Lecture-1 Moral educ.

1
UUNNIIVVEERRSSIIDDAADD DDEE ZZAAMMBBOOAANNGGAA
SScchhooooll ooff EEdduuccaattiioonn,, AArrttss aanndd SScciieenncceess
Summit Centre Building, Don Toribio Tetuan, Z.C.
Tel.No  ( 062 ) 992-0602 - loc. 105
BRIDGING COURSE
On
ACCELERATED TEACHERS EDUCATION PROGRAM (ATEP)
VALUES EDUCATION, ETHICS AND MORAL EDUCATION
Prepared by:
DR. ROSEMARIE T. SANTOS
Euthenics Coordinator
Course Description:
Values are the foundation of a person’s character. They determine his beliefs and his
attitudes towards life, the people around him and the world at large. Values, Ethics and Moral
Education focuses on developing the moral well-being of our students by helping them acquire
and live by the values that guide them to make appropriate choices and determine their
behavior and attitudes towards themselves, others and the environment.
This course also introduces a systematic framework for thinking about ethical dilemmas
that arise in personal, professional and civic life. It will review theoretical, biological and socio-
cultural conceptions of moral obligation, as well as relevant socio- historical, cultural and
scientific contexts. The course will enhance your ability to recognize the complex interplay
between moral concepts and lived experience and to resolve moral dilemmas. Thus, students
engage in ethical reasoning and ethical decision making.
Course Objectives:
1. Increase awareness of oneself and the other significant factors around him/her.
2. Explain the evolution of the basic human values as products of the on-going dynamics
of family, life in general and Filipino family in particular.
3. Examine the processes of values formation in human life cycle both from the
theoretical literature and from personal experiential knowledge.
4. Develop insights on the nature of ethics and its major theories and principles.
5. Demonstrate that human values, ethics and the political realities of one's job and day-
to-day associations are often in conflict.
6. To help students develop a sensitivity to ethical issues in their own work and the
means that they could use to respond to those issues

2
MODULE – I
VALUES EDUCATION
I. DEFINITION OF TERMS
SELF
 It refers to personal characteristics, individuality, personality, roles and social
status in life.
 Self understanding is important to realize our parents and become the best of
what we are. Self-understanding starts with the discovery and affirmation of
individual strengths and weaknesses. The discovery of personal assets will help
develop one’s confidence and acceptance of one’s limitations and be
accountable of it. Self-confidence is a major criterion to develop trust in oneself.
SELF-CONCEPT
 Is the organized set of characteristics that the individual perceive as being
peculiar to himself/herself. Carl Rogers)
 It the conscious and unconscious perceptions and feelings about oneself with
regards to one’s worth as a person.
 Is affected by his or her environment and the significant others. Personal
experiences also play an important in knowing one’s self. Experience is an
opportunity to discover one’s gifts, potentials, weaknesses and limitations.
The PERCEIVEDSELF
 Is composed of self-cognitions regarding one’s traits,competenices and values, it is
reinforced through feedback. The type of feedback, which an individual receives,
determines the standard to measure the ideal self. The three categories of self-
perception are traits, competencies and values.
THE IDEAL SELF
 Represents the set of traits, competencies and values an individual would like to
possess. Internalized competencies and values have been suggested as the basis of the
ideal self and as an internal standard for behavior (Bandura, 1986)
SOCIAL IDENTITIES
 Are those aspects of the individual’s self-concept that are derived from the social
categories to which he or she perceives him/herself as belonging to. Social identities link
individuals to reference groups, which establish a set of role expectations and norms
that guide the individual’s behavior with each of the social identities. For example: the
identity of a principal maybe associated with leadership and order (traits), analytical
ability and competence (competencies), service and commitment (values). These
aspired traits competencies and values associated, served as the basis for the ideal self.
Once established, the attributes then reinforce the identity.

3
SELF-ESTEEM
 Is the evaluative component of the self-concept (Rosenberg) 1998). It is the function of
the distance between the ideal self and perceived self. When the perceived self matches
the ideal self esteem is relatively high. Low self-esteem occurs when the perceived self
is significantly lower than the ideal self.
The need for self-esteem stems from the nature of volitional consciousness. To
live to your best you must be rational is to live by the judgment of your own mind.
But how can you do that, if you do not trust your own mind? And for a being to
act, it must have motive: and if you do not believe that you deserve to live and to
be happy, then can you seek those as your fundamental values?
So how does one achieve self-esteem? You must be competent to live. Which
means be rational. You must deserve to live: which means be virtuous. Which
derives from rationality. Thus, the key to self-esteem is a life of unbreached
rationality. Then, you can trust your mind, because your use of reason is
uncompromised. Then you are virtuous, because all of the virtues are
expressions of rationality.
BECOMING MORE SELF-AWARE:
1. Understanding one’s attitude and emotions
We understand our attitudes and emotions partly by inferring them from observations of
behavior or the circumstances in which our behavior occurs. By watching what you do,
you become aware of what you are like as a person, much as outside observes from
judgments of us on the basis of what they see. When you become aware of some aspect
of yourself you typically evaluate it, considering how this aspect of you measures up to
some internal; rule or standard.
2. Explaining and disclosing your feelings
Explaining your reactions and disclosing your feelings to persons you trust can lead to
new insights into your experiences. Verbally expressing results in a higher level of
understanding.
3. Request for feedback from others
Request feedback from other people as to how they see and how they are reacting to
your behavior. This is such an important aspect of becoming more self-aware. The
purpose of feedback is to provide constructive information to help you become aware of
how your behavior affects others.
II. VALUES EDUCATION
Values Education as a part of the school curriculum is the process by which values are
formed in the learner under the guidance of the teacher and as he interacts with this
environment. But it involves not just any kind of teaching-learning process.
First of all, the subject matter itself, values, has direct and immediate relevance to the personal
life of the learner.
Second, the process is not just cognitive but involves all the faculties of the learner. The teacher
must appeal not only to the mind but the hearts as well, in fact, the total human person.
Third, one learns values the way children learn many things from their parents. Children identify
with parents, and this identification becomes the vehicle for the transmission of learning, be it

4
language or the values of thrift and hard work. Hence, the teacher’s personal values play an
important role in values learning.
a. Values
Values are the beliefs, which we hold true-those noble ideals we struggle to attain and
implement in our daily lives.
Derived from Natural and Moral Laws and not from individual’s opinions and feelings.
They are based on objective, eternal and universal truths (e.g. freedom, justice, peace
love family solidarity….).
Also rooted in a personal view of what works and does not work; they may be accepted
practical and ways of acting of a given people during a given period of time.
Are integral parts of human existence; such as they relate to every aspect of lfe. Values
can be viewed as priorities that relate to a person’s behavior. Specifically, they are
priorities one is motivated to act upon.
b. Values Education
1. Academic formation- human intellect (to know the truth)
2. Personal Formation –human will (to act, to choose good)
3. As part of the school curriculum-is the process values are formed in the learner under
the guidance of the teacher.
4. As a subject-values education has direct and immediate relevance to the personal life of
the learner.
5. It is holistic because it involves all faculties of the learner.
c. DECS (DEPED) Values Education Program (1988)
This program was motivated by the 1986 EDSA Revolution. It was also
inspired by the 1987 Constitution that envisions a :just and humane society:
for the Filipinos. This vision calls for a shared culture and commonly held
values such as “truth, justice, love, equality and peace”.
d. Philosophy of Values Education Program:
d.1 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Values have a social function: commonly held values unite families, tribes, societies, and
nations. They are essential to the democratic way of lie, which puts a high premium on freedom
and the rule of law. That is why, shortly after the Revolution of February 1986, the DECS made
values education a primary thrust.
Similarly, the DECS thrust found strong support in the Philippine Constitution of 1987 in its
vision of " a just and humane society," which calls for a shared culture and commonly held
values such as "truth, justice, freedom, love, equality and peace." (Preamble)
In the pursuit of this thrust, the DECS has embarked on a Values Education Program with the
following goal and objectives.
d.1.1 GOALS
To provide and promote values education at all three levels of the educational system for the
development of the human person committed to the building o " a just and humane society" and
an independent and democratic nation.

