Reflecting on the serious problems people in some countries—such as Ukraine, Syria or other so-called ‘democratic’ states—seem to have with establishing a working democracy, I thought to myself that this book has been released at just the right time to explain which competencies are necessary for democracy and how they could be taught. After reading it I realised that it has two main foci: one concerning the book’s topic as such, the other to honour an important scholar in the field of moral education, Georg Lind, for his admirable work around the ‘Konstanz Method of Dilemma Discussion’ (KMDD). Concerning the content, the book addresses moral competence, seen as a core competence for democracy, combined with the question of how mental skills and, especially, cognitive moral competence for participation in democracy could be taught.
The book collects papers from authors with a very heterogeneous regional background (Brazil, Poland, Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Malaysia, Finland, Columbia, United States, Austria, Argentina and China), and this alone shows the worldwide influence exerted by Georg Lind and the Konstanz Method of Dilemma Discussion. The authors discuss how people in different social settings (e.g. schools, business organisations, prisons), different developmental periods (e.g. childhood, adolescence and adulthood) and different countries, with rather widely ranging understandings of democracy, develop democratic competencies. The perspectives of the authors differ not only in terms of culture, but also in terms of scientific background. Most of the authors are scholars, but some practitioners, who have been educated as KMDD teachers and are now reporting their personal experience with teaching moral competencies for democracy, also have their say. Even the mayor of the city of Konstanz contributes a paper, giving his estimation on the impact of KMDD on the citizens of Konstanz. Of the contributions, 12 use empirical methods or report on empirical results; the other 16 report on experiences with applying and teaching KMDD in different social, educational and cultural contexts.
The volume is focused on ‘the development of moral judgment competence, discourse, and democratic behaviour of the modern subject confronted with diverse and demanding social, institutional, and political contexts’ (p. VII). To do so, the authors build their topics around KMDD as a specific ‘method of discourse and reasoning that is applied to various types of moral dilemmas, encouraging the moral reasoners to reflect upon and discuss cognitive and affective dimensions of moral problems’ (ibid.), as well as on its measurement tool, the Moral Judgment Test (MJT)—both of which are at the heart of Georg Lind’s work. The volume consists of 28 contributions which are subdivided into three main topics. Part I, ‘The Cognitive Competence in Research’, focuses on interdisciplinary research on Lind’s Dual-Aspect Theory of Moral Development and on the Measurement of Moral Judgment Competence. Part II, ‘Educating Competencies’, aims at the application of the KMDD in different countries and social contexts and presents its results. Part III, ‘Developing and Living Democracy’, finally aims to address the third part of the book’s title with its focus on a discussion of democracy and experiences with democratic education.
I found the contribution by Mathias Scharlipp, ‘Experiencing Freedom and Democracy at School’, particularly interesting, as it focuses on pupils’ education in schools—a social setting which, in my opinion, is one of the most influential places for institutionalised democratic education. The author is a lawyer and KMDD trainer and reflects his experiences with applying the method in classes with pupils with a migration background and diverse religious orientations. Starting his argument from the point that for its protagonists a free and democratic society is ‘a realm of experience and of evolving opportunities for forming widening views, for changes of perspectives, for discovery and understanding of the guiding principles of liberty and democracy, and for taking responsibility for its affairs’ (p. 164), he moves on to the election of Barack Obama as an example of the ‘power of mutual respect and democratic faith’ (ibid.) and to the question of how the corresponding competencies could be raised among a society’s protagonists, ‘to enable them to transfer their own perspectives of liberty and freedom […] into corresponding behavior (p. 165). In the KMDD the author finds the method to aim at ‘exactly this consistency and integrity of thinking, speaking, and acting’ (ibid.). After these rather conceptual considerations he discusses his own experiences with some KMDD classes, describing how the KMDD is practically applied while elucidating the effects the particular steps had on the pupils’ cognitive and emotional competencies. His experiences lead him to the conviction that ‘it is very dangerous to keep away from our youth the direct experience of freedom and democracy offered by the Konstanz Method of Dilemma Discussion’ (p. 170).
This strict focus on KMDD and the MJT and the description of the method’s impact in different social settings is what makes me wonder if the book’s title might promise a little bit more than it can deliver. It may well be that moral judgement competence—in terms of thinking and being willing to act according to such judgement in varying social situations, as Lind’s Dual-Aspect Theory of Morality claims—is one of the core competencies for democratic citizenship; however, according to my understanding of democracy, this is not enough. Yes, competencies for democracy can be taught by using KMDD within a democratic environment, but what if the prevailing social structures are not democratic and might makes right instead? What if the opponents do not even want to listen to arguments, may they be the best anyone can think of? If the surrounding structures are not democratic in general, democratic acting requires more cognitive and emotional skills, such as (moral) courage, assertiveness, self-control or self-confidence. While according to Lind discourse competence is seen as the most important democratic competence, this approach is insufficient in environmental structures where discourse is out of sight. In this context I felt somewhat disappointed, for I expected the book to offer a wider view on competencies for democracy that would go beyond mere moral judgement.
In total, the volume gives both profound insight into and a broad overview of the possibilities of educating cognitive moral judgement competencies, but restricted to KMDD and the MJT as its basis. Concerning this, the greatest advantage of the volume might, at the same time, be also seen as its greatest weakness, namely the full and exclusive concentration on KMDD and the related measurement instrument, the Moral Judgment Test. Other approaches that could be associated with the education of democratic competencies, such as moral motivation, moral courage, character education, assertiveness, self-control, self-confidence or caring education, are not discussed in this volume. Readers who want to learn about other approaches to moral development and democratic education might be dissatisfied. But readers who want to learn about the impact of KMDD and its wide implications all over the world will find many answers to their questions—and maybe also new questions that expand the field.
Department of Managerial Economics, Duisburg-Essen University; Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftspädagogik und Wirtschaftsdidaktik; Lotharstr. 65; 47057 Duisburg, Germany
Email: [email protected]
© 2014, Thomas Bienengräber
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2014.906936