Teachers Being Obliged to Teach Morality
Teachers are obliged to develop children’s morality as a part of their education.
Children observe and informally learn life skills from an array of sources throughout their lifetime; these influences can affect the physical, cognitive and social-emotional aspects of a child’s development. The standards of a child’s morals are predominantly shaped by the morals of those around them such as peers, adults and teachers; this in many cases can prove undamaging, however some may unintentionally adopt a preconventional morality. In order to prevent undesirable moral traits within a child should it be the obligation of their teachers to educate the children in an internal behavioural context? Will this solve the issue?
Social theologist’s propose that mental and moral standards have no objective reality, they are derived from ones subjective opinion (Miller, 2007). However it is also argued that a child’s environment is directly linked to changes in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, subsequently affecting the child’s cognitive mental development (Hansen, 2012). It can be justified to say that children can and will be affected morally by their surroundings, conversely the degree of impact will be determined by the child’s internal response.
The process of moral advancement is linked to an individual’s three developmental domains, physical, cognitive and social-emotional; all of these domains are interrelated among each other and in some way represented within the educational curriculum (McDevitt, 2004). Physical abilities, neurological capabilities and the acquisition of motor skills are all taught and practiced throughout schooling, the obligation teachers have in assisting physical development manifests into an appropriate platform for moral development within the other two domains.
Children begin to conceptualise abstract and analytical thought patterns as they learn and follow their teacher’s rules which differ from their social and home rubrics. According to
Children observe and informally learn life skills from an array of sources throughout their lifetime; these influences can affect the physical, cognitive and social-emotional aspects of a child’s development. The standards of a child’s morals are predominantly shaped by the morals of those around them such as peers, adults and teachers; this in many cases can prove undamaging, however some may unintentionally adopt a preconventional morality. In order to prevent undesirable moral traits within a child should it be the obligation of their teachers to educate the children in an internal behavioural context? Will this solve the issue?
Social theologist’s propose that mental and moral standards have no objective reality, they are derived from ones subjective opinion (Miller, 2007). However it is also argued that a child’s environment is directly linked to changes in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, subsequently affecting the child’s cognitive mental development (Hansen, 2012). It can be justified to say that children can and will be affected morally by their surroundings, conversely the degree of impact will be determined by the child’s internal response.
The process of moral advancement is linked to an individual’s three developmental domains, physical, cognitive and social-emotional; all of these domains are interrelated among each other and in some way represented within the educational curriculum (McDevitt, 2004). Physical abilities, neurological capabilities and the acquisition of motor skills are all taught and practiced throughout schooling, the obligation teachers have in assisting physical development manifests into an appropriate platform for moral development within the other two domains.
Children begin to conceptualise abstract and analytical thought patterns as they learn and follow their teacher’s rules which differ from their social and home rubrics. According to
References: Dave Miller. Can’t Teach Morals in School, Scholarly Blog. 2007. D.H.Daniels, L.Shumow. Child development and classroom teaching: a review of the literature and implications for educating teachers, 2002. J.L.Hansen, M.K.Chung, B.B.Avants, K.D.Rudolph, E.A,Shirtcliff, J.C.Gee, R.J.Davidson, S.D.Pollak. Structural variations in prefrontal cortex mediate the relationship between early childhood stress and spatial working memory. Journal of Neuroscience, 2012. Steven D. Schafersman, TEACHING MORALS AND VALUES IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: A HUMANIST PERSPECTIVE, 1991 S.Bredekamp, C.Copple. Appropreate Practice in Early Childhood Programs, 2009 T.McDevitt, J.Ormrod. Child development: educating and working with children and adolescents (2nd ed), 2004. T.McDevitt, J.Ormrod, G.Cupit, M.Chandler, V.Aloa. Child Development and Education. 2013. 2012, 09. Moral Development. www.StudyMode.com.