Dilemmas and problems of being a moral educator

Abstract

Kinesiology is the science of human movement. Within the United States, kinesiology encompasses different sub-disciplines of human movement, e.g., exercise physiology, biomechanics, sport psychology, and philosophy, as well as, the professions of teaching, leading, and training. This paper addresses one issue, the lack of moral education in the preparation of kinesiology pre-professionals. Moral education is imperative for kinesiology students to address issues of right and wrong as well as engage in higher order reasoning however, many problems exist in applying moral education to kinesiology. First, even though 37 states have some sort of requirement that moral education is a part of the general public education curriculum, apparently, no direct teaching of moral values exists in public elementary, middle, and high schools. Students arrive at the university with no background. Second, direct teaching of moral values is nonexistent because: teachers and college instructors are not content experts in moral education, consumer-based education drives and affects students’ value of education, and the fallacious argument that ethics should only be taught to the young. Third, moral pedagogy is seldom applied. All of which directly affects kinesiology students in making decisions of right and wrong in a service profession. Therefore, the purpose of this narrative philosophical paper is twofold: to discuss the problems and dilemmas incorporating moral education in kinesiology curriculum and discuss three specific solutions, the: a) creation of moral development courses, b) use of writing intensive courses, and c) development of courses in pedagogy. A narrative philosophical approach discusses theory and supports with real life examples.