Developing moral values in children : observations from a preschool

Abstract

Moral education typically refers to teaching pupils the difference between right and wrong. The study attempted to identify and understand how moral values of preschool children are developed. Four teachers (2males, 2 females) in 2 kindergarten classes in Bawku participated in the study. Each teacher was observed for 3 hours a day for three consecutive days resulting in 36 hours of videotaped data. The teachers were also interviewed. There were 284 incidents in which teachers engaged in some form of moral or deductive instructions. The study established that teachers perceived themselves as moral educators. In addition, moral values such as right and wrong as well as honesty were being transmitted to the children through methods such as individual education, group education, opportunity education and storytelling. Results indicated that the teachers transmitted moral values once in a while but more socialization skills were transmitted frequently. The implications of these findings were discussed.