SO 016 862

This section, from a larger report describing a project designed to systematically investigate how religious and traditional values are represented in today's public school curricula, presents a critical evaluation of the two most discussed and influential models of moral education operating in the United States today. Both of these models have been developed in the last 20 years or so by education theorists at American universites and research institutes. The first model is known as "values clarification"; the other is based on the theory of moral development proposed by Lawrence Kohlberg. Additionally, a third and long-applied alternative, referred to as the "character education " model, is described. This alternative approach to teaching values has articulated such traditional moral aims as promptness, truthfulness, courtesy, and obedience. Whereas the first two approaches aim to shape patterns of moral reasoning, the final approach aims at shaping conduct. It is concluded that as American education revives its concern for basic disciplines, educators should also return to the direct and indirect teaching of morality found in the traditional model. (tH/AA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document