Title: Teaching strategies for moral education: a review
Abstract: Abstract We present the results of a literature review of studies on teaching strategies for moral education in secondary schools (1995–2003). The majority of the studies focus on the ‘what’ and ‘why’, i.e. the objectives, of curriculum‐oriented moral education. Attention to the instructional formats for enhancing the prosocial and moral development of students (the ‘how’) is relatively sparse. Most studies on teaching strategies for moral education recommend a problem‐based approach to instruction whereby students work in small groups. This approach gives room for dialogue and interaction between students, which is considered to be crucial for their moral and prosocial development. Other studies discuss more specific teaching methods, such as drama and service learning. We conclude that the theoretical discourses on moral education are not reflected on the practice of curriculum‐oriented moral education and its effects on students’ learning outcomes. We recommend that future research on curriculum‐oriented moral education includes the subject areas encompassing moral issues and the social differences between students. Keywords: citizenship educationcurriculum developmentmoral developmentsecondary educationsocial differencesteaching methods Notes 1. Many different terms are used to describe the research domain of moral education, including character education, citizenship education, and values education. Sometimes different terms are used for almost the same approach, but in some cases different terms do pertain to different perspectives of moral education (cf. Solomon et al. 2001 Solomon, D., Watson, M. S and Battistich, V. A. 2001. “Teaching and schooling effects on moral/prosocial development”. In Handbook of Research on Teaching, Edited by: Richardson, V. 566–603. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association. [Google Scholar]). We use the term moral education as a general term to refer to all education that aims to stimulate the prosocial and moral development of students. 2. See, e.g. Bouchard 2002 Bouchard, N. 2002. A narrative approach to moral experience using dramatic play and writing. Journal of Moral Education, 31(4): 407–422. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar], Carrington and Short 1997 Carrington, B. and Short, G. 1997. Holocaust education, anti‐racism and citizenship. Educational Review, 49(3): 271–283. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar], Davies et al. 1998 Davies, I., Gray, G. and Stephens, P. 1998. Education for citizenship: a case study of ‘democracy day’ at a comprehensive school. Educational Review, 50(1): 15–28. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar], Hahn 1999 Hahn, C. L. 1999. Citizenship education: an empirical study of policy, practices and outcomes. Oxford Review of Education, 25(1–2): 231–250. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Ten Dam and Volman 2003 Ten Dam, G. T. M. and Volman, M. L. L. 2003. A life jacket or an art of living: inequality in social competence education. Curriculum Inquiry, 33(2): 117–137. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar], Williams et al. 2003 Williams, D. D., Yanchar, S. C., Jensen, L. C. and Lewis, C. 2003. Character education in a public high school: a multi‐year inquiry into Unified Studies. Journal of Moral Education, 32(1): 3–34. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]. 3. See, e.g. Covell and Howe 2001 Covell, K. and Howe, R. 2001. Moral education through the 3 Rs: rights, respect and responsibility. Journal of Moral Education, 30(1): 29–44. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Lopez and Lopez 1998 Lopez, B. G. and Lopez, R. G. 1998. The improvement of moral development through an increase in reflection: a training programme. Journal of Moral Education, 27(2): 225–241. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar], McQuaide et al. 1999 McQuaide, J., Leinhardt, G. and Stainton, C. 1999. Ethical reasoning: real and simulated. Journal of Education Computer Research, 21(4): 433–474. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], Narvaez 2001 Narvaez, D. 2001. Moral text comprehension: implications for education and research. Journal of Moral Education, 30(1): 43–54. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Riedel 2002 Riedel, E. 2002. The impact of high school community service programs on students’ feelings of civic obligation. American Politics Research, 30(5): 499–527. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], Schultz et al. 2001 Schultz, L. H., Barr, D. J. and Selman, R. L. 2001. The value of a developmental approach to evaluating character development programmes: an outcome study of Facing History and Ourselves. Journal of Moral Education, 30(1): 3–27. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. 4. The GSID Relationship Questionnaire was used to assesses children’s level (0–3) of interpersonal development in 5 scales: perspective‐taking; interpersonal understanding; hypothetical negotiation; real‐life negotiation; and personal meaning. An overall relationship maturity scale is computed by averaging the 5 scales (α = 0.75). It comprises 24 multiple‐choice questions. The children are asked to evaluate each answer and choose the best one. 5. The authors used the Modern Racism Scale (McConahay 1986, cited in Schulz et al. 2001 Schultz, L. H., Barr, D. J. and Selman, R. L. 2001. The value of a developmental approach to evaluating character development programmes: an outcome study of Facing History and Ourselves. Journal of Moral Education, 30(1): 3–27. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This scale consists of 12 items which subjects rate on a 5‐point scale and measures racial attitudes (α = 0.79–0.86) 6. The Defining Issues Test (Rest 1979, cited in Schulz et al. 2001 Schultz, L. H., Barr, D. J. and Selman, R. L. 2001. The value of a developmental approach to evaluating character development programmes: an outcome study of Facing History and Ourselves. Journal of Moral Education, 30(1): 3–27. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) was designed to measure Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. Subjects read four moral dilemmas followed by 12 statements. These statements correspond with the different developmental stages, and subjects have to rate the statements on a 5‐point scale and rank them. 7. To measure ethnic identity the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; Phinney 1989, 1992, cited in Schulz et al. 2001 Schultz, L. H., Barr, D. J. and Selman, R. L. 2001. The value of a developmental approach to evaluating character development programmes: an outcome study of Facing History and Ourselves. Journal of Moral Education, 30(1): 3–27. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) was used. This scale consists of 14 items and measures 3 aspects of ethnic identity: positive ethnic attitudes; ethnic identity achievement; and ethnic behaviour or practices (α = 0.70–0.90) 8. We used The Self‐Esteem Scale (Rosenberg 1965, cited in Covell and Howe 2001 Covell, K. and Howe, R. 2001. Moral education through the 3 Rs: rights, respect and responsibility. Journal of Moral Education, 30(1): 29–44. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to measure how adolescents feel about themselves. It consists of 10 statements, each of which is accompanied by a 9‐point scale. 9. The Rights Values Survey (Covell and Howe 1996, cited in Covell and Howe 2001 Covell, K. and Howe, R. 2001. Moral education through the 3 Rs: rights, respect and responsibility. Journal of Moral Education, 30(1): 29–44. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) was used, which consists of 2 scales. The first scale (15 items) measures support for the adults’ rights and the second scale (15 items) measures support for children’s rights. Each item is a statement followed by a 5‐point scale. 10. The Defining Issues Test was used, see Note 6.