5
d.1.2 OBJECTIVES
Proper implementation of the program will develop Filipinos who:
 are self-actualized, integrally developed human beings imbued with a sense of human
dignity;
 are social beings with a sense of responsibility for their community and environment;
 are productive persons who contribute to the economic security and development of the
family and the nation;
 as citizens have a deep sense of nationalism and are committed to the progress of the
nation as well as of the entire world community through global solidarity; and
 manifest in actual life an abiding faith in God as a reflection of their spiritual being.
d.1.3 PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES
Values education, pursued at the national, regional, local, and institution levels, should be
guided by the following general principles:
It must be oriented toward the total person of the learner-mind, heart, and entire being.
It must take into consideration the unique role of the family in one’s personal development and
integration into society and the nation.
In the school context, more important than lesson plans and any list of values are the teachers
themselves who have the proper sense of values, awareness of their inner worth, and utmost
respect for the person of the other.
II. VALUES CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The Values Education Framework, herein described, is intended as a guide and form of
teaching aid in the implementation of the Values Education Program.
WHAT IT IS NOT
 It is not prescriptive: values cannot be imposed.
 It is not exhaustive; it does not purport to be a complete list of human values.
 It makes no statement on regional, local, and institutional needs and priorities.
WHAT IT IS
 It is descriptive: it is an attempt at an orderly description of a desirable value system on
the a basis of an understanding of the human person.
 It is conceptual: it lists ideals which have to be internalized in the educational process.
 It is intended to be applicable in varying degress to all three levels of the educational
system.
 It is broad and flexible enough for adaptation to specific contexts.
ITS USES
It is desirable that regions, localities, and institutions construct their own values map, with
clearly defined priorities, suited to their peculiar context and needs, This DECS framework
should be of help in such a task.
Classroom teachers, syllabi constructors, and curriculum planners may use it to identify which
values are to be targeted in specific courses and programs.

6
The DECS framework may also serve as a frame fo reference in the reform and revision of
operative Filipino values. For instance, against the background of the framework, pakikisama
should be seen as something to be prized but not at the expense of personal integrity, likewise,
as a Filipino value, it should be compatible with the much-needed productivity and should even
become a bridge to national solidarity. Similarly, utang na loob should have wider applications in
society so that it can propel other values such as concern for the common good and social
justice.
PHILOSOPHY
THE HUMAN PERSON
The Values Education Framework herein presented is based on a rational
understanding, that is to say, a philosophy, of the human person. More specifically, it is
grounded on a rational understanding of the Filipino in his historical and cultural context, which
under grids the Philippine Constitution of 1987. That understanding of the Filipino as a human
being in society and his role in the shaping of society and the environment may be
reconstructed from the various statements of the Constitution and expressed in the following
summary manner:
The human person is the subject of education: he is a human person learning and being
taught. The human person is also the object: the human person is at the center of the
curriculum and the entire program. The task of education is to help the Filipino develop his
human potential, contribute to the growth of the Philippine culture, and by controlling the
environment and making use of human and non-human resources, build appropriate structures,
and institution for the attainment of a just and human society.
The human person is multi-dimensional. There is, first of all, the distinction between the
person as self and the person in community. In real life, however, these are not two distinct and
separate aspects; the person as self grows precisely by developing his faculties in contact with
the world and others in the community and by taking an active role in improving that community.
The human person is an individual self-conscious being of incalculable value in
himself(Art.11, Sec.11: Art. XIII, Sec.1) who cannot be a mere instrument of the society and of
the state. He is not just body and soul juxtaposed or mixed as oil and water, but he is an
embodied spirit. Hence, his physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual well-being is recognized by
the State. (Art. II. Sec.13).
The human person, however, does not live in isolation but in community with other
persons-physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual like himself. He is inevitably social (Art. II, Sec.
13).
He belongs to a family, the basic unit of society or, in the words of the Constitution, "the
foundation of the nation" (Art. XV, Sec.1) as well as to a wider and more complex society of men
and women. Being social, he participates in defining the goals and destinies of the community
and in achieving the common good.
He is also economic. Life in a community involve the concerns of livelihood, sufficiency,
production, and consumption.
Lastly, he is political. Like other peoples in the world, the Filipinos have constituted
themselves into a nation-state to pursue the goal of "social progress" and " total human
liberation and development." (Art.II,Sec.17)

7
FORCES THAT SHAPE CONTEMPORARY VALUES
A. Foundation of the Filipino’s oriental nature (Pre-colonial Filipino Values)
Aeta, Indonesian, Malayan,Arabian, Chinese Interpersonal and social
relationships revolve around blood ties, marriage and ritual kinship.
B. Filipino’s Occidentalism
a. Spanish influence
Spanish influence is manifested in our religions, political, economic, educational
life, language, dress and diet. Most of the population was converted to Hispanic
Catholicism, and the visible aspects of culture (e.g., personal names, vocabulary
urban architecture, fine arts, dress, cuisine, and customs) were profoundly
influenced or modified. (Harper and Fullerton, 1994).
Centuries of Spanish of rule also imposed a severe colonial mentality and left
Filipinos with “a legacy of attitudes that are firmly embedded in society such as,
equating light skin with beauty and high status, the identification of anything
foreign with superiority and indigenous with inferiority, and a conception of
officialdom as a system serving its own ends, not those of the people
(Gochenour, 1990).
b. Americanization of Filipinos
American influences manifested in our political And social outlook. With the
introduction of a democratize system of government we become aware of our
rights and privileges.. The popularization of education gave us the opportunity for
social mobility. Americans in the presumed spirit of white paternalism and
benevolence, saw themselves as best owners of education, religion, public
health, development, and democracy to their “little brown brothers” (Gochenour,
1990).
The Filipinos learned how to read, speak and write English in a short matter of
time. The free exchange of goods between the United Stated and the Philippines
ended when the U.S. Congress approved the Tydings-Mcduffie Law. Through the
Homestead Act, the right to own any civil land up to 24 hectares was given to any
Filipino. The Protestant religion was accepted by the Filipinos. The social status
of Filipino Women during the American period. They were allowed to participate
in politics, to work in the government, and to pursue their studies in college.
Matters like health and cleanliness were improved. Transportation and
communication in the Philippines were developed.
c. Japanese Occupation
Japanese influences manifested in our love for work. Dignity of labor and working
hard were one of the values that Filipinos were widely known. This is evident
because many Filipinos nowadays are working abroad. Almost everywhere
Filipinos are at hand working hard to earn more to support their family. Many
countries choose Filipinos to work in their country because they know of Filipinos’
perseverance and hardwork.
The arrival of the Japanese caused tremendous fear, hardships and suffering
among the Filipinos. The Filipino way of life was greatly affected during the
Japanese period. The Filipinos lost their freedom of speech and expression. The
development of art was also stopped. Filipinos greatly feared the "zoning". There
were Filipinos spies hired by the Japanese to point those who were suspected of

8
being part of the guerilla movement. The Japanese made some changes in the
system of education
III. THEORIES OF VALUES FORMATION
1. Psycho-Analytic Theory (Sigmund Freud) suggests that unconscious
forces act to determine personality and behavior. To Freud, the
unconscious is that part of the personality about which a person is
unaware. It contains infantile wishes, desires, demands and needs that
are hidden, because of their disturbing nature, from conscious
awareness. Freud suggested that the unconscious is responsible for a
good part of our everyday behavior. According to Freud, ones’ personality
has three aspects: the id, the ego and the superego.
2. Behaviorist View (John B. Watson). The behavioral perspective that the
keys to understanding development are observable behavior and outside
stimuli in the environment. If we know the stimuli, we can predict the
behavior. Behavioral theories reject the notion that individuals universally
pass through a series of stages. Instead people are assumed to be
affected by the environmental stimuli to which they happen to be
exposed. Developmental patterns, then, are personal, reflecting a
particular set of environmental stimuli, and development is the result of
continuing exposure to specific factors in the environment.
John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner’s theories of classical and operant
conditioning hold that all behavior is learned as a response to external
stimuli. Classical conditioning occurs when an organism learns to respond
in a particular way to a neutral stimulus that normally does not evoke that
Figure 1. Forces that shapes contemporary
values

