Taking the moral authorship of children and youth seriously in times of the Anthropocene

ABSTRACT

In this article we argue for the need to take the moral voices of children and youth seriously particularly in times of the Anthropocene. Drawing on theories in ethics by John Wall, moral development according to Mark B. Tappan, and education in line with the works by Vygotsky, we construct a conceptual framework where the notions ‘narrative,’ ‘moral authorship’ and ‘free will’ can open new creative understandings of human ethical competence; a competence based in a relational, contextual and societal-cultural understanding of human existence. The use of our framework is illustrated in interpretations of empirical research with children demonstrating concerns of theirs in relation to climate change. The article concludes with reflections on the kind of education that can be inspired by this framework and the taking of children’s voices seriously, as well as pointing to challenges also to the grown-up world.

KEYWORDS:

• Moral authorship
• narrative
• ‘free will’
• ethics education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. This study was supervised by one of the authors (Lotz-Sisitka). The study was granted ethical clearance by Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. The methodological issues of the study were thoroughly discussed in the PhD thesis, Silo (2011).

2. This project has been approved by three different bodies and appropriate decisions were taken by: (1) Regionala etikprövningsnämnden, Umeå, Sweden. Dnr 2018/325–331. Date of decision: 2 October 2018. (2) The Western Cape Government, Reference: 20,180,912–6302. Decision signed by the Directorate Research official. (3) Province of the Eastern Cape, Education. 28 January 2019. Decision signed by the Director for strategic planning policy and research.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Umeå School of Education, Umeå University, Sweden.