New perspectives on young children's moral education : developing character through a virtue ethics approach / Tony Eaude.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eaude, Tony, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Moral education (Early childhood).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vii, 203 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London, England : Bloomsbury, [2016]

Summary:

New Perspectives on Young Children's Moral Education explores how to approach young children's moral education in a world of uncertainty and change. What is moral education? How do young children learn to act and interact appropriately? How do we enable children to recognise that how they act and interact matters? How can character, virtues and value help young children internalise qualities associated with living 'a good life'? Challenging many current assumptions about ethics and education, Tony Eaude suggests that a moral dimension runs through every aspect of life and that ethics involves learning to act and interact appropriately, based on an 'ethic of care' and enduring qualities and attributes, to equip children to resist strong external pressures. Drawing accessibly on research in neuroscience and psychology, he discusses how young children learn, highlighting the role of emotion, culture, example, habituation and feedback. Small actions can help to develop agency, empathy and thoughtfulness and a sense of moral identity, with an increasing emphasis on self-regulation, a vocabulary of ethics and intrinsic motivation. Eaude explores how character, virtues and values can help young children and adults to recognize and internalize qualities associated with living 'a good life'. He identifies how adults and learning environments can support these processes and shows why an inclusive approach is needed, rather than focusing on these topics only in particular settings, programmes or lessons. Recognising pitfalls and dilemmas, Eaude argues that an approach based on virtue ethics and an apprenticeship model is suitable in school and other settings, both religious and otherwise, internationally.

Contents:

Cover

HalfTitle

Series

Title

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I The Context of Young Children's Moral Education

1 The Landscape of Moral Education

Introducing the language of morality and ethics

What does moral education entail?

Pitfalls to avoid, dilemmas to address

Recent debates on young children's moral development

2 The Basis of Ethics

Why act in any particular way?

Relying on rules, religion or rights?

Living a good life?

Searching for happiness or meaning?

3 The Changing Social and Cultural Context

Looking back fifty years

Exploring social and cultural change

Considering the impact on children

Preparing for an uncertain future

4 The Educational Context

Education as a moral practice

Recent trends in educational policy and practice

Underlying assumptions about young children and learning and teaching

Implications for moral education

Part II The Roots of Moral Development

5 How Young Children Learn

Lessons from neuroeducational research

Attachment, anxiety and agency

Imitation, feedback and habit

Self-regulation and choice

6 Culture, Identity and Motivation

Socialization and identity

Understanding and responding to other people

Rewards and sanctions

Mindsets, goals and relationships

7 Learning to Live a Good Life

Character, virtues and values

Are values and virtues universal?

Whose values, which virtues for an uncertain future?

Implications for how young children learn to live a good life

8 Inclusive Learning Environments

The influence of learning environments

Hospitable space and the moral order

Boundaries, routines and rules

Working across all subject areas

9 Encouraging Empathy and Thoughtfulness

Play, playfulness and drama

Stories

Using language.

Expectations and example

10 Moving beyond Separate Programmes

Separate programmes

Balancing conflicting priorities

Working in partnership

Towards a virtue ethics approach

11 Gathering the Threads

Implications for ethics

Implications for children

Implications for adults

Implications for policy

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-196) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781472596499

1472596498

9781472596482

147259648X

OCLC:

1024238068