Enhancing the Moral Development of Behaviorally/Emotionally Handicapped Students

Abstract

The topic of this article is the moral education of behaviorally/emotionally handicapped students. One assumption guiding the discussion of this topic is that the appropriate aim of moral education is to enhance the moral development of students. Since another underlying assumption is that educational interventions should be informed by current theory and research, an overview of the moral development literature is provided. Three theoretical perspectives are distinguished and used to organize the current literature on moral development and education. Each approach is analyzed in terms of its underlying conception of morality, its description of moral development, and its recommendations for educational practice. The article concludes with a discussion of the various options available to educators interested in enhancing the moral development of behaviorally/emotionally handicapped students.