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Article

ChildrenMustbeTaughttoTellRightfromWrong

WilliamKilpatrick

Manyoftoday’syoungpeoplehaveadifficulttimeeinganymoraldimension(道德层面)totheiractions.

Thereareanumberofreasonswhythat’strue,butnonemoreprominentthanafailedsystemofeducationthat

eschews(回避)teachingchildrenthetraditionalmoralvaluesthatbindAmericanstogetherasasocietyanda

iledapproach,called“decision-making,”schildrento

aced“charactereducation.(品格教育)”Character

educationdidn’taskchildrentoreinventthemoralwheel(浪费时间重新发明早已存在的道德标准);instead,it

encouragedthemtopracticehabitsofcourage,justiceandlf-control.

Inthe1940s,whenacharactereducationapproachprevailed,teachersworriedaboutstudentschewing

gum;todaytheyworryaboutrobberyandrape.

Decision-makingcurriculumspothorny(棘手的)ethicaldilemmastostudents,leavingthemwiththe

impressionthatallmoraters

areforcedtoquestionvaluesandvirtuesthey’veneveracquiredinthefirstplaceoruponwhichtheyhaveonlya

tenuous(薄弱的)umptionbehindthismethodisthatstudentswillarriveatgoodmoralconclusions

actualresultismoralconfusion.

Forexample,arecentnationalstudyof1,700sixth-toninth-gradersrevealedthatamajorityofboys

dingly,manyofthegirlsagreed.

Thiskindofmoralilliteracyisfurtherencouragedbyvalues-education(价值观教育)programsthatarelittle

morethancoursinlf-esteem(自尊).Theprogramsarebadonthequestionableassumptionthatachild

whofeelsgoodabouthimlforherlfwon’sjustasreasonabletomakean

oppositeassumption:namely,thatachildwhohasuncriticallf-regardwillconcludethatheorshecan’tdo

anythingbad.

Suchnaivelf-acceptanceresultsinlargepartfromthenon-directive(无指导性的),non-judgmental(无是

非观的),as-long-as-you-feel-comfortable-with-your-choicesmentality(思想)thathaspervaded(渗透)public

today’sdrugeducation,xeducationand

values-educationcoursarebadonthesame1960sphilosophythathelpedfueltheexplosioninteendrug

uandxualactivityinthefirstplace.

Meanwhile,whileeducatorsarestillfiddlingwith(胡乱摆弄)outdated“feel-good”approaches,NewYork,

Washington,tersareleavingschoolbelievingthatmattersofrightand

assastrangeronthestreetanddecidetomurderhimbecauyou

needmoney—ifitfeelsright—y,murderisnottaughtinourschools,butsucha

conclusion—justaboutanyconclusion—canbereachedandjustifiedusingthedecision-makingmethod.

Itistimetoconsign(寄出)thefads(风尚)of“decision-making”and“non-judgmentalism”totheashheapof

failedpolicies,tereducationprovidesamuchmorerealisticapproachto

iltonanunderstandingthatwelearnmoralitynotbydebatingitbutbypracticingit.

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Sample

Summaryof“ChildrenMustbeTaughttoTellRightfromWrong”

Inhissay“ChildrenMustbeTaughttoTellRightfromWrong,”WilliamKilpatrickarguesferventlythatthe

“decision-making”approachtothemoraleducationofAmericanyouth,whichreplaced“charactereducation”25

yearsago,haspreventedjuvenilesfrombehavingandthinkinginaccordancewiththetraditionalmoralprinciples

thatarefundamentaltoAmericansociety.

AccordingtoKilpatrick,decision-makingmethodsinstillinstudentsawrongbeliefthatallnormsofmoralityare

subjectiveconstructswithonlyrelativetruthinthemandthereforecanbeinterpretedflexiblyandeven

liefdeprivesthemofthechancetocuresolidmoralstandardsandinducesmisconceptions

aboutwhatshouldbeclearlyrightorwrong.

Inparallelwiththisinadequacyofthe“decision-making”approacharetheunexpectedoutcomesoftho

values-educationprogramsfocusingonstudents’lf-esteemthatsubscribetothe“non-judgmental”mindt

dominating“decision-making”istakenassumptionthatfeelinggoodwarrantsmorality

excusstudentsfromcriticizinganddiscipliningtheirownbehaviors.

Basinghisconclusiononhisanalysisofthefundamentalflawsofthedecision-makingapproach,Kilpatrickfinally

proposanimmediateshiftbacktocharactereducationwhichhebelievesteachesmoralitymoreeffectivelyby

emphasizingpracticeinsteadofdiscussion.