Moral Education by Emile Durkheim

1. Moral Education by Emile Durkheim Eli Kean | TE982 | March 27, 2013

2. Emile DurkheimFounder of Modern Sociology • 1858-1917 • France • Emphasized empirical data

3. Moral Education • Section 1: The Elements of Morality • Section 2: How to Develop Elements of Morality in the Child

4. Durkheim’s 3 Professional Goals • Establish sociology as a new academic discipline • Analyze how societies could maintain their integrity and coherence in the modern era • Explore The practical implications of scientific knowledge

5. Situating Durkheim

6. Moral Growth: Durkheim • Morality results from immersion in a social group, and manifests itself in a respect for that group • Education is a social phenomenon and consists of a systematic socialization of the young generation. • Moral education is the process of internalizing morality into each new generation.

7. Moral Education • Morality is “a comprehensive system of prohibitions” (42) composed of three elements: • Discipline (constraining egoistic impulses) • Attachment (the voluntary willingness to be committed to groups) • Autonomy (individual responsibility) • Education provides children with these three moral tools needed to function in society.

8. The Spirit of Discipline • Discipline functions to develop habits and “determine conduct, to fix it, [and] to eliminate…individual arbitrariness" • Discipline teaches children to suppress their impulses and be consistent in their conduct • Children need to “obey a moral precept out of respect” to its superior power over them

9. Attachment to Social Groups • “...Moral life only begins where the collective life beings.“ • Through attachment to groups, individuals reach a moral consciousness in which they develop an interest in seeking justice and preventing suffering • The school must function to link children to social groups such that they can learn moral values

10. Autonomy (Self-Determination) • Children should have an awareness or “consciousness” of the reasons for moral conduct. • This consciousness provides the autonomy to understand and explain morality and moral behavior. • Teachers should foster autonomy among their students by not preaching or indoctrinating, but explaining morality. 

11. Moral Growth: Piaget • Individuals define morality individually through their struggles to arrive at fair solutions • Contrary to Durkheim, Piaget believed that autonomy must involve spontaneous and creative initiative as well as exploration • Teachers should encourage students’ personal discovery through problem solving

12. Kohlberg as a Bridge • Kohlberg attempted to reconcile the differences in orientation that existed between the theories of moral growth held by Piaget and Durkheim. • “Just community" schools approach • Intended to enhance students' moral development by offering them the chance to participate in a democratic community

13. Individual, Family, State • For Durkheim, individuals have connections to the state/social institution, but not necessarily to each other • Pluralism plays a vital role in contributing to diversity and dynamism in the political community. • Durkheim supported a deliberative democratic community and believed that this form of community could bring about social change

14. The role of deliberation • Democratic deliberation encourages the investigation of “uncharted customs, obscure sentiments and prejudices that evade investigation” (p. 89) • Deliberation is a means to conduct checks and balances on state operations • The more democratic a society, “the more that deliberation and reflection and a critical spirit play a considerable part in the courses of public affairs”

15. Critiques of Durkheim • Durkheim does not address the contribution of peer social interaction in developing autonomy • Durkheim does not elaborate on the rules involved in fostering moral development • Durkheim’s theory lacks empirical support • Durkheim’s ideas justify 'civic education‘ where public educational systems are used to indoctrinate citizens • Durkheim is reductionist to the collective level

16. Discussion Questions • How does Durkheim align or conflict with our course’s authors? • What other critiques do you have of Durkheim’s ideas? • How is moral education similar to/different from democratic education? • Does democratic education contain an element of indoctrination?