9
type of response. For example, the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov
found that if a dog is repeatedly exposed to the pairing of two stimuli,
such as the sound of a bell and the presentation of meat, it might learn to
react to the sound of the bell alone in the same way it reacts to the
presentation of meat. In operant conditioning, Skinner demonstrated that
individuals learn deliberately in their environments in order to bring about
desired consequences. Reinforcement is the process by which stimulus is
provided that increases the probability that preceding behavior will be
repeated. In addition, punishment will decrease the probability that the
preceding behavior will occur in the future.
3. Social-cognitive learning theorist. Albert Bandura, when we see the
behavior of a model being rewarded, we are likely to imitate that behavior.
Behavior is learned through observation and imitation, not conditioning
through reinforcement or punishment.
4. Cognitive theory. The cognitive perspective focuses on the processes
that allow people to know, understand and thin about the world. The
cognitive perspective emphasizes how people internally represent and
think about the world. The cognitive perspective emphasizes how people
internally represent and think about the world. There are two major
theories:
No single person has had a greater impact on the study of cognitive
development than Jean Piaget. He proposed that all people pass in a
fixed sequence through a series of the quantity of information increase,
but so did the quality of knowledge and understanding. Piaget suggests
that the growth in children’s understanding of the world can be explained
by two basic principles. Assimilation is the process in which people
understand an experience in terms of their current state of cognitive
development and way of thinking. In contrast, accommodation refers to
changes in existing ways of thinking in response to encounters with new
stimuli or events.
5. Socio-cultural theory (Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky) proposes
that a full understanding of development is impossible without taking into
account the culture in which children develop. Socio-cultural theory
proposes that children’s understanding of the world is acquired through
their problem-solving interactions with adults and other children. As
children play and cooperate with others, they learn what is important in
their society, and at the same time, advance cognitively in their
understanding of the world.
6. Ecological Theory. The Ecological model, the major proponent of which
is Urie Bronfenbrenner, seeks to explain individual knowledge,
development, and competencies in terms of the guidance, support, and
structure provided by society and to explain social change over time in
terms of the cumulative effective of individual choices (Berger, 2000).

10
According To Urie Bronfenbrenner, each person is significantly affected
by interactions among a number of overlapping ecosystems. At the
center of the model is the individual. Microsystems are the systems that
intimately and immediately shape human development. The primary
Microsystems for children include the family, peer group, classroom,
neighborhood, and sometimes a church, temple or mosque as well.
Interactions among the Microsystems, as when parents and teachers
coordinate their efforts to educate the child, tak place through
messosystem. Surrounding the Microsystems is the local educational,
medical, employment, and communications systems that influence the
Microsystems. And influencing all other systems is the macrosystem,
which includes cultural values, political philosophies, economic patterns,
and social conditions. Together, these systems are termed the social
context of human development.
7. Humanism theory. The humanistic perspective contends that people
have a natural tendency to make decisions about their lives and control
their behavior. The humanistic perspective emphasizes free will, the
ability of human to make choices and come to decisions about their lives.
Carl Rogers suggested that all people have a need for positive
regard that results from an underlying wish to be loved and
respected. Because it is other people who provide this positive
regard, we become dependent on them. Consequently, our view
of our self-worth and ourselves is a reflection of how we think
others view us.
Abraham Maslow suggests that self-actualization is a primary
goal in life. Self-actualization is a state of self-fulfillment in which
people achieve their highest potential in their own unique way.

11
8. Evolutionary theory. The Evolutionary Theory sresses that behavior is
strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and is characterized by
critical or sensitive periods (Santrock, 1999). Evolutionary approaches
grow out of the groundbreaking work of Charles Darwin. The evolutionary
perspective is also referred to as Ethological or Biological.
Konrad Lorenz discovered that newborn geese are genetically
preprogrammed to become attached to the first moving object they see
after birth. His work, which ultimately led mentlists to consider the ways in
which human behavior might reflect inborn genetic patterns.
The evolutionary perspective encompasses one of the fastest
growing areas within the field of lifespan development, behavioral
genetics. Behavioral genetics studies the effect of heredity and genetics
on behavior. As technology improves, and researchers continue to map
the human genome, there is an increasing understanding of the role and
function of the genetic codes and their influence on development.
9. Moral Development (Lawrence Kohlberg). There exist structural bases
that determine the process of perceiving value. This series of progression
depends on the person’s interaction with the environment. Moral
reasoning is related to moral behavior.
Discussion questions:
Directions: answer the following questions briefly and clearly:
1. Explain the rationale of the inclusion of values education in the educational
curriculum in the light of the following:
1.1 educational framework
1.2 as a separate subject
1.3 as a subject matter in itself
1.4 philosophy
2. Discuss comprehensivelythe framework of the Forces that shapes contemporary
values as shown in figure 1.
3. Identify and explain concisely the different theories of values in a matrix form in
the light of the following:
3.1 Theoryand the advocator
3.2 concept
3.3 educational value
3.4 methods of teaching for values formation
Note: Follow the guide below:
Philosophy Concept Educational Value Teaching Methodology

12
Tel.No  ( 062 ) 992-0602 - loc. 105
BRIDGING COURSE
On
Prepared by:
MODULE II
ETHICS AND MORAL EDUCATION
a. Ethics-comes from the Greek word ethos, meaning character or custom. According
to Robert C. Solomon, the etymology of ethics suggests its basic concern: (1)
individual character, what is meant by “good person”, and (2) the social rules that
govern and limit our conduct, especially the ultimate rules concerning right and
wrong, which we call morality.
b. Ethics has historically been one of the four areas of philosophical inquiry:
• Metaphysics: the study of existence
• Epistemology: the study of knowledge
• Politics: the study of the ideal form of human society
• Ethics: the study of how to live virtuously
Although there are many approaches to the study of ethics, one way to examine
these approaches is to group them into two broad categories:
1. Deontological Ethics
2. Utilitarian Ethics
• Is a science of moral duty, of ideal human character and of standards of human
conduct.
• The study of the methods and principles used to distinguish good from bad, right
from wrong actions
The Need to Study Ethics
1. Ethics give us an idea and principles why one act is better than another.-
2. In order to have an orderly social life.-One must conform to the societal norms
and standards. We must have agreements, understandings, principles or rules of
procedures.
3. Moral conduct and ethical systems both of the past and of that of the present
must be intelligently appraised and criticized.
4. Ethics seeks to point out to men the true values of life.

13
Assumptions of Ethics
Assumptions are fundamental beliefs or statements that are accepted to be
true the burden of proving or of proof.
First, Man is a rational.
This means that man is rational and acts with a purpose, unlike brutes/animals
who merely act of instinct and reflex. Man is capable of knowing both the intentions
and consequences of his actions, and is capable of judging them as right or wrong,
or as good or bad. The assumption implies the moral awareness or the capability of
man to know and distinguish right from wrong and good from bad.
Second, Man is free.
Ethics assumes that man is free to act according to his will and he has the power to act,
speak or think if he chooses to without restraints. In general, this assumptions tell us that
man has the capacity to exercise choice in his actions. It implies that man has the
capability to choose what to do and what is good.
c. Morality
The term morality can be used either
1. Descriptively to refer to a code of conduct put forward by a society and that it is used
as a guide to behavior by the members of the society or,
a. Some other group, such as religion, or
b. Accepted by an individual for her/his own behavior or
2. Normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be
put forward by all rational persons for governing of all moral agents.
 morality as public system. Public system refers to guide to conduct such that
(1) all persons to whom it applies, all those whose behavior is to be guided
and judged by that system, know what behavior the system prohibits,
requires, discourages, encourages, and allows; and (2) it is nit irrational for
any of these persons to accept being guided and judged by that system.
 Refers to a code of conduct put forward by a society or some other group,
such as religion, or accepted by an individual for his/her own behavior.
 Also refers to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions would be put
forward by all rational persons.
 Refers to a doctrine or system of conduct relative to principles of right and
wrong. It encompasses the ideas of moral judgment, moral obligation, and a
moral agent.
C. Nature of Morality
o Moral talk is normative- meant to guide action
It is often manifested by words like should, ought, permitted, right and
wrong when the action is prescribed and proscribe, exhort and is
courage, judge, praise and condemn actions.

