Moral Education Through Moral Dilemmas
By Dr Bill Robb

Moral education – helping people to behave more morally – is difficult to do because many morals are not straightforward. If moral education is to be successful it will have to document and use as case studies, these moral dilemmas. Here are just four examples to show you whatI mean

Stealing is bad. However, what if;

a)      someone steals something from you – is it okay to steal it back? Is it okay to break into someone’s house to get back what they stole from you?

b)      Your friend is taking drugs and hurting herself – is it okay to steal the drugs from her and throw them away?

c)      Someone you know has a knife and is planning to use it to stab someone who insulted him – is it okay to steal his knife and hide it?

(As a moral educator, can you see how moral education dialogue could lead to youngsters thinking in detail about right and wrong?) 

You should always tell the truth. However, what if;

a)      a gang is chasing a young boy and want to beat him up and you saw him hide in a tree. If the gang leader asks you, “Do you know where that boy is?” should you tell him? 

You should always keep a confidence. However, what if;

a) your friend tells you he hates his father. Your friend wants his parents to divorce and he is conducting a very clever campaign to convince his mother that the dad is having an affair. The mother is fooled and is about to start divorce proceedings. Should you tell the parents what is going on?  

Thou shall not kill another human being. However, what if;

a)      another person is determined  to kill you – is it okay to kill him first?

b)      A pregnant mother with two other children (age 2 and 4 years) is told she is very ill and there is a 90% chance that if she continues with the pregnancy she will die. Is it okay to abort the baby? 

Moral dilemmas are terrible – they confront us with difficult choices about our very humanity. However, they are very powerful for moral education. They force people to go beyond socio-religious-legal rules and find universal values. Moral education is about getting people to behave responsibly towards others and moral dilemmas help generate the emotional energy that changes behaviours. 

Read the e-report, What is values education and so what? for greater insight into how a values education approach to moral education would help deal with moral dilemma discussions in a class. 

Dr Bill would be delighted to talk at your next conference or event and give more details on how moral education would be more effective if approached from a values education perspective. Contact him on bill@valueseducation.co.uk

Copyright © 2008 Values Education Ltd
Note to editors. Feel free to use this article as long as the following details are retained. “A values education article from CAVE www.valueseducation.co.uk ”