Title
Teachers' views of moral education topics - Taiwan and the USA
Abstract
In a questionnaire survey, 94 teachers in Taiwan and 140 in the United States judged which topics among 20 moral issues would be appropriate subjects of study in grade six of the primary school and in the first year of the university. The issues related to religion, ethnicity, gender, health care, crime, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, guns, government corruption, birth control, caring for the elderly, and television programming. The results revealed great diversity of opinion within each group of respondents. No single topic was approved by all teachers in either group, nor was any topic rejected by all. Among the 234 teachers, no two offered precisely the same configuration of answers over the 20 topics. Nevertheless, some group trends could be identified for individual topics. For example, in both countries the great majority of respondents would teach about industrial pollution, whereas very few would approve of trying to identify the best religion. In the rationales teachers offered in support of their choices, the four reasons that figured most prominently in both countries were that a topic would contribute to the nation's welfare, would help students to make wise decisions, would be interesting for students, and would represent a peaceful way to face social problems.
Department(s)
Counseling, Leadership, and Special Education
Document Type
Article
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003131212351
Publication Date
1-1-1998
Recommended Citation
Lin, Huey-Ya, Patricia Davidman, George Petersen, and R. Murray Thomas. "Teachers' Views of Moral Education Topics–Taiwan and the USA." International review of education 44, no. 1 (1998): 65-85.
Journal Title
International Review of Education