14
o Moral is evaluative-it refers to moral values of things, what matters morally and
why. It is manifested by words like good, valuable, fundamental, precious, sacred
and meaningful.
o Morality as it relates to our behavior is important on Three Levels:
1. To ensure fair play and harmony between individuals.
2. To help us make good people in order to have a good society.
3. To keep us in good relationship with the power that created us.
o Morality and Our Conscience
1. Morality affects our daily choices and those decisions are guided by our
conscience.
2. Many people believe that our conscience is matter of the heart, and the basic
concepts of right; wrong and fairness inherent in all of us.
The purpose of morality is to provide a framework of optimum human
survival. The standard of morality, however, is absolute and immutable-long
term human survival,
LEVELS OF MORALITY
 True Freedom
The way forward involves liberation from both false freedom and moralism.
Moral action is possible only for a being that is free. Freedom let the will to choose and gives
space for creativity, and implies release from determining factor. Nevertheless true freedom
implies not only the power of self-chosen action but also the proper orientation power. The
power to whatever he/she wants to do is not a true freedom because true freedom is oriented to
goodness. Freedom includes the power to choose evil, but freedom is fulfilled and enhanced
and sustained only by choosing the good abusing liberty leads to losing it.
 Moral Intuition
As with basic intuitions, the lesson applies again. First, you have a basic intuition
about what is morally right. Second, your intuitive grasp of moral matters can
improve. The first affirmation encourages you that you can play the game. You
do not have to feel intimidated by complex dilemmas where there are strong
reasons on opposite sides of an issue.
 Moral Reason
The more carefully you think through your great decisions, the more spontaneous
you will be in the host of situations covered by those decisions. Though they
have an appetite for studying and discussing difficult moral cases, the intellectual
dimension to morality is nonetheless essential. When actions are governed by
our best thinking we are usually in the current emotions whose guidance is less
reliable.
HUMAN ACTS – are actions performed by an agent with conscious knowledge and are
subject the control of the will.
• It include actions that are conscious, deliberate, intentional, voluntary and are within
the preview of human value judgment.
• -it is either moral or immoral.

15
• -These are products of man’s rationality and freedom of choice-like telling the truth,
caring for the sick, etc.
ACTS OF MAN – are actions that are instinctive conscious knowledge and are
subject to the control of the will.
Classifications of Human Acts
 Moral actions are those actions, which are in conformity with the norm of morality.
They are good actions and permissible. Example: working, studying, paying a debt,
telling the truth, loving a friend, being honest, etc.
 Immoral actions are those actions, which are not in conformity with the norm of
morality. They are bad or evil and are not permissible. Example: Refusing to help the
needy, committing murder, adultery, pre-marital sex, stealing, telling lies, etc.
 A-moral actions are those actions which stand neutral in relation to the norm of
morality. They are neither good nor bad in themselves. But certain a-moral actions
may become good or bad because of the circumstances attendant to them. Example:
Playing basketball is good but playing basketball when one is suppose to attend a
class is wrong.
Norms of Morality – are the standards that indicate the rightfulness or wrongfulness, the
goodness or evilness, the value or disvalue of a thing. (R. Agapay, 1991).
Kinds of Law
Natural law – is the idea that there are rational objective limits to the power of legislative rulers.
The foundations of law are accessible through human reason and it is from these laws of nature
that human created laws gain whatever force they have
Eternal law – reveals the will of God. It contains the Divine
Moral law – contains universal truths and ethical principles that ought to guide the individual
conduct of man in matters of right and wrong.
The Determinants of Morality
1. The morality of any given action is determined in any given elements.
a. The end in view
b. The means taken
c. The circumstances
Whoever knows this principle, does not thereby know the right and wrong of
every action, but he/she knows how to go about the inquiry. It is a rule of
diagnosis.
2. In order to know whether what the person befits him/her to do, the first thing to examine is
that which he/she mainly desires and wills in his/her action. Now the end is more willed
and desired than the mens. He/she steals to commit adultery, say Aristotle, is more of an
adulterer than thief. The end in view is what lies nearest to person’s heart as he/she acts.
On that his/her mind is chiefly bent; on that his/her main purpose is fixed. Trough the end
is last in the order of execution, it is first and foremost in the order of intention. Therefore
the end in view enters into morality more deeply than any other element of the action. it is
not, however, the most obvious determinant, because it is the last point to be gained,
and because, while the means are taken openly, the end is often a secret locked up in
the heart of the doer, the same means leading to many ends, as the road to a city leads

16
to many homes and resting places. Conversely, one end maybe prosecuted by many
means, as there are converging upon one goal.
3. If morality were determined by the end in view, and by that alone, the doctrine would hold
that the end justifies the means. That doctrine is false, because the moral character a
human acts depends on the willed, or object of volition, according as it is or is not a fit
object. Now the object of volition is not only the end in view, but likewise the means
chosen. Besides the end, the means are likewise willed, Indeed, the means are willed
more immediately even than the end, as they have to be taken first.
4. A good action, like any other good thing, must possess a certain requisite fullness of
being, proper to itself. As it is enough for the physical excellence of the human person to
have the bare essentials, a body with a soul animating it, but is needed a certain grace of
form , color, agility and many accidental qualities besides, so far a good act it is not
enough that proper means be taken to a pope end, but they must be taken by a proper
person, at a proper place and time, in a proper manner, and with manifold other
circumstances of propriety.
5. The end of view may be either single, as when you forgive an inquiry solely for the love of
Christ; or multiple co-ordinate, as when you forgive for the love of Christ and for the
mediation of a friend, and are disposed to forgive on either ground separately; or multiple
subordinate, as when you would not have forgiven on the latter ground alone, but forgive
the more easily for its addition, having been ready, however, to forgive on the former
alone, or cumulative, as when you forgive on a number or grounds collectively, on no one
of which would you have forgiven apart from the rest.
6. Where there are no outward action, but only an internal act, and the object of that act is
some good that is willed for its own sake, there can be no question of means taken, as
the end in view is immediately attained.
7. The means taken and the circumstances of those means enter into the morality of the
act, formally as they are seen by the intellect, materially as they are in themselves. This
explains the difference between formal and material sin. A material sin would be formal
also, did the agent know what he/she was doing. No sin is culpable that is not formal. But
as has been said, there may be culpable perversion of the intellect, so that the human
person is the author pf his/her own obliquity or defect of vision.
8. In looking at the means taken and the circumstances that accompany those means. It is
important to have a ready rule of pronouncing what particular belongs to the means and
what is the circumstances.
9. It is clear that not every circumstance affects the morality of the means taken.
10. But it happens sometimes only affects the reasonable of an action on the supposition of
some previous circumstance so affecting it. Thus to carry of a thing in large in small
quantities does not affect the reasonableness of the carrying, unless there be already
some other circumstance attached that renders the act good or evil, as for instance, if the
goods that are being removed are stolen property. Circumstances that of themselves,
and apart from any previous supposition, make the thing done peculiarly reasonable or
unreasonable, are called specifying circumstances add to, or take off from, the good or
evil of the action in that species of virtue or vice to which it already belongs.
11. A variety of specifying circumstances may place one and the same action in may various
species of virtue or vice. Thus a religious robbing his/her parents would sin at once
against justice, piety, and religion. A nun preferring death to dishonor practices three
virtues, chastity, fortitude and religion.
12. The means chosen may be of several characters:
a. A thing evil of itself and inexcusable under all conceivable circumstances; for
instance blasphemy, idolatry, lying.

17
b. Needing excuse, as a killing of a man, the looking of an indecent object. Such things
are not to be done except under certain circumstances and with a given reason.
Thus indecent sights may be met in the discharge of professional duty. In the case
indeed they cease to be indecent. They are the only indecent when they are viewed
without case. The absence of a good motive in a case like this commonly implies the
presence of a bad one.
c. Good of itself, bit liable to be vitiated by circumstances, as prayer and almsgiving;
their being done out of a vain motive, or unreasonably or indiscreetly may destroy
the good of such actions wholly or in part.
13. As a great part of the things that we do are indifferent as well as in themselves as in the
circumstances of doing, the moral character of our lives depends largely on the ends that
we habitually propose to ourselves.
14. The effect consequent upon an action is distinguishable from the action itself, from which
it is not infrequently separated by considerable interval of time, as death of a man from
poison administered a month before. The effect consequent enters into morality only in so
far as it either chosen as a means or intended as an end, or is annexed as a relevant
circumstance to means chosen. Once the act is done, it matters nothing to morality
whether the effect consequent actually ensues or not, provided no new act e elicited
thereupon, whether of commission on or culpable omission to prevent. It matters not to
morality, but it does matter to the agent’s claim to reward or liability to punishment at the
hands of legislators civil and ecclesiastical.
15. As soul and body make one human, so the inward and outward act-as the will to strike
and the actual blow struck-are one human act. The outward act gives a certain physical
completeness to the inward. Moreover the inward is no thoroughgoing thing, if it stops
short of outward action where the opportunity offers. Otherwise, the inward act may be as
good or as bad morally as inward and outward act together.
Activities

