Moral and Character Development

Can meaningful connections with students benefit moral education?

A big part of an child's education is what they learn outside the classroom. I am not talking about the rules to wall ball or finding your future husband in a game of M*A*S*H. No, I am talking about their moral education. What does it even mean to receive a moral education?

"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" (Education Dictionary).

The Ontario curriculum is written in the style of the KDB. For each subject there is not only what they need to know during this unit but also what they should aim to do and be. This means it is now not only the aim of the education system to teach children the abcs and 123s but also to foster positive character traits, as in the 6 pillars of character education:

http://nfsb.qc.ca/citizenship-character-education/

Now that we have established what a moral education is, the more important questions are why is this important and how can teachers develop moral habits in their students?

Moral education is important at a lower grade to teach children the 6 pillars. It helps to shape them into adolescents who can share their belongings and empathize with each other. After elementary school, it is important to teach teenagers at a secondary to post-secondary level the abilities of "Truth seeking, a willingness to think deeply about alternative positions and arguments, to be swayed by evidence and argument, to acknowledge our intellectual debts to others, and to judge others on the quality of their work and not their family background, skin color, or political affiliation"(Kiss, 2010). All of this education is working towards moral judgement". Moral education is described through stages by Kohlberg. The stages are progressed through, but there is no age attached to them.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/36169603231180068/

So back to the question of how can we develop these moral habits in our students?

I have learned a lot during my seventeen years of school, especially during my post-secondary education about what kind of teacher I want to be. One of the most important things I have taken away is that I want to make a positive and meaningful connection with my students. There are two reasons for this. One: By making connections you become someone that students can come to with their problems and successes makes for a more conducive learning environment. Two: If the students see you as someone they respect they will be more likely to model your behaviours.

The best way to educate your students on good moral judgement is to model these behaviours yourself. If you are an empathetic and caring teacher it will help to guide your students through their development. By acting in these ways it also creates a positive and emotionally supportive environment. Whether students have good moral role models at home, at least having this stable environment at school can really make a difference. This article by Weissbourd is worth the read to find more ways this teaching style is highly effective. One other good read is this blog on Scholastic, which gives some ideas on how to make meaningful connections with your students. One interesting one is to let the students know some personal details about yourself on the first day of class and reminding them that you are a person outside of the school.

Learning to educate moral adolescents is important for maintaining a moral society. The best way to do so is by forming deep connections to our students. I only hope that as a future educator I can forge those connections and influence good moral habits in all students coming through my classroom.

References

Education Dictionary. StateUniversity.com

Kiss, E., & Euban, J. (2010). Defining moral education. Inside Higher Ed.

Weissbourd, R. (2003). Moral teachers, moral students. Creating Caring Schools, 60(6), 6-11.