Anne Colby

Ethnography and human development : context and meaning in social inquiry

Studies of human development have taken an ethnographic turn in the 1990s. In this volume, anthropologists, psychologists and sociologists discuss how qualitative methodologies have strengthened the understanding of cognitive, emotional and behavioural development, and of the difficulties of growing up in contemporary society. Part One, informed by a post-positivist philosophy of science, argues for the validity of ethnographic knowledge. Part Two examines a range of qualitative methods, from participant observation to the hermeneutic elaboration of texts. In Part Three, ethnographic methods are applied to issues of human development across the life span and to social problems including poverty, racial and ethnic marginality, and crime. Restoring ethnographic methods to a central place in social inquiry, the 22 essays in this text should interest everyone concerned with the epistemological problems of context, meaning and subjectivity in the behavioural sciences.

Secondary School Moral Discussion Programmes Led by Social Studies Teachers

Abstract An experiment is reported on the effect of a moral discussion programme taught in the schools by regular classroom teachers. Number of discussions and type of teacher preparation were varied. Students’ moral judgment stage was assessed before and after the programme and teachers were observed throughout the course of the year. A substantial degree of moral judgment stage change was shown in some but not all of the classrooms. Three variables associated with likelihood of student moral judgment change were number of discussions, range of pre‐test moral judgment stage within the classroom, and teachers’ skills in eliciting moral reasoning from students during the discussions.

Education and Moral Commitment

Abstract This paper argues that most school‐based moral education programmes are limited by their exclusive focus on moral reflection and their neglect of moral habit, effect and commitment. In order to have a far‐reaching impact on young peoples moral conduct, schools must join with other institutions, including families, churches, youth programmes and other community organisations to provide a clear and coherent set of expectations for young people. The goals of this co‐operation across institutions should be to promote the development of responsible moral habits, mature moral reflection, a sense of self with moral concerns at the core and an integration of habit and reflection, morality and the self.