18
Tel.No  ( 062 ) 992-0602 - loc. 105
BRIDGING COURSE
On
Prepared by:
MODULE III & IV
MORAL EDUCATION
Introduction
Moral education, then, refers to helping children acquire those virtues or moral habits
that will help them individually live good lives and at the same time become productive,
contributing members of their communities. In this view, moral education should
contribute not only to the students as individuals, but also to the social cohesion of a
community. The word moral comes from a Latin root (mos, moris) and means the code
or customs of a people, the social glue that defines how individuals should live together.
A Brief History of Moral Education
The Colonial Period.
As common school spread throughout the colonies, the moral education of children was
taken for granted. Formal education had a distinctly moral and religion emphasis. Harvard
College was founded to prepare clergy for their work. Those men who carved out the United
States from the British crown risked their fortunes, their families, and their very lives with their
seditious rebellion. Most of them were classically educated in philosophy, theology, and political
science, so they had learned that history's great thinkers held democracy in low regard. They
knew that democracy contained within itself the seeds of its own destruction and could
degenerate into monocracy with the many preying on the few and with political leaders
pandering to the citizenry's hunger for bread and circuses. The founders' writings, particularly
those of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John and Abigail Adams, and Benjamin
Franklin, are filled with admonitions that their new country make education a high priority. While

19
the early leaders saw economic reasons for more and longer schooling, they were convinced
that the form of government they were adopting was, at heart, a moral compact among people.
Nineteenth century.
As the young republic took shape, schooling was promoted for both secular and moral
reasons. In 1832, a time when some of the Founding Fathers were still alive, Abraham Lincoln
wrote, in his first political announcement (March 9,1832), "I desire to see a time when education,
and by its means, morality, sobriety, enterprise and industry, shall become much more general
than at present." Horace Mann, the nineteenth-century champion of the common schools,
strongly advocated for moral education. He and his followers were worried by the widespread
drunkenness, crime, and poverty during the Jacksonian period in which they lived. Of concern,
too, were the waves of immigrants flooding into cities, unprepared for urban life and particularly
unprepared to participate in democratic civic life. Mann and his supporters saw free public
schools as the ethical leaven of society. In 1849, in his twelfth and final report to the
Massachusetts Board of Education, he wrote that if children age four to sixteen could
experience "the elevating influences of good schools, the dark host of private vices and public
crimes, which now embitter domestic peace and stain the civilization of the age, might, in 99
cases in every 100, be banished from the world"(p. 96).
In the nineteenth century, teachers were hired and trained with the clear expectation
that they would advance the moral mission of the school and attend to character
formation. Literature, biography, and history were taught with the explicit intention of
infusing children with high moral standards and good examples to guide their lives.
Students' copybook headings offered morally uplifting thoughts: "Quarrelsome persons are
always dangerous companions" and "Praise follows exertion." The most successful textbooks
during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were the famed McGuffey readers, which
were filled with moral stories, urgings, and lessons. During this period of our evolution as a
nation, moral education was deep in the very fabric of our schools.
Twentieth century.
During this same late-nineteenth-century and twentieth-century period, there was also a
growing reaction against organized religion and the belief in a spiritual dimension of human
existence. Intellectual leaders and writers were deeply influenced by the ideas of the English
naturalist Charles Darwin, the German political philosopher Karl Marx, the Austrian neurologist
and founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, and the German philosopher and poet Friedrich
Nietzsche, and by a growing strict interpretation of the separation of church and state doctrine.
This trend increased after World War II and was further intensified by what appeared to be the
large cracks in the nation's moral consensus in the late 1960s. Since for so many Americans the
strongest roots of moral truths reside in their religious beliefs, educators and others became
wary of using the schools for moral education. More and more this was seen to be the province
of the family and the church. Some educators became proponents of "value-free" schooling,
ignoring the fact that it is impossible to create a school devoid of ethical issues, lessons, and
controversies.
During the last quarter of the twentieth century, as many schools attempted to ignore the
moral dimension of schooling, three things happened: Achievement scores began to decline,
discipline and behavior problems increased, and voices were raised accusing the schools of
teaching secular humanism. As the same time, educators were encouraged to address the
moral concerns of students using two approaches: values clarification and cognitive
developmental moral education.
The first, values clarification, rests on little theory other than the assumption that
students need practice choosing among moral alternatives and that teachers should be
facilitators of the clarification process rather than indoctrinators of particular moral ideas or value
choices. This approach, although widely practiced, came under strong criticism for, among other

20
things, promoting moral relativism among students. While currently few educators confidently
advocate values clarification, its residue of teacher neutrality and hesitance to actively address
ethical issues and the moral domain persists.
The second approach, cognitive developmental moral education, sprang from the
work of the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and was further developed by Lawrence Kohlberg.
In contrast to values clarification, cognitive moral development is heavy on theory and light on
classroom applications. In its most popular form, Kohlberg posited six sequential stages of
moral development, which potentially individuals could achieve. Each stage represents a
distinctive way an individual thinks about a moral situation or problem. Teachers are
encouraged to engage students from an early age and throughout their schooling in discussion
of moral issues and dilemmas. In the later years of his life, Kohlberg was urging educators to
transform their schools into "just communities," environments within which students' moral stage
development would accelerate.
The Return of Character Education
In the early 1980s, amid the widespread concern over students' poor academic
achievements and behavior, educators rediscovered the word character. Moral education had a
religious tinge, which made many uneasy. Character with its emphasis on forming good habits
and eliminating poor habits struck a popular and traditional chord. The word character has a
Greek root, coming from the verb "to engrave." Thus character speaks to the active process of
making marks or signs (i.e., good habits) on one's person. The early formation of good habits is
widely acknowledged to be in the best interests of both the individual and society.
In addition, character formation is recognized as something that parents begin early, but
the work is hardly completed when a child goes to school. Implicit in the concept of character is
the recognition that adults begin the engraving process of habituation to consideration of others,
self-control, and responsibility, then teachers and others contribute to the work, but eventually
the young person takes over the engraving or formation of his own character. Clearly, though,
with their learning demands and taxing events, children's school years are a prime opportunity
for positive and negative (i.e., virtues and vices) character formation.
The impetus and energy behind the return of character education to American schools
did not come from within the educational community. It has been fueled, first, by parental desire
for orderly schools where standards of behavior and good habits are stressed, and, second, by
state and national politicians who responded to these anxious concerns of parents. During his
presidency, William Clinton hosted five conferences on character education. President George
W. Bush expanded on the programs of the previous administration and made character
education a major focus of his educational reform agenda. One of the politically appealing
aspects of character education, as opposed to moral education with its religious overtones, is
that character education speaks more to the formation of a good citizen. A widely repeated
definition (i.e., character education is helping a child to know the good, to desire the good, and
to do the good) straddles this issue. For some people the internal focus of character education
comfortably can be both religious and civic and for others the focus can be strictly civic, dealing
exclusively on the formation of the good citizen.
Current Approaches to Moral Education
The overwhelming percentage of efforts within public education to address the moral
domain currently march under the flag of character education. Further, since these conscious
efforts at addressing issues of character formation are relatively recent, they are often called
character education programs. The term program suggests, however, discrete initiatives that
replace an activity or that are added to the school's curriculum (e.g., a new reading program or
mathematics program). And, although there are character education programs available,
commercially and otherwise, most advocates urge the public schools to take an infusion
approach to educating for character.
The infusion approach. In general, an infusion approach to character education aims to
restore the formation of students' characters to a central place in schooling. Rather than simply
adding on character formation to the other responsibilities of schools, such as numeracy,

