Educating for Moral Ability: Reflections on moral development based on Vygotsky's theory of concept formation

Abstract

The idea examined here is that the development of moral ability shares important similarities with the development of conceptual thinking as outlined in the work of Lev Vygotsky. Most notably, the mature forms of both processes are ways of constructing meaning that are not governed by pre-established modes of behaviour. The principal suggestion here is that Vygotsky's theory of concept formation can be used as a generative model for understanding the development of moral ability in a way that challenges the notion of morality as rule-following behaviour. Understanding moral ability as a present-centred aptitude for creating meaning carries a two-fold significance for educators: it is theoretically useful for understanding the learning process in the context of a fundamental or universal interdependency, and of practical value inasmuch as it focuses on the importance of learning to think and act in the here and now.