A nation in moral crisis: The role of education
The thesis being proposed in this article is that while education serves to secure employment for the youth, it must also equip the youth to deal with the moral issues they are daily confronted with.
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Choices made in life come with consequences, whether beneficial or detrimental to the individual or the society. Making choices in life is a skill which must be nurtured in order to deal with moral problems. The ‘bread and butter’ issue in education is obviously crucial but is that the end of it all?
The moral crisis we find ourselves in as a nation has resulted in the increase in violent crimes, examination malpractices, corruption, teenage pregnancy and various acts of delinquency. How can education help to deal with this moral crisis?
There are those who link the solution to the moral crisis to the teaching of religious, moral and social values in our schools but does this solution go far enough? It is important to examine the relationship between religious education or instruction and moral education in order to determine the role schools can and should play in the moral education of the youth.
Moral situation and moral education
A moral situation always arises when a person is faced with alternative courses of action to choose from. A moral situation is, thus, a choice-making situation. Do I do this or that in this situation?
In this context, morality lies in the realm of an action being right or wrong. Morality is not based on tradition, custom, convention, authority or even the law. In moral education, it is the task of the school to equip the individual with the ability to determine the reasonableness of an action.
Religion and morality
Conceptually, religion and morality are not the same. Not all religious people are moral and not all moral people are religious. A moral person is the one who follows the right course of action though the person might not be religious. The course of action is determined by the reasonableness of the action. People have been known to commit the most atrocious crimes in the name of religion. What religion can do in moral behaviour is to be able to provide a value system or a set of principles for making moral judgements.
Religion and moral education
Religion appears to have been dethroned from its former high position in our schools. Education in the country is placing emphasis on the individual’s cognitive ability and on securing an occupation, to the detriment of feeling. Lesson objectives only emphasise cognitive and psychomotor activities and are neglecting the affective domain of behaviour. Education is producing intellectual rogues!
The youth must be helped to acquire religious principles and helped to apply them to moral situations. There must be teachers capable of offering that help.
The school and moral education
Different activities and various subjects in the curriculum of our schools can be used by teachers in effectively providing moral education in addition to religious instruction. This requires the involvement of the whole teaching staff. The youth must be nurtured to make independent decisions. Classroom activities, SRC activities, club activities and school events are important in this regard.
Teachers should be models of excellence which the youth will imitate. To become adults capable of standing up for their values, children need to see teachers who do so. Children must be helped to acquire the skills, attitudes and disposition that will help them to live well.
The following are ingredients of a moral situation which must be catered for in a moral education programme:
• Identification of a moral problem.
• Application of moral principles.
• Moral reasoning.
• Making moral judgement.
• Taking moral action.
• Experiencing moral consequences.
Pupils/students should be presented with moral dilemma situations according to the level of their intellectual development, through group discussions. Pupils/students should be told to arrive at the resolution of a moral problem so that it will be fair to all parties.
For example, they can discuss whether it is acceptable to cheat in examinations or get a friend to do your homework for you. Pupils/students must be helped to go through the above ingredients one by one.
The moral problems must address real life concerns. Moral reasoning develops when they recognise inconsistencies and inadequacies in their moral positions. Pupils/students should be given opportunities to assume roles that entail moral responsibility.
In conclusion, the following questions are posed:
1. How can the curriculum be organised for effective moral education?
2. What roles should teachers play?
3. How can teachers be equipped to play these roles effectively?
4. How can teachers of the right quality and disposition be attracted?
The real worth of a teacher lies in the fact that his or her reward is in heaven.