “Research and practice in Character Education: A historical perspective”. In Molnar, A. (Ed.). The Construction of Childrens Character. USA: The National Society for the Study of Education. (1997): 31-44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819709800603
Leming, J. S. “In search of effective character education”. En Educational Leadership, 51, (1993): 63-71.
Lyons, L. Public education: A means of affecting character development. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. (1995). Available at:
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/files/chardev.html
Magnani, L. Understanding Violence: The Intertwining of Morality, Religion and Violence: A Philosophical Stance. (Germany: Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg. 2011). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21972-6
Manifiesto 2000 para una Cultura de Paz y de No Violencia. Disponible en:
https://fund-culturadepaz.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Manifiesto-2000.pdf
Matthews, B. E., & Riley, C. K. Teaching and Evaluating Outdoor Ethics Programs. (USA: National Wildlife Federation. 1995).
Mikhail, J. “New perspectives on moral cognition: reply to Zimmerman, Enoch, and Chemla, Egré & Schlenker”. In Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies 8 (1). (2013): 66-114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jrls/jlt027
Mikhail, J. Elements of Moral Cognition: Rawls’ Linguistic Analogy and the Cognitive Science of Moral and Legal Judgment. (USA: Cambridge University Press. 2011). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511780578
Mikhail, J. Universal moral grammar: theory, evidence, and the future. Trends in Cognitive Science 11, (2007): 143-152. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2006.12.007
National School Safety Center “School Crime and Violence Statistics”. (2006). Disponible en:
Okpala, C. O, Hopson, L., & Okpala, A. O. “The Impact of Current Economic Crisis on Community Colleges. In College Student Journal, 45 (1). (2011): 214-216.
Otten, E. “Character Education”. (2000). En ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Sciences Education Bloomington. Available at: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED444932.pdf
Pacto Internacional de los Derechos Civiles y Políticos. Disponible en:
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/ccpr_SP.pdf
Papastephanou, M. “Hesiod the cosmopolitan: utopian and dystopian discourse and ethico-political education”. In Ethics and Education, 3 (2). (2008): 89-105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17449640802439329
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. (USA: Oxford University Press. 2004).
Pinker, S. The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence In History And Its Causes. (UK: Penguin Books LTD. 2011).
Resch, K., y Schrittesser, I. “Using the Service-Learning approach to bridge the gap between theory and practice in teacher education”. En International Journal of Inclusive Education. (2021). Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.1882053 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.1882053
Schaeffer, E. F. “It’s time for schools to implement character education”. In NASSP Bulletin, 88(609). (1999): 1-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/019263659908360901
Schwartz, S. “An Overview of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Values”. En Online Readings in Psychology and Culture» 2 (1). (2012). Disponible en:
http://dx.doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1116 DOI: https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1116
Schwartz, S. H. “Value priorities and behaviour: Applying a theory of integrated value systems. En C. Seligman, J. M. Olson & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), The psychology of values: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 8, Mahwah, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1996): 1-24
Schwartz, S. H, y Sagiv, L. “Identifying culture-specifics in the content and structure of values”. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 26 (1). (1995): 92-116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022195261007
Schwartz, S.H. “Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries”. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol 25, (1992): 1-65. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60281-6
Shriver, T. P., & Weissberg, R. P. “No Emotion Left Behind”. En New York Times August 16 (2005). Disponible en:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/16/opinion/no-emotion-left-behind.html?_r=0
Seligman, Martin E.P. Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. (New York : Free Press. 2002).
Smith, B. “School-based Character Education in the United States”. In Childhood Education, 86 (6). (2013). 350-355. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2013.850921
Starrat, R. Building an Ethical School: A Practical Response to the Moral Crisis in Schools. (UK: Falmer Press. 1993).
Unnerver, J. D., & Cornell, D. G. “The Culture of Bullying in Middle School”. In Journal of School Violence, 2 (2). (2003): 5-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1300/J202v02n02_02
Van Stone, B. “Real-World Tips for Ending Bullying in our Schools”. In Teach: Education for Today and Tomorrow, Nov-Dec (2012).
Varghese, N. V. “Running to Stand Still: Higher Education in a Period of Global Economic Crisis”. Publicación del International Institute for Educational Planning/UNESCO. (2010). Disponible en: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001900/190003e.pdf
Weissbourd, R. The Parents We Mean to Be: How Well-Intentioned Adults Undermine Children’s Moral and Emotional Development. (USA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 2009).
Wilburn, B. K. “Moral Self-Improvement”. In Wilburn, B. K. (Ed.) Moral Cultivation: Essays on the Development of Character and Virtue. (USA: Lexington Books. Kindle Edition. 2010).
Wilson-Nightingale, A. “Liberal education in Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics. The Netherlands: Brill. In Lee-Too, Y. (Ed.). Education in Greek and Roman antiquity. The Netherlands: Brill. (2001): 133-174. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047400134_006
Wynne, E., & Ryan, K. Reclaiming our Schools: Teaching Character, Academics, and Discipline. (USA: Prentice Hall. 1997).
Zaff, J. F., & Lerner, R. M. “Service Learning Promotes Positive Youth Development in High School”. En The Phi Delta Kappan, Vol.91 (5). (2010): 21-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171009100505
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 José Lezama Quijada
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.