What is Moral Education - Literature review Example

Introduction Moral education is the teaching and guidance of good behaviour and ethics among individuals. Moral education is taught to children in school at a young age and it provides them with a sense of lawfulness and politeness. It can be also said as a character education and has a purpose of nurturing good manner and values in children at the growing stage. It is a religious education where religious principles are used to teach children morals and values. Moral education is in the curriculum of every education system as it builds a better human being. Moral education gives a base to the children at a young age how to behave in a society and to grow as a better person and citizen. As per Xaxx( 2013) “For many people, morals are based on religious belief. In the United States, because of the separation of church and state, religious beliefs are not taught in public schools”. Education institute promote moral education because it instils religious values in children along with morality. The educational strategy of moral science is often religious scriptures. Moral education is a system which teacher children about need and rights of others so that there would social unity and cohesiveness in a society. The aim of moral education is to avoid conflicts and run society with a control. For many people, morals are based on religious beliefs. Every parent expects an education institution to teach morality to their children. What is Moral education? Moral education is an educational system which aims at building the character and personality of a person. Moral education cut across the school curriculum and is a contribution to the societal development and personal values of young generation. It is integrated well into all courses and into the ethos and curricular activities of the school. Moral education is has two approached and the first is called moral “socialization” or “training”. In this the children are nurtured with virtues and values that make them good people. The second task is to provide the students with intellectual resources to make them informed on responsible judgements regarding matter of moral importance. School has moral ethos embodied in rules and punishments, dress code and honour. As per Devine (2006)“Moral education starts early but proceeds at very different speeds according to the domestic circumstances of the small child”. School conveys to children what is right and wrong. It is believed that values are caught rather than taught. Moral education is effective because it is a daily education system. Children are given moral lessons on gradual basis according to their reasoning skill and intellectual ability. Moral education is more potential when it is passive rather than when it is active. An indirect moral education can be a natural phenomenon and students would not feel as they are imposed moral values upon them. Moral education is a self learning experience and deepens their understanding about morality and life. Many values like humility, kindness, truthfulness and honesty are taught in moral education programs Moral education is developed and propagated by schools and it is an integral part of its curriculum. School influence highly in the way people think, feel and act regardless what is right or wrong. Moral education is promoted in schools thorough a discipline called moral science. In this study time children are given insight into characteristics of moral life. Principles like honesty, dignity, respect, hard work are taught for a continuous period. They are taught through various programs and discourse the element of morality. The schools utilized religion for teaching moral education as children value these principles and beliefs. Schools emphasises components of characters education and these are supported by the parents. As per Education Beaura (2008 ) “Moral, Civic and National Education is an essential element of whole-person education which aims at fostering students positive values and attitudes through the school curriculum and the provision of diversified learning experiences. The schools use many curriculum tools to promote moral education”. They teaches issues which has diversified learning experience and enable students to analyse and judge matters related to family, social, financial and global ground. The curriculum teaches how to develop co – operation among family, school and society among young people. The students are given education on their responsibility as a family member and citizen. They are taught through religious parables and story the value of morality and its practicability. They employ collective worship, curricular activities and effective relationship throughout the school for promoting moral education. The school gives a progressive education on morality to have an effective moral education. Moral education is taught in school with a base of religion. Religion always has been a propagator of moral values and every person understood these religious principles from the perspective of goodness. God being the creative power and advocate of morality, religion has been the corner stone of moral values and ethics. Religion has been a basis for ethics in all aspects of life as family, society and humanity. In previous times, people learned morality from religion and moral and religion are complimentary to each other. The religious scriptures like Bible and Quran have stated many principles and commandments in relation to morals. Religion presents a moral vision of reality that allows people to practice values in real life. As per Metzgen (2014) “Ideas such as belief in God, the immortality of the soul and what is often deemed Christ’s exemplary role in adhering fully to the overarching principle of moral rightness offer an account of religion that promotes a moral vision of reality that treats people as moral ends rather than as means to this or that particular religion’s ends”. The purpose of religion is solely to teach people about morals and ethics of life. The nature law of universe which is goodness is exclusively prescribed by religion in a scientific manner. Moral and religion are interlinked and is an essential part of human life. Moral education has certain theories which are applicable to it. One of the theories which can be applied to moral education is constructivist theory. According to this theory, human generate knowledge in relation to their interaction and experience. In this theory moral education is taken an education system which aims at building moral and personality of an individual by giving personal interpretation of experience. This theory believes that individuals can reconstruct their reasoning at different stages and moral education helps in this process. Since moral education is based on reality, constructivist theory is highly applicable to it. As