21
literacy, career education, health education, and other goals, a focus on good character
permeates the entire school experience. In essence, character education joins intellectual
development as the overarching goals of the school. Further, character education is seen, not in
competition with or ancillary to knowledge- and skill-acquisition goals, but as an important
contributor to these goals. To create a healthy learning environment, students need to develop
the virtues of responsibility and respect for others. They must eliminate habits of laziness and
sloppiness and acquire habits of self-control and diligence. The infusion approach is based on
the view that the good habits that contribute to the formation of character in turn contribute
directly to the academic goals of schooling.
Critical to the infusion approach is using the curriculum as a source of character
education. This is particularly true of the language arts, social studies, and history curricula. The
primary focus of these subjects is the study of human beings, real and fictitious. Our great
narrative tales carry moral lessons. They convey to the young vivid images of the kinds of
people our culture admires and wants them to emulate. These subjects also show them how
lives can be wasted, or worse, how people can betray themselves and their communities.
Learning about the heroism of former slave Sojourner Truth, who became an evangelist and
reformer, and the treachery of Benedict Arnold, the American army officer who betrayed his
country to the British, is more than picking up historical information. Encountering these lives
fires the student's moral imagination and deepens his understanding of what constitutes a life of
character. Other subjects, such as mathematics and science, can teach students the necessity
of intellectual honesty. The curricula of our schools not only contain the core knowledge of our
culture but also our moral heritage.
In addition to the formal or overt curriculum, schools and classrooms also have a hidden
or covert curriculum. A school's rituals, traditions, rules, and procedures have an impact on
students' sense of what is right and wrong and what is desired and undesired behavior. So, too,
does the school's student culture. What goes on in the lunchroom, the bathrooms, the locker
rooms, and on the bus conveys powerful messages to students. This ethos or moral climate of a
school is difficult to observe and neatly categorize. Nevertheless, it is the focus of serious
attention by educators committed to an infusion approach.
An important element of the infusion approach is the language with which a school
community addresses issues of character and the moral domain. Teachers and administrators
committed to an infusion approach use the language of virtues and speak of good and poor
behavior and of right and wrong. Words such as responsibility, respect, honesty, and
perseverance are part of the working vocabulary of adults and students alike.
Other approaches. One of the most popular approaches to character education is
service learning. Sometimes called community service, this approach is a conscious effort to
give students opportunities, guidance, and practice at being moral actors. Based on the Greek
philosopher Aristotle's concept of character formation (e.g., a man becomes virtuous by
performing virtuous deeds; brave by doing brave deeds), many schools and school districts
have comprehensive programs of service learning. Starting in kindergarten, children are given
small chores such as feeding the classroom's gerbil or straightening the desks and chairs. They
later move on to tutoring younger students and eventually work up to more demanding service
activities in the final years of high school. Typically, these high-school level service-learning
activities are off-campus at a home for the blind, a hospital, or a day-care center. Besides
placement, the school provides training, guidance, and problem-solving support to students as
they encounter problems and difficulties.
In recent years, schools across the country have adopted the virtue (or value) of the
month approach, where the entire school community gives particular attention to a quality such
as cooperation or kindness. Consideration of the virtue for that particular month is reflected in
the curriculum, in special assemblies, in hallway and classroom displays, and in school-home
newsletters. Related to this are schoolwide programs, such as no put-downs projects, where
attention is focused on the destructive and hurtful effects of sarcasm and insulting language and
students are taught to replace put-downs with civil forms of communication.
There are several skill-development and classroom strategies that are often related to
character formation. Among the more widespread are teaching mediation and conflict-resolution

22
skills, where students are given direct teaching in how to deal with disagreements and potential
fights among fellow students. Many advocates of cooperative learning assert that instructing
students using this instructional process has the added benefit of teaching students habits of
helping others and forming friendships among students with whom they otherwise would not
mix.
LECTURE 1
The Moral Context of Teaching and Learning
Introduction:
All teaching, and the learning that results, is conducted in a moral context. There are basic
moral and ethical assumptions that form the foundation of teaching and learning. These
assumptions are explored in this lecture. Second, all learning and teaching occurs within a
cultural context. Such contexts include moral and ethical influences that are inescapable. Clues
to seeing and understanding some of the moral influences of a particular culture are discussed.
Assumptions about teaching and learning:
The teacher/learner relationship is a particular relationship based on a value. Something that
the teacher knows is valued by the learner. Furthermore, the learner believes that the teacher
has the skill and desire to share that valuable knowledge. While these basic assumptions of
teaching and learning are patently obvious, they are also obscured in many settings.
For example, compulsory education obscures the value of the teacher’s knowledge for the
learner. Compulsory education requires children of a certain age to participate in a school
experience. Compulsory attendance shows the value that society puts on education, but doesn’t
necessarily put the responsibility for valuing the learning on the student. Individual students may
not value the education provided for them. As a result, they are likely to be inattentive and prone
to misbehave. Certainly, it is the students who don’t want to be in school that cause the most
problems for their teachers!
Society has also co-opted the regulation of teaching and teachers. Most countries have rather
explicit and rigid rules and regulations for the certification of teachers. Societal certification of
teachers, often through laws or official regulations, is an attempt to insure that all teachers who
are employed have, first, the information society values, and second, the desire and skills to
share the information. While this is probably done with the best of intentions, one of the
unintended effects is to obscure the basic value that the learner puts on the teacher’s skill.
Thus, the basic teacher/learner relationship is a relationship of respect based on the learner’s
value of the teacher’s knowledge and skill. That relationship is often obscured as responsibility
for parts of the value of the learners’ participation and the teachers’ skills are assumed by
society at large rather than remaining the responsibility of the learner.
The cultural context of teaching and learning:
Teaching of some sort is actually a universal value of all cultures. No culture can survive more
than one generation unless it has a way of transmitting itself to the new generation.
Furthermore, humans are helpless at birth. Because of their biological nature, they are not
capable of independence at birth. These two forces coincide to assure that some form of
education and nurture are provided. That education is culturally situated.
Perceiving one’s own culture is often a difficult task! Unless one is aware at some level that
not all people solve the basic human questions of food, shelter, and relationship in the same

23
way, it is easy to assume that the way that an individual knows is the only way! Actually, one of
the values of education is that through various communication media, one can transcend their
own existential “thrownness” and experience, however vicariously, the life of another time and
place. For example, although I grew up on the central plains of North America during the 1960’s
and never even saw the ocean until around the age of 14, by reading Moby Dick by Herman
Melville, I could enter and understand to some extent the life of a nineteenth century whaler! I
could learn what they ate. I could see the sights they saw. I could struggle with them against
their own values of leadership against a captain who was obsessed. Likewise, I could enter the
mind of a Russian through an English translation of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment,
learning much about Russian culture as I explored my own mind.
This leads us to a central paradox of education. Education, especially formal education, is
both a product of and a way to escape our culture. Formed in its structure from elements of
each culture, designed at least in part, to pass on the essentials of each culture to the next
generation, education is undoubtedly a product of a specific culture. At the same time,
education gives us the skills and the tools as well as the content necessary to transcend our
cultural provincialism and take the perspective of another time and place. Through
communication tools provided most frequently through education, we can learn, at least to some
small extent, how people in other cultures eat, stay warm, and relate to others.
Conclusion:
The whole idea of teaching and learning is based on assumptions that the teacher knows
something that the learner values and furthermore, can help the learner obtain the knowledge
and/or skill in question. Education is also a product of a culture. Each culture must have some
system of nurturing human infants to independence and of acculturating individuals into the
culture. Even as a product of a culture, education can help us transcend the culture. As we learn
to communicate, we learn to hear the voice of people from other times, places, and cultures.
Through this listening, we can learn to see our own culture more clearly as well as its impact on
our teaching and learning.
1. What responsibility does an individual learner have toward a teacher?
2. What responsibility does an individual teacher have toward a learner?
3. How have you been impacted by other times and places through literature, music, or
other media? Which media seem to impact you most powerfully?
4. What have you learned about your own culture through a vicarious experience of
another culture?
5. Is this content important to a teacher or a student? Why?
LECTURE 2
Cultural Relativism
Introduction:
“ Cultural relativism is the view that moral beliefs and practices vary with and depend upon
the human needs and social conditions of particular cultures, so that no moral beliefs can be
universally true. There can be no universal ‘oughts’” (Holmes, 1984; pg. 16). In this lesson, we
will explore the limits of this moral system which is based on what is happening around the
person. Implications of the moral system as well as the limitations for education and educators
will also be explored.
Defining Cultural Relativism:
Cultural relativists argue for their position because they see a diversity of practice across a
variety of cultures, or because they believe any individual’s view of morality is dependent upon
the culture in which they live and move. The diversity argument maintains that there are few if

