The moral person

Abstract

Wherever the general goals of schools are listed, one can usually find at least one and often several goals that have reference to the moral development of children. Certainly the task of developing moral persons does not belong exclusively to the schools. Nevertheless, there is widespread agreement that the schools have important responsibilities in this area. However, just what these responsibilities are is not so clear. No doubt every school does something to encourage morality. In most schools children are praised for being good and punished for being naughty. In most schools children hear occasionally talks about being good citizens and good neighbors, about the importance of honesty, kindness, and good sportsmanship, and about the need for considering the other person's point of view. In some schools children are engaged in open-ended discussions of moral problems, and in some schools children are given opportunities to discuss personal moral problems with a teacher or counselor. Are these various strategies effective in encouraging children to become moral persons? No doubt extensive research would be needed to answer this question. However, it is not our intent in this article to present or review such research. There is a task that is logically prior to selecting strategies to promote moral development and measuring their effectiveness. First,