Education for critical moral consciousness

Abstract

This paper proposes a lifespan developmental model of critical moral consciousness and examines its implications for education in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Mature moral consciousness, central to negotiating the challenges of the 21st century, is characterized by a deepening lifelong integration of moral motivation, agency and critical discernment. The paper describes the evolution of moral consciousness through three levels; pre‐critical consciousness (pCC), transitional critical consciousness (tCC) and critical consciousness (CC) and eight chronologically ascending psychosocial themes. It focuses on the first two periods and operationalizes the role of education in cultivating the four dimensions of moral motivation: a moral sense of identity, a sense of responsibility and agency, a deep sense of relatedness on all levels of living and a sense of meaning and life purpose. The paper proposes a re‐envisioning of education in the direction of integrating mind and heart, developing both moral motivation and critical discernment and integrating these into optimal consciousness.

Notes

Corresponding author. Psychology Department, State University of West Georgia, Carollton, GA 30118, USA. Email: [email protected]

The original Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) survey was based on a demographically representative sample of 6000 Americans in midlife (aged 35–60), selected by the MacArthur Foundation Research Program on Successful Midlife Development (MIDMAC). Colby and Damon's study of social responsibility was an in‐depth follow‐up study of a sub‐sample of about 100, roughly half men and half women, residing in or around five urban areas throughout the country, namely Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Phoenix. The Boston area interviews were carried out by this researcher and provided the sub‐sample to explore optimal consciousness.