Secondary School Moral Discussion Programmes Led by Social Studies Teachers

Abstract

Abstract An experiment is reported on the effect of a moral discussion programme taught in the schools by regular classroom teachers. Number of discussions and type of teacher preparation were varied. Students' moral judgment stage was assessed before and after the programme and teachers were observed throughout the course of the year. A substantial degree of moral judgment stage change was shown in some but not all of the classrooms. Three variables associated with likelihood of student moral judgment change were number of discussions, range of pre‐test moral judgment stage within the classroom, and teachers' skills in eliciting moral reasoning from students during the discussions. Additional informationNotes on contributorsAnne Colby Dr A. Colby, Prof L. Kohlberg, B. Speicher‐Dubin and Dr M. Lieberman are all at the Center for Moral Education, Harvard University, Roy E. Larsen Hall, Appian Way, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA. Prof E. Fenton is at Carnegie‐Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.