Effects of Nigerian Children's Group Discussion on their Moral Progression

Abstract

Abstract The study aimed to examine the effects of group discussion on the moral progression of Nigerian primary school children. Four Kohlberg‐type moral dilemmas were used for pre‐testing 79 Hausa Muslim boys, studying in Class Six in a primary school in Kano City. The 72 subjects whose moral reasoning was found to be at Stages One and Two were assigned to two experimental groups and a control group at each stage level. Experimental subjects were exposed to a moral dilemma with different pieces of advice, representing moral reasoning of one (+1) and two (+2) stages above their initial stages, followed by group discussions. Experimental treatments were given weekly for four successive weeks; a different moral dilemma was used at each treatment session. Fifteen days after experimental treatment, both experimental and control subjects were post‐tested on four dilemmas. The shifts of experimental groups were compared with those of control groups. The data showed that +1 treatment produced significant shifts in moral reasoning of the experimental subjects.