per Jones (2002,pg1-10)“Constructivism has emerged as one of the greatest influences on the practice of education in the last twentyfiveyears. Teachers have embraced constructivist-based pedagogy with an enthusiasm that is rare in these days of quick fixes and a shopping mall approach to school improvement”. This theory propounds that if teacher provide correct stimuli they would learn and their learning can be measured through observation. The education according to this theory should be an object based system. So in moral education the objective should be developing and character which will be evident in children as they progress with study. Another theory which can be applied to moral education is the theory of punishment. In this, the punishment is exemplifies as a result of immoral behavior. This induces a certain fear and reluctance in children in committing acts which are immoral. Moral education has many advantages as it helps the children to build their mannerism and moral values. The moral education helps students to learn habits which are essential for a good living. Man as a social animal need to interact with society and needs to learn social habits like gentleness, respect of elders and honesty. The good habits make a person a good social creature and will be known as a Bette person by others. When a student acquire these qualities through moral education his attitude towards peers, teachers and education become good. Moral education gives information on different aspects of life as family values, social values, religious values and personal values. As per Wringes ( 1998,pg.225-36) “If it is recognised that in our world the most expedient moral regime is that which we have indicated, living well in the classical sense, combining both morality and ones ultimate self interest, becomes a matter of recognizing, asserting and managing ones own freedom while recognizing and respecting its limits”. Moral education also gives an idea to students the importance of being a human and how he is different from other creatures. Moral education gives the students the understanding that they have moral obligation towards themselves and others. Also moral education gives them lessons regarding the bad habits and mannerism which they need to avoid. Also moral education re-establishes religious values in children. As religion is a part of moral education, they understand religion better and its practicality in a wider perspective. Moral education brings a better person to the world and it means a better individual, a better citizen and a human being. A person with moral education is more disciplined, organised and humane. The moral education also has disadvantages as it can impose more spiritual burden on children. It can feel like imposing religion on children at younger age. And also someone else decides what moral education is. Someone else decides what is right and wrong for us. Some things which Christianity might think right may be wrong for students who are from different religious background. For example Christians might think socializing with men as right but a child from a Muslim background think it is unethical to socialize with men freely. Some people cannot adjust to the moral education of schools and find it irrelevant. The moral education may not be universal as some may find some thoughts and ideas irrelevant to their culture and personal values. Many a times, students may feel like doing things which otherwise they are prohibited to do. The children can attempt things which they teachers tell them to do as they are mischievous at younger age. Also moral education can exaggerate things which mean some things which are minor may be blown out of proportion. For example, the students may be tempted to have a disciplined life which may be not very practical at young age and it is not a very big deal. Some aspect taught by moral education may not be well adjusted to the reasoning of all students. According to Richford (2014) “Values are closely associated with morals and vary between members of society. The value a person places on ideas or acts determines the individuals sense of right and wrong”. Conclusion Moral education is the education system followed by schools to build the character and personality of young children. In moral education the schools use various programs and curricular activities to promote morality and values in students. Moral education is an integral part of study and it integrated with other course in curriculum. Moral education has purpose of making the best out of young individuals. It imbibes good qualities in children like honesty, respect, dignity and kindness. Moral education is often has grounds in religious principles and values as it propagated morality and ethics oh high level. Religion is a basis on which moral education programs are planned. Bible and other scripture have laid out many principles and commandments on moral values on a realistic background. Moral education is based on certain theories to make it more applicable in study curriculum. One of the theories of moral education is constructivist theory where knowledge related to experience in given importance. Another theory is theory of punishment which suggests that punishing on immoral activities avoid conduct of immoral activities among students. These theories explain the implication of moral education on studies and knowledge development of an individual. Moral education is advantageous as it brings on many values among students. It also has some disadvantage like it imposes certain values which may not be compatible with a student. However, moral education is an important aspect of education system as it develops a good students and a person with social and moral values. References Devine,S. 2006. What is Moral Education. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.libr.org/isc/issues/ISC23/B8%20Susan%20Devine.pdf. [Accessed 04 May 14]. Education Bureau. 2008. Moral, Civic and National Education. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/4-key-tasks/moral-civic/index.html. [Accessed 03 May 14]. Jones, G, 2002. The Impact of Constructivism on Education: Language,. American Coomunication Journal, 5/3, 1-10. Metzgen,P.L. 2014. How Moral Is Religion?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/uncommongodcommongood/2014/02/how-moral-is-religion/. [Accessed 03 May 14]. Richford,N. 2014. Pros & Cons of Teaching Values in Schools. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ehow.com/list_7435175_pros-cons-teaching-values-schools.html. [Accessed 04 May 14 Wringe, C, 1998. Reasons, Rules and Virtues in Moral. Journal of Philosophy of Education,, 32/2, 225-36. Xaxx,J. 2013. Why Are Morals Important in Education?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ehow.com/about_6471113_morals-important-education_.html. [Accessed 02 May 14]. Read More