Formulating a Developmentally Appropriate and Culturally Sensitive Program of Moral Education-A Korean Example
sive program of civic and moral education for use in public schools across all grade levels, balancing developmental psychology and cultural differences that exist among nations? If, to formulate a clear and reliable answer to that pressing international and multicultural question, we assume a universal morality, that may lead to a kind of arrogance in the form of cultural imperialism, as several critics of Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory have charged (Shweder 1982; Simpson 1974). In contrast, advocates for cultural diversity in moral development may miss many of the essential ways of being human and underestimate our common humanity. For these reasons, an appropriate moral education program for schools is one that involves the universal aspects of morality and moral functioning as well as their particular manifestations—thus, culture is a context for moral development. With the present study, I offer a case example to illustrate the development of a comprehensive program of moral education that is developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive. This Korean case study illustrates an alternative moral education program that encompasses the universal and particularistic aspects of morality. The Korean example not only retains a compulsory moral education subject in the school system but also illustrates inherent tensions and dilemmas arising from national, traditional, or particularistic values and global, democratic, and universal values in schools. Let us assume that the South Korean Ministry of Education has requested the development of a comprehensive program of moral and civic education for use in its public schools across all grade levels. The first step in the development of the program is the submission of a written proposal outlining the program in enough detail to permit certified school personnel to implement the plan without undue difficulty and with minimal additional training. Specifically, the plan should (1) establish a theoretical rationale for the program, including intended outcomes that are both developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive; (2) briefly outline representative lessons for different grade levels that would be included in the program and describe developmentally appropriate instructional strategies; (3) identify resources (e.g., personnel, instructional materials, facilities, consultants, and so forth in the school and community, including families and religious or social organizations) that will be necessary to implement the program; (4) describe how to evaluate the program’s effectiveness in meeting stated objectives and identify specific evaluation techniques to be used; and (5) cite the necessary abilities that certified school personnel must possess to ensure full implementation of the proposal.