24
any universal elements of moral practice across all cultures. That is, cultures do not have moral
precepts in common because they each determine their own. This argument is at least partially
specious. As we have seen in lesson one, while not all cultures educate in the same way, all
cultures do educate in some manner. Furthermore, although different cultures define incest
differently, prohibitions against incest are nearly universal. In addition, most cultures have some
kind of regulation against killing. Recent capital murder trials illustrate specific differences
between the United States of America and France, but never-the-less, neither culture allows
unregulated killing. Thus, while cultures may not have specific moral rules in common, there are
general principles that are readily distinguishable as common. A high value on some form of
education, prohibitions against incest, and killing are three general moral principles or values
that most cultures accept.
Cultural relativists also argue for their position by maintaining the dependence of any
individual’s position upon the culture in which they exist. While it is true that our cultures are
tremendously influential, they are not universally so. Humans do have a free will that allows
them to make choices to go against the culture in which they live and work. There are many
historical examples of such figures. Drawing upon the Bible as a reference, certainly the prophet
Moses stood firmly against the culture in which he lived and worked. Raised as an Egyptian, he
took the part of a Jewish slave against the Egyptian overseer. Later in his life, he stood against
Pharaoh himself demanding freedom for the Jewish people—who he now called “my people.”
He stood so firmly against his culture of upbringing that he was literally chased across the sea!
Plato tells us of another example in the life of Socrates who argued vehemently against the
relativist views common among the sophists of his day. In fact, some have argued that Socrates
himself was a literary tool used by Plato to take unpopular stands.
Perhaps even more compelling is the argument between what should be versus what is.
Cultural relativism takes its shape from what is actually occurring in a culture at any given time.
An ethical system on the other hand, is supposed to give guidance to an individual in deciding
what should be occurring. That is, any ethicist should be concerned with what people ought to
do rather than what they actually are doing. Cultural relativism tries to define what people ought
to do only in reference to what they do. How can there be dreams of a better life if we define it
only in terms of what is?
We see then, that neither the diversity argument nor the dependence argument holds in
terms of cultural relativism as a viable basis for moral decision making. Furthermore, the system
is fatally flawed because of its dependence on what is to define what ought to be. What value
then might this ethical system have for education?
Cultural Relativismand Education:
Understanding cultural relativism and its limitations is critical for the educator. There are two
primary reasons. First of all, recognizing the limitation of the diversity argument allows an
educator to find and share transcendent principles with persons from another culture. In the
highly diverse urban culture currently exploding across the world, persons from a wide variety of
cultures are thrown together for education, business, recreation, living arrangements, families,
and in many other settings. Simply to survive in such a highly diverse culture, a person must be
able to relate to persons from a large variety of cultures and maintain a high confidence in the
worth of their own heritage. Realizing that there are universal principles of morality that
transcend culture, at least in the general if not the specific, helps equip an individual for the task
of facing such a diverse world. Part of the educator’s task is to accomplish that for
himself/herself and to assist his/her students to a similar apprehension of moral principle.
In a similar vein, understanding the limitations of the dependency argument for cultural
relativism can be very liberating for the educator. Certainly education carries its own culture.
Occasionally, some would argue now more than ever, the culture of education needs a
prophetic voice to sound against the wrongs it perpetuates. Knowing that one isn’t dependent
upon the values and moral standards of his/her culture frees one to that end.
Conclusion:
Cultural relativism is not a viable moral system. However, understanding the primary

25
arguments for cultural relativism along with their attendant weaknesses helps to equip an
educator for a more well-rounded approach to education. Understanding that contrary to the
belief of the cultural relativist, that although they may vary in the particular, there are universal
principles of moral behavior, and that one’s moral belief and behavior isn’t necessarily
dependent on their culture can free one to act independently.
1. Can you paraphrase the diversity argument for cultural relativism? What universal moral
principles can you identify?
2. Can you paraphrase the dependence argument for cultural relativism? What examples
of independence can you remember?
3. Do you hear prophetic voices in education today? Who? If not, is there a need for a
prophet in education? What areas need the prophet ’s voice? What could you do to raise
that voice?

26
Lecture 3
Egoism and Utilitarianism
Introduction:
Egoism and Utilitarianism are moral systems which seek to maximize certain consequences
of policy or action. Egoism considers the consequences only for oneself while utilitarianism
considers the consequences for people at large. This lesson explores the limitations of these
moral systems and what they might contribute to teachers and learners. The question becomes
“Can maximizing benefits for oneself or for people generally form an adequate basis for a moral
ethic?”
Egoism:
It is difficult to overestimate the pervasiveness of this ethic in our society today. Selfishness
runs rampant and thinly veiled hedonism or narcissism is apparent in much of the world.
Advertisements shamelessly pander to our bassist motives or flatter our sensibility. Recent
business failures have shown the greed that runs rampant through our culture. The fashion
industry creates an image and asks us to both seek it for ourselves and worship it as an end in
itself.
Perhaps egoism’s ubiquity can be explained because a certain amount of egoism is important
and even necessary to survival. People who have no regard for themselves, do not last long. A
certain pleasure in eating or other physical acts coupled with a certain amount of self regard
assist an individual in meeting their responsibilities and becoming successful in our world. The
problems that occur happen when egoism becomes the only or primary ethic for action.
In fact, egoism is not the only motive for action. Countless altruistic acts are done on a daily
basis by millions of people. Egoism is too simple to explain the complexity of human behavior.
That is, egoism always co-exists with some form of altruistic concern as well. Thus, egoism fails
as a consistent and workable ethic.
Utilitarianism:
If egoism primarily fails because it doesn’t allow for altruistic behavior, then the other form of
maximizing consequence—that is utilitarianism—may serve as an ethical basis for action.
Utilitarianism seeks to maximize the good for all over the good for the individual. Many have
cited this as an important influence on philosophy of the twentieth century. Its appeal may lie in
the fact that if the good of all is maximized, then the individual will also receive a benefit.
Utilitarianism suffers from two fatal flaws. First of all, there has to be some non-consequential
act defined as "good". Utilitarianism seeks to cause positive consequences for the most amount
of people. One cannot be entirely consequentialist, because there must be some reason for
choosing one particular chain of consequences over another. That is, there must be some
external standard of “good.” The question of how to define the “good” still remains, even if one
accepts that one should act to maximize the good consequences.

27
If one sets aside the problem of what “good” is, the second flaw comes into focus. It focuses
on what the “maximum good” means. Does it mean that one simply seeks the highest average
of “good” across the population, or does one look to maximize the sum of all good over the
some of all bad? These two methods of distributing the “good” lead to very different kinds of
actions. What that means is that utilitarianism can’t help one decide what to do because it
doesn’t provide guidance in defining good and doesn’t provide guidance in action either.
Egoism and Utilitarianism and Education:
These two related ethical systems can help the educator even though they may be flawed as
final tools. First of all, the younger a person is, the more likely they are to be egoistical in their
ethical system. As an example, young children have to be taught to share toys or take turns.
Thinking of others is not born into us. Part of the educator’s responsibility then is to help the
learners grow into a fuller and less egoistical understanding of what is good.
Utilitarianism can assist the educator in moving students beyond the egoism seemingly
inherent in our being. One stop on the way to ethical maturity is to move from valuing only self
to valuing others as well. While incomplete in itself, utilitarianism helps the educator move out of
egoism and into a more social system of ethics. By helping an individual to consider the needs
of others, egoism is broken down and utilitarianism is built. Most moral development systems
recognize that there are certain stages in which the concept of “fairness” or equality of treatment
is very important to the individual (Fowler, Kohlberg)
However, utilitarianism in and of itself is insufficient as more than a simple stopping point in
the development of a moral ethical being. The question of what is good cannot be solved by
utilitarianism, and neither can the question of which system of distribution should be used.
Conclusion:
Egoism and utilitarianism are important to understand because they are often stages in the
moral/ethical development of individuals. They are however, not viable systems in and of
themselves. Specifically, neither serves to define good very well, and utilitarianism doesn’t
provide guidance for the distribution of that good assuming it were defined. Educators however,
can use utilitarianism as a way to assist their students in moving from a simply egoistical
position.
1. What are some commonly identified ideas of “good” in our culture today?
2. Where can you see evidence of egoism and/or utilitarianism in your behavior?
3. What methods can you use to help your students move from egoism to a concern for
others?
4. What would you accept as evidence of a student moving from egoism to a broader
concern for others?
Character Education
Introduction:
Character education is a direct effort on the part of teachers and/or schools to develop
specific character traits in students. It is growing as a movement in the United States of
America. It often takes the form of attempts to inculcate various virtues into students (Lickona,
1991). This lesson will focus on general issues involved in character education. Specifically, the
question of what constitutes good character and which values should be taught will be
addressed.
What constitutes “good character?”
Many people applaud the recent ethical trend over the last two decades of a deepening

