L. Clare et al., USING MORAL DILEMMAS IN CHILDRENS-LITERATURE AS A VEHICLE FOR MORAL EDUCATION AND TEACHING-READING COMPREHENSION, Journal of moral education, 25(3), 1996, pp. 325-341
Moral development research has previously demonstrated that more exten
ded discourse is a vital element in effective moral education, althoug
h the difficulty of implementing this type of discourse into classroom
practice has seldom been discussed. In this study, transcripts of les
sons were examined of a teacher systematically assisted to develop a m
ore conversational style. These lessons were taped over the course of
the school year at different times, beginning in the fall of the year.
In addition, writing samples from children who participated in the le
ssons were subject to content analysis for themes relating to moral qu
estions. Analysis of the lesson transcripts suggests that young studen
ts initiate discussion of values-implications of the texts they read i
f opportunities for connected discourse are increased Evidence of the
impact of more ''conversational'' discussions was found in the essays
written by students in the class of a teacher using a more conversatio
nal style but not in the essays of students who were caught using a co
nventional format.