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This book examines moral responsiveness and thinking
in a mixed gender class of primary school children, and offers a
theoretical perspective on children’s ability to think together
about morality in a community of enquiry and on related issues of
pedagogy. It tracks development in children’s moral awareness,
looking at gains and losses from middle to late childhood, and focuses
on cognitive skills, notions of moral rectitude, and interpersonal
relationships and friendship. The study demonstrates how, through
participation in a community of enquiry such as “Thinking
Time – Philosophy with Children” (children sit in a
circle, engaging in dialogue, with the teacher as facilitator),
children become more thoughtful and develop respect and responsiveness
as well as other traits of character that are central to democratic
citizenship. The author analyses children’s thinking in response
to a wide range of content, on issues of justice, freedom and responsibility,
rights and duties, inclusiveness, and friendship. Gender differences
are also examined.
… With the increasing emphasis on education for citizenship
in the school curriculum comes an awareness that “children’s
voice” and “agency” need to be respected and promoted.
Social Personal and Health Education, Values Education, and Education
for Citizenship are becoming more critical in an environment where
there is a sense of crisis and concern about the fabric of democratic
society. In presenting a new paradigm – research with rather
than on children, entering into their life-world which their teacher
shares – the author demonstrates the potential of children
to reflect in a concerned way on issues that concern them and society
as a whole.
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Foreword by Joseph Dunne
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Investigating Moral Selfhood
1 Morality in post-modern Ireland: Culture and policy
Purpose of the study
The methodology
Outline of the book
Part 1 – Building a Theoretical Context
2 The Current Debate: An Overview
The Moral Stage theory of Jean Piaget
The Moral Stage theory of Lawrence Kohlberg
The Particularist position
The Traditional Character Education movement
3 Issues in Moral Education
The moral self
Virtue and moral disposition
What kind of moral education?
4 Ethical Enquiry in the Classroom
Development of reasonableness
The community of ethical enquiry
The role of story and imagination
Gender and moral orientation
Part 2 – Classroom Practice: A Qualitative
Analysis
5 Cognitive Change and Development
Cognitive style in middle childhood
Cognitive style in late childhood/early adolescence
The role of the teacher in the community of enquiry
Gender orientation
6 Notions of Moral Rectitude
Notions of fairness
Rights, duties and responsibilities
Virtue versus vice
7 Interpersonal Relationships
Friendship relationships
Boys’ and girls’ friendships
Conclusion: Research Outcomes and Implications
8 Discussion of outcomes
Implications resulting from the study
Appendix: Transcripts of recorded
dialogue
Bibliography
Index
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“Anyone
who doubts either the wealth of morally salient issues that concern
children or their capacities to engage in serious reflection about
them may be given pause by this book …Russell explores the
children’s changing comprehensions of central virtues such
as justice and truthfulness, and of core moral concepts such as
right and wrong, freedom, obligation, responsibility, and rights
(including children’s).” From the Foreword by Joseph
Dunne, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin City University
“Russell’s perceptive qualitative study represents an
excellent example of how theory begets practice. Her theoretical
framework is informed by such varied thinkers as Plato, Aristotle,
Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, Lev Vygotsky, and Matthew Lipman,
among others. Russell’s basic aim is to show how a group of
young children grow morally. She is intent on identifying concepts
and actions that facilitate that growth, such as virtue and moral
dispositions; rights, duties, and responsibilities; cognitive structuralism;
communities of ethical inquiry; the importance of friendship; the
role of gender; and the power of stories and imagination. Her rather
balanced treatment transcends the narrower boundaries of most past
and present debates about moral education. Recommended.” Choice
“Russell discusses the moral responsiveness of children,
through a study of a mixed-gender class of primary school children
over a period of four and a half years. She focused on the sequence
of their structured discussion regarding moral topics that included
justices, freedom and responsibility, rights and duties, inclusiveness,
and friendship, and how they thought about these issues, their judgments,
and reasoning. She also considers the dynamics of dialogue, patterns
of responsiveness, and how they influence each other.” Reference
& Research Book News
“Russell’s book reaches beyond its Irish context to
an international audience including anyone concerned with building
character and promoting citizenship in education. All
too often classroom discussions are considered to be ‘just
talk’ and a waste of time. Indeed, even when students excel
at the virtues of collaborative philosophical inquiry, still this
need not necessarily translate into moral action. However, this
research shows how the very practice of classroom discussion within
a community of enquiry format can itself be a form of moral action.
That is why pursuing both research and practice of this kind is
so important.
…How
Children become Moral Selves offers a rare textual opportunity
for readers worldwide to eavesdrop on the moral deliberations of
a single group of children over more than four years in the company
of an experienced, concerned and knowledgeable guide. As methodologically
well-grounded qualitative research set within a multi-disciplinary
theoretical framework, it achieves its purpose and it showcases
what it is not to miss the moral complexities and nuances of children’s
talk in classroom discussions.” Journal of Moral Education |
Publication Details
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Hardback ISBN: |
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978-1-84519-175-7 |
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Page Extent / Format: |
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224 pp. / 229 x 152 mm |
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Release Date: |
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December 2006 |
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Illustrated: |
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No |
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Hardback Price: |
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£29.50 / $45.00 |
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| This book can be ordered online or by telephone. |
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For the UK and Rest of the World:
Gazelle Book Services
tel. 44 (0)1524-68765 |
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For the United States:
International Specialized Book Services
tel. (1) 503 287-3093 or (800) 944-6190 |
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For Canada:
University of Toronto Distribution
tel. (1) 800-565-9523 |
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