28
concern over character. It appears as if the link between private character and public life is
being rediscovered. It is becoming more and more apparent that our societal moral problems
reflect our own personal character flaws. What then is good character? Aristotle defined good
character as the life of right conduct. He further divided character traits into two classes of
virtues—self-oriented virtues, and other-oriented virtues. Self-oriented virtues are those focusing
on the individual, for example, temperance and self control. Other-oriented virtues are those
focusing outward toward one’s social context, for example, compassion and generosity. Novak,
a modern philosopher, defines character as mix of virtues identified by various cultural elements
such as religion, literature, sages, and persons of common sense. He goes on to point out that
no one has all virtues and everyone has some weaknesses.
For purposes of character education, Lickona (1991) defines character as operative values,
that is, values in action. Character is developed as values are molded into virtue which he
defines as a reliable inner tendency to respond to situations in a morally good way. This
conception of character leads to three interconnected parts: moral knowing, moral feeling, and
moral behavior. “Good character consists of knowing the good, desiring the good, and doing the
good—habits of the mind, habits of the heart, and habits of action.” (pg. 51).
Each of these areas can be further developed into a taxonomy of sorts. Moral knowing
contains six levels. (1) Moral knowing starts with moral awareness, which is the simple
recognition of moral issues in our everyday situations of life. (2) Knowing moral values involves
knowledge of the moral heritage of one’s society—a sort of ethical literacy. This knowledge also
involved application to specific situation. (3) The next step of moral knowledge is perspective
taking, which is closely related to the movement from egoism to utilitarianism discussed in
lesson three. (4) Moral reasoning consists of understanding the meaning of being moral and
why we should be moral. (5) Decision making focuses on choosing moral behavior from within a
specific situation. (6) Finally, self knowledge is the last and most difficult step of moral knowing.
Being aware of ones strengths and weakness takes considerable time and reflection.
Moral feeling also has six parts or levels. (1) Conscience has two sides. The first and
cognitive side is knowing what is right. The second is a sense of obligation to do what is right.
One can have the cognitive knowledge but lack emotional desire. (2) Self esteem is a
prerequisite to respecting others. When we value ourselves, we are less likely to abuse others
or ourselves, or to tolerate abuse of ourselves or others. (3) Empathy is an identification with or
vicarious sense of another’s situation. It is empathy that allows us to take another’s perspective.
(4) Loving the good is the highest form of character. A genuine attraction to the good, a desire
to be a genuinely good person serves as motivation toward good character. (5) Self-control is
important to mention in the section on moral feeling. Emotion can overwhelm reason. Self-
control helps us to act ethically even under the pressure of other emotions. (6) Humility is a
neglected moral virtue. It is the affective side of self-knowledge. It includes the concept of being
open to correction and a genuine desire to correct our failings.
Moral action consists of only three parts and is, to a large extent, the outcome of the other
two parts of character. (1) Competence is the ability to turn moral cognition and feeling into
effective action. It can be considered the active application of moral knowing and feeling. (2) Will
is related to purpose. What one perceives as the right course of action is also often the most
difficult. It can take real will power to act in a morally correct fashion. (3) Habit is the willful
application of moral knowing, and feeling in a competent fashion. Persons of good character
often act in a moral fashion seemingly as a matter of course and without thinking of the “right”
thing to do.
Which values should be taught?
Values are of two types, moral and non-moral. Moral values are those that tell us what we
“ought” to do. Non-moral values carry no sense of “ought” to them. For example, one can value
classical music without feeling that it is a moral value. Moral values can be further broken into
universal and non-universal values. Universal moral values bind all persons everywhere and
across all cultures. In the section on cultural relativism we identified education, appropriate
sexual behavior, and respect for life as universal values. Many of the universal values were
codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the founding of the United Nations in
1948.

29
Conclusion:
In summary, good character consists of moral knowing, moral feeling and moral action. Each
of those three elements can be further analyzed into a number of different elements. Values can
be either non-moral or moral. Moral values can be either universal or non universal. In deciding
what elements of good character should be directly taught, one should consider the universal
moral values. In character education, the preceding should be kept in mind along with the
particular needs of your community in selecting values to teach.
1. What elements of good character do you see in yourself? What elements of good
character do you think are most important to society?
2. If you could select one virtue that would become a part of every human life, which would
you choose? Why?
3. What values do you think you should choose to teach in your community?
Character Education: Teaching Respect and Responsibility
Introduction:
Virtues can be treated pedagogically like any other content. That is, there are curricular,
instructional, management, and various other decisions to make if one is to teach virtues. One
of the differences in teaching virtues is that they are best taught through modeling. The rest of
this lecture seeks to sketch effective methods to both model and provide direct instruction in two
virtues—respect and responsibility. Respect is defined as showing regard for the worth of
someone or something. It is the restraining side of morality; it keeps us from hurting what we
ought to value. Responsibility is the active side of morality and includes: caring for self and
others, and in general, building a better world.
A comprehensive approach to character education:
As mentioned in the introduction, character education requires modeling as well as direct
instruction in virtues. To accomplish this end and effectively teach respect and responsibility,
both class wide and school wide strategies must be employed. First class-wide and then school-
wide strategies will be considere
Developing class-wide strategies for teaching respect and responsibility:
Within the classroom, a comprehensive approach to character education for respect and
responsibility calls on the teacher to act directly in several areas.
(1) The first step is to act as a caregiver, model and mentor themselves. Teachers must treat
students with love and respect. They must set a good example themselves. Beyond that, they
must mentor by supporting pro-social behavior and correcting hurtful actions.

30
(2) Teachers can create a moral community by helping students know each other, respect and
care about each other, and feel that they are a valued part of the group.
(3) Moral discipline is another aspect to the teacher’s role. Teachers can foster moral reasoning,
self control and a generalized self respect for others through the creation and enforcement of
rules.
(4) Fostering a democratic classroom atmosphere can be accomplished by involving students in
decision making and sharing responsibility for making the classroom a good place to live and
work. (5) Finally, teachers can teach values both directly and indirectly through the curriculum.
That is, they can use academic subjects as a vehicle for examining ethical issues as well as
teach directly what the virtues of respect and responsibility mean.
Notice that four of the five aspects of the teacher’s role involve modeling. This highlights
again the importance of employing persons of good moral character who know what respect
and responsibility are, have strong inclinations to be active in showing respect and
responsibility, and habitually exhibit those characteristics.
Developing school-wide strategies for teaching respect and responsibility:
Class-wide strategies for developing respect and responsibility carefully employed by a caring
teacher can be very effective in fostering respect and responsibility. Maximum efficiency in
developing these virtues occurs when the class-wide strategies are linked and aligned with
school-wide strategies. There are at least six specific school-wide strategies for fostering
respect and responsibility that we will consider.
Just as the teacher must provide leadership to the class, the principal or headmaster must
provide leadership to the school. This is accomplished by articulating a clear vision of the school
goals, making sure that all school staff know the goals, and share and model them. The
principal or headmaster is also the key liaison with the community in recruiting parent support
and participation in the school effort. Finally, school leaders must model the virtues in their
interactions.
Effective school-wide discipline is created by clearly defining rules and consistently and fairly
enforcing them. Discipline problems provide an opportunity to foster moral growth. Of course,
ensuring that the school rules and values are upheld in all school environments and that
abusive behavior is not tolerated wherever it occurs is paramount.
A sense of community is fostered through encouraging members of the school to show care
for each other, creating opportunities for students to know each other and school staff in non-
school settings, and by getting as many students and staff involved in extra-curricular activities.
Upholding good sportsmanship, using school assemblies, and having each class contribute
something to the larger life of the community are other ways schools can work to foster
community.
The inclusion of students in school government can promote citizenship development and
shared responsibility for the school. Use of tools such as student councils to provide a
systematic voice in school governance for students can provide dramatic evidence of the
potential impact personal involvement can have.
Fostering moral community among the adults in a school is accomplished by providing time
for school staff to work together. In addition, school staff should be involved in a collaborative
fashion for making decisions that will directly impact their work.
Finally, schools can foster development of respect and responsibility by highlighting it as a
value area. That means that time for moral development must be provided. Academic
achievement must not take so much time that none is allocated to moral concerns.

31
Conclusion:
Both classroom and entire school strategies can be effective in teaching respect and
responsibility. Educational leadership of teachers and principals are crucial in modeling these
virtues as well as in direct teaching about them. Modeling the virtues sets up an atmosphere
communicating respect and responsibility. Direct teaching of the virtues insures that all
community members are aware of these virtues as goals.
1. 1. What class-strategies do you think would be the easiest to implement? What
could you start this year?
2. What school-wide strategies do you think would be easiest to implement in your
school? Which could you start this year?
3. If you were to choose the most important strategy presented what would you
choose and why?

Lecture-1 Moral educ.

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (17)

Similar to Lecture-1 Moral educ.

Similar to Lecture-1 Moral educ. (20)

More from Dr. Rosemarie Terez- Santos

More from Dr. Rosemarie Terez- Santos (6)

Lecture-1 Moral educ.