Assessing Components of Morality more

http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz ResearchSpace@Auckland Copyright Statement The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: • • • Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of this thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. You will obtain the author's permission before publishing any material from their thesis. To request permissions please use the Feedback form on our webpage. http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/feedback General copyright and disclaimer In addition to the above conditions, authors give their consent for the digital copy of their work to be used subject to the conditions specified on the Library Thesis Consent Form. ABSTRACT An i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t o t h e assessment of t h e moral components which w e z e developed by John Wilson, i s reported, Tests fox the classroom measurement of t w o components w e r e developed, The components were; P H I L ( C C ) , t h e claiming of concern for other persons as an o v e r r i d i n g , u n i v e r s a l , and p r e s c r i p t i v e p r i n c i p l e in moral d e c i s i o n making; and; GIG, knowledge of f a c t u a l information which i s r e l e v a n t i n making moral d e c i s i o n s which subjects face. The test development e x e r c i s e was undertaken a t a time when p u b l i c i n t e r e s t in mral education was g r w i n g , The recent demand for moral education i n Auckland i s reviewed. Over t h e l a s t fifteen yeara, a i n c e t h e C u r r i e Commission Report, r e p o r t s by committees i n v e s t i g a t i n g the purposes of schools have i n c r e a s i n g l y emphasised moral and s o c i a l education as school objectives. The Department of Education appeared to be sfrmpathatic towards the cause of moral education. The submissions made by t h e p u b l i c during t h e Educational Development Conference suggested t h a t , i n g e n e r a l , parents and c i t i z e n were prepared t o coneider innovative programmes i n s o c i a l or moral education, although t h e r e was l i t t l e agreement on what form such training or education should take. A number of t e a c h e r s w e r e s u p p o r t e r s of moral education. The primary purpose i n c o n s t r u c t i n g tests for Wilson's components was to provide an instrument which would assist i n t h e e v a l u a t i o n of moral education curriculum p r o j e c t s i n Auckland secondary schools. Evidence concerning s e l e c t i o n , c o n s t r u c t and Ruder-Richardson, retest reliability studies were d e s c r i p t i v e , content, domain concurrent v a l i d i t y is presented, and c r i t e r i o n - r e f e r e n c e d undertaken. It is claimed t h a t an instrument with sufficient v a l i d i t y and r e l i a b i l i t y has bean produced f o r the summat i v e w a l u a t i o n of curriculum projects, and the d i a g n o s t i c i n v e s t i g a t i o n of c l a s s groups using the t e s t am a c r i t e r i o n - r e f e r e n c e d measure. Auckland intermediate and secondary school p u p i l s w e r e surveyed, using t h e t e a t s produced and punch card recording i n an attempt t o i d e n t i f y s i g n i f i c a n t v a r i a b l e s . Over 1 , 1 0 0 children cmpleted the tests under controlled conditions. S i g n i f i c a n t v a r i a b l e s i d e n t i f i e d using the t e e t for PHIL(CC) were aacio-economic l e v e l for twelve-year-old c h i l d r e n , and i n t e l l i g e n c e for eixteen-year-old c h i l d r e n . T h e e f f e c t of schooling appeared t o be s i g n i f i c a n t a t a l l l e v e l s . Age does n o t appear to markedly i n c r e a e e childr e n ' s concern f o r others. Age was r e l a t e d t o performance i n the knowledge test. Older c h i l d r e n knew more. Other s i g n i f i c a n t variables f o r G I G were socio-econamic l e v e l (middle levels performed better) and the e f f e c t s of schooling. There w a s same evidence t h a t females know more t h a n males. I n b o t h tests it appears t h a t there i a considerable i n t e r a c t i o n between the v a r i a b l e s . Suggestions f o r t h e further development of the teeare given.