LECTURE SIX APRIL 2ND, 2019
EDUCATION AND VALUES:
THE NORMATIVE DIMENSION OF EDUCATION
INTRODUCTION
Definitions
Axiology from Greek
Axia/Axios(Worthy) and Logos(the study)
Axiology; The study of that which is worthy //the
philosophical study of values(what is good or right, desirable or worthwhile
and what ought to be praiseworthy.
)
What is worthy is determined some criteria known as norms
Norms therefore tell us what ought to or ought not be
done/what should or should not happen ideally speaking.
Normative dimension
of education refers to norms or standards that are to be recommended for
the educational enterprise which in turn provide general guidelines for
education theory and practice. For example, Kenya consider education as an
important vehicle for attaining the eight goals of Education in Kenya.
1. To foster
nationalism, patriotism and promote national unity,
2. To promote the
social economic, technological and industrial needs for national development,
3. To promote
individual development and self fulfilment,
4. To promote sound
moral and religious values,
5. To promote social
equality and responsibility,
6. To promote
respect for and development of Kenya’s rich and varied cultures,
7. To promote
international consciousness and foster positive attitudes towards other
nations,
8. To promote positive attitudes towards good health and environmental
protection.
What is good life?: Throughout history, the question ‘what kind of
life is good (how do l ought I to live)?’ has been raised. In
answer to this question, diverse answers have emerged:
·
A good life ought to involve maximum pleasure.
·
A good life should include spiritual contemplation.
·
A good life ought to be ascetic – involve self denial and elimination of
desires. Value is emphasized by a given society. It affects not only the direction
of morality but also the direction of educational objectives and content.
Can
the eight goals of Education in Kenya lead to good life?
CATEGORIZATION OF
VALUES// BRANCHES OF AXIOLOGY
Ethics/ Ethical
values: Values that deal with morality// the study of moral
values
Aesthetics/
Aesthetical: Values to do with beauty; harmony and uniformity.
ETHICS
The term ethics is derived from a
Greek noun ‘ethos’ meaning:
·
The customs and conventions of a given community. In this sense, ethics
is synonymous with morality i.e. set of norms guiding human conduct.
·
The study of morality in all its forms. It is primarily an academic
exercise, an intellectual pursuit, a process of inquiry and reflection. Here,
ethics refers to a process whose product becomes morality and ethics.
·
Meta-ethics: it is concerned with the meaning of moral concepts and
statements as well as their justification. It aims at clarifying such ambiguous
words like good, bad, wrong and right.
Approaches to the Study of
Ethics
There are three approaches
namely: Descriptive ethics; Normative ethics and Analytical ethics:
I
Descriptive Ethics
This is a scientific study of
ethics/morality. It involves the observation of values and the reasons
given for them.
It refers to the empirical or
descriptive study of morality which is a set of norms or standards –
transitional or otherwise – that defines, guides and regulates good acceptable
behaviour among human beings.
Descriptive ethics is
characteristic of social sciences such as psychology, sociology and social
anthropology.
Examples: Kohlberg's Descriptive
ethics, a psychologist distinguished three levels of moral development namely:
(a) Pre-conventional stage: the child simply perceives right and wrong
primarily in terms of reward and punishment. This is a stage of naïve
egocentrism. Rewarding encourages repeat of certain behaviour. The problem with
this level in the teaching/learning process is the impact on those not
rewarded; they tend to get discouraged.
(b) Conventional stage (of law and order). This is mainly between the
ages of 10 and 13. At this stage, the child
begins to respond willingly to expectations in the family, group and
community. The child tends to seek approval from parents, teachers and peers by
conforming to the set social conventions. There is a tendency to be loyal.
(c) Post-conventional stage
(moral autonomy): this ranges between 15 and 19 years. The young person goes beyond the stage of law and order and
seeks to develop own judgment on matters of morality. The youth
specifically tends to respect democratically determined rules and laws. This
stage leads to self determined moral principles and moral autonomy.
Sources of Morality
(a) Religion: through divine revelation, religion offers a supernatural
source of moral standards. Such revelations are expressed in terms of laws and
guidelines contained in religious writings such as the bible, Koran etc.
Faithfuls of such religions observe morality because God commands it.
These comprise what is called religious ethics.
(b) Society: there are various
social institutions in it e.g. family has
parental authority, clan has the authority of elders, the school and
teachers authority, the peer group
and public opinion; and national laws
are sources of morality. Social and religious ethics comprise of moral
standards which are external to the individual person. In this case, the centre
of moral authority lies outside the individual; either the divine or human
agents. Such ethics is called heteronymous
ethics.
(c) The individual human person (autonomous): here, the source of
morality is both human reason and human
conscience. In this case, somebody does something because they believe it
is right or wrong i.e. and individual lays down the norm. The various sources
of morality offer diverse moral guidelines and principles/multiplicity of
values.
II
Normative Ethics
Normative Ethics is interested in
the rules and norms of society. It attempts to give fundamental reasons for
values/morality. Basically, it seeks to prescribe the ‘ought’ of values.
Whereas descriptive ethics is empirical in character and relies mainly
on the social sciences, normative ethics
is reflective in nature as it seeks
to inquire – rationally into the basic grounds of moral conduct and theories to
justify morality in a philosophical or theological manner.
Morals do not stand on their own;
they are centrally located between principles and values on the one hand and
laws, rules and regulations on the other hand.
Normative ethics is primarily
concerned with basics; with moral principles and moral values which lay down
norms for moral human conduct/action. Moral or immoral action is only a
possibility with human beings. Animals and non humans are non moral.
Nature of actions
Moral actions; action is judged to be
moral or immoral when it is done voluntarily
or intentionally. When a person is forced to do something or accidentally
does something or is in sane or mentally damaged, such a person cannot be said
to be morally responsible for the action.
·
Immoral
actions:
·
Amoral
actions:
·
Morality Principles
Morality refers generally to
‘doing the right thing’. It implies action, behavior/conduct. Such action is
considered right (moral) when it is done in accordance with certain principles
generally referred to as theories of moral obligation. These theories provide a
framework within which to judge whether a certain action is morally right or
wrong.
There are two theories of moral
obligation: teleological and deontological
(a)
Teleological theories
They judge a certain
action to be good or bad, right or wrong depending on whether the consequences
of that action are desirable or not. One’s action is judged based on the
desirability of the goal. The term teleology is derived from and ancient Greek
word ‘telos’ meaning goal. On the question of whose ultimate or good ought to
be promoted, teleological theories render two distinctive views i.e.
·
Ethical universalism stresses the common good or the general good of
all.
·
Utilitarianism which coheres with ethical universalism states that
something is morally good if it is useful in promoting good over evil; if it
helps to bring about the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
(b)
Deontological theories
The word deontology
emanates from Greek word ‘Deon’ meaning duty. Deontological theories emphasise
duty meaning actions as judged to be rules, commandments that prescribe one’s
duty. Within the deontological theories, two views can be distinguished:
·
Rule deontology; it involves
doing one’s duty or obeying the stated rules, laws at all times.
· Act deontology:
this theory allows for individual judgment on what to do and how to do certain
actions. The rules and the laws are considered as a general yardstick.
