MODULE 9

VALUES FORMATION

THEORIES OF VALUES AND MORAL EDUCATION: THE WESTERN LEGACY

The intense interest attributed to values education traces its origin as far
back as the time of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, Immanuel
Kant in the West and to Confucius, Lao-Tze, and Zhuang Zi in the East.

Kohlberg, a modern day authority on moral development theory,

acknowledged hid indebtedness to such thoughts as the value of teaching
morality by Socrates wo taught that virtue is knowledge and that knowledge is
virtue. “Only the examined life is worth living” – so runs a famous Socratic
affirmation.

He also puts the credit to Plato for the formation of values and habits
necessary for social leadership. Finally, Aristotle is made the acknowledgement
for the emphasis on the role of the environment and personal existence in a full
human development.

After the Greeks, the next major contribution to moral education can be
attributed to the period of the Enlightenment. This includes John Locke’s
thoughts and theories on children which challenged medieval conceptions on
the worth of the children and Jean Piaget and his experiments on children.
John Locke advocated that childhood was not adulthood in miniature but a
unique phase of life which deserves reverence or respect despite its negative
and emotional and moral tensions. One of the fundamental teachings of
Locke’s moral education rests on the active suppression of children’s desire. He
advocated that controls of appetites and desires should be imposed and
inculcated through “censure and punishments” and rational behavior should
be reinforced by “praised and commendation.”
 Although most modern day educators recognized the intellectual
shortcomings and biases of John Locke’s moral theory, they acknowledged his
contribution of laying foundations for the legitimatization and expectations of
moral education to transform children.

Another pre-twentieth century philosopher who paid attention to the

prospect of affecting children’s morality though education is Emmanuel Kant.
His theory of education advocated that children reached rational adulthood by
only one means and that is through moral education. Like Locke, he argued
that morality is constant battle between personal desires and the demands of
reason. Kant’s morality is found in his Categorical Imperative where one is
encouraged to “act in conformity with that maxim which you can, at the same
time, will to be the universal law.” The universalizability of an action is the only
guide of morality. Suicide and robbery are immoral because they are not
universalizability.

Another philosophical giant who was contributed to the theories and

practice of moral education is Herbert Spencer. In his monumental work,
Education: Intellectual, Moral and Physical. Spencer’s fundamental position
stresses the responsibility of educational institutions to inform people of the
natural consequences of their actions and to act in a way consistent with
natural laws of morality and society. Such action necessarily advances the
various possibilities for happiness. Furthermore, Spencer’s theory of moral
development denies the validity of moral indoctrination for such pedagogy
specifically assumes a world that has ceased to grow and develop, and that
teacher’s moral growth and knowledge far exceeds those of their students. He
advised, instead, that values educators have to analyze their own motivations
and must proceed with caution when setting up moral guidelines for others.

Moreover, Kantian morality is connected with the process of character

formation. At such, it requires the full control of the passions and full
knowledge of the relationship between satisfaction of personal needs and those
of others. Unlike Locke’s pedagogy of coercive and degrading acts of rewards
and punishment, which resembles animal behavior in a way and which are
perfect for the lower animal forms, Kant advocates the mature development of
reason wherein it voluntarily and joyously conforms to the moral standard.
While affirming the role of discipline in habit formation, Kant stresses that
discipline neither inspires love for the moral law nor actions which spring
uniquely from that love.
 One of the leading philosophers in value-ethics is Max Scheler. He
regards the emotional sphere of a human’s interiority as the most essential
sphere in his existence. The reason is it is in the emotional sphere of values
that moral values are seen intuitively by ethical insight. This ethical insight is
expected of every human being. A very significant contribution to the theory of
value that he gave is that as a child first “feels” that something is nice before he
judges it to be sweet, delicious and that it is chocolate candy. Similarly, when a
husband is asked why he married his wife instead of another women who
interact with.

Moving down the line of moral educators, we now come up to the name
of John Dewey. Among contemporary thinkers, John Dewey has been regarded
as one of the most prolific contributors to the field of education through his
voluminous writings. Dewey’s writing reinforced the concept that morality and
education are both social in nature and therefore any social reform motivated
by educational or moral considerations must include actions both on the
environment and its cultural forms and in the hearts of men and women who
interact with it.

According to Dewey, education consists of the transmission of past

cultural experiences as well as the provision of linkages to the concrete
experiences of the students and the wider community as it exists in the
present.
John Dewey’s influence on moral education has been considerable as
evidenced by the praise and endorsement given by Kohlberg, Raths, Harman
and Simon in the development of their theories.
B.F. Skinner’ behaviorist theory of moral development requires
behavioral modifications through which controls are placed upon the behaviors
of people and unless these controls are enforced, general moral decay will
ensue, like breakdown of families, murders, and wars. Skinner’s radical
behaviorism has been criticized for its emphasis on controlled situations to
effect behavioral change. Experience shows that other forms of shaping
behavior exist which are equally, effective and have more lasting effect.
Ericson’s psychoanalytic theory of moral development speculates that
innate moral strengths of “virtues’ must be nurtures at various stages in order
for the person to develop morally. The emergence of these virtues take place
within three periods of ethical development moral learning in childhood; ethical
experimentation in adolescence, and ethical consolidation in adulthood.
 The humanistic psychologists use the more general “values” which
includes moral values. Although psychologists are not directly concerned of
learning of values as an educational process, Rogers and Maslow have made
attempts to apply their theories in the realm of education. Roger’s theory
declares that the valuing process occurs when individuals, in the exercise of
their freedom, decide what is morally right.

APPROACHES TO MORAL EDUCATION

From the enormous collection on the subject, McMahon Jeep (1989)

collated the many models of moral education into five major categorization:
1. Cognitive approach – emphasizes moral skills to which the theories of values
clarification fall.
2. Developmental approach – emphasizes stages of moral development of which
Kohlberg’s theories are foremost.
3. Character – education approach – emphasizes moral behavior, inculcation of
virtues, and modelling.
4. Infusion approach – emphasizes the moral content introduced in appropriate
subject areas, notably social studies and literature.
5. Socialization approach – emphasizes environmental factors that are
conducive or detrimental to moral learning, such as school structures, teacher
attitudes, and democratic classroom procedures.