Implementation of Teacher Competencies to Optimize the Students' Moral Development

 

Implementation of Teacher Competencies to Optimize the Students' Moral Development

The constructivist model of moral development suggests that we should avoid giving children a list of do's and don'ts (or virtues and vices) to guide their behaviour. Yet, we all know that children must learn to act in certain socially acceptable ways to get along well in society and to maintain a healthy sense of self. Morality runs much deeper than behaving according to the rules set down by others. Morality includes a sense of justice, compassion, and caring about the welfare of others. It also includes perspective-taking ability — the ability to know and think how someone might be thinking or feeling.

Guidelines and Suggestions to Promote Moral Development:

1.Help Children Understand the Reason Behind Rules: Help children understand the reason behind rules, especially those relating to moral concerns such as justice, fairness, and other aspects of human welfare. Discuss the reasons why one behavior is preferable to another. Such discussions foster empathy, higher levels of moral reasoning, and altruism. These discussions also help children develop perspective-taking abilities by focusing on how someone else might think or feel in a given situation.

2.Motivate Children to Follow Rules: Children should be motivated to follow the rules to avoid punishment and/or gain rewards. Thus, they follow the rules when they see it is to their benefit to do so — that is, they act to avoid negative consequences.

3.Model, Encourage, and Reward Acts of Caring: Children need to see others engaged in acts of kindness and expressions of caring. Teachers have many opportunities to model this throughout the day.

4.Create a Caring School Community: Character formation begins with a caring relationship, first in the home and then at school. A caring relationship forms the bridge between teacher and child through which mutual influence can take place. Caring school climates encourage social and emotional bonding and promote positive interpersonal experiences, providing the necessary foundation for the formation of character.

5.Be a Role Model Who Sets a Good Example:Teachers must educate students on the importance of selecting the appropriate company and show exemplary behavior themselves. It is often said that morality is fostered by good examples, while bad examples can lead to immorality.

6.Teach Self-Regulation and Development: Teachers must ensure that their students learn to use their skills independently. Individuals can be coached in skills, expertise, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. Successful students learn to monitor the effectiveness of the strategies they use to solve problems and, when necessary, alter their strategies for success. According to Taylor (1964), self-regulation is acquired in stages:

1. The child  learns the skill by observing a model.

2. The child imitates the model with assistance.

3. The child independently displays the skill under structured conditions.

4. Finally, the child uses the skill across changing situations and demands.

Teachers should understand their roles as facilitators of student self-development.

7. Teach for Expertise and Perfection: Teaching for expertise involves direct instruction through role modeling, expert demonstration, and thinking aloud. It focuses attention on ethical aspects of situations and expresses the importance of ethical behavior. This approach also requires indirect instruction through immersion in environments where skills and procedures can be practiced extensively.

8.Develop Social and Emotional Skills: Enhancing learners' social and emotional skill development is another effective practice for teaching morals. Social and emotional skills are crucial to school success. Research suggests that emotional intelligence has a greater impact on life and school outcomes than academic intelligence. Social and emotional learning programs pave the way for better academic learning. They teach children social and emotional skills intimately linked with cognitive development. These skills affect everyday life, relationships, and school achievement, including communication and conflict resolution.

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