How Does Moral Development Influence Formal Education?
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Piaget's Theory
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Jean Piaget's writings in the 1920s and 1930s marked the first major attempt to determine how children learn moral values. Based on his observations of children at play, Piaget concluded that morality is indeed a developmental process, based on how they interact with their environment, according to the essay, "Moral Development And Moral Education." Piaget concluded that schools should emphasize cooperative methods of decision-making and problem-solving, rather than indoctrinating them with norms.
Kohlberg's Theory
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Lawrence Kohlberg's work during the 1960s gave educators another critical reference point to measure the effectiveness of their approach. Kohlberg supported Piaget's call for children to shape their own ways of thinking through an understanding of basic moral concepts. But Kohlberg rejected a traditional focus on values and virtues, arguing that no clear consensus existed to define them. Instead, he proposed to focus on six stages of moral development that he identified, calling them critical to defining how people make moral choices.
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Considerations
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Debate continues about the role that morality should play in public education, as evidenced by a 1998 report issued by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. The educators' group urged local districts to get back into teaching morality, which its report defined as "whatever schools do to influence how students think, feel and act regarding issues of right and wrong." The group conceded that consensus remained elusive, particularly on how moral values should be taught, but---given adults' concern about their childrens' problems---they saw more of a place than ever for such lessons.
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