COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENT, SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND MORAL EDUCATION

This paper rejects the notion of moral education in adulthood as merel y remedial, i.e. as providing a second chance to learn that which shou ld have been learned in school, or as merely compensatory, i.e. as mak ing up for the waning of our cognitive abilities which (stereotypicall y) occurs with age. Rather, it advocates a conception of lifelong mora l education which presupposes that there are social and cognitive feat ures of maturity which have the potential to generate some worthwhile learning which can therefore only be acquired in adulthood. First the theoretical issues associated with this presupposition will be outline d and the notions of dialectical/relativistic and elcectic/synthesisin g forms of thinking, as adult stages of thinking, will be explored in the context of moral development and education. Secondly, reference wi ll be made to some relatively recent research undertaken (at the Depar tment of Continuing Education, University of Warwick) into the impact of liberal adult education certificated courses on the mature student' s sense of identity. In-depth interviews revealed that the students th emselves perceive their learning in terms of adult cognitive developme nt. Moreover, the courses were found to have had a significant impact on their self-understanding. In so far as the development is an aspect of moral education, these research findings have some significance fo r lifelong moral education.