Life Moral Education Theory

Author: Gao Desheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: Life-based moral education is holistic, social, practical, authentic, and effective moral education, representing a comprehensive of intellectual moral education. The "modern moral education" of intellect fails to address the focus on the individual's overall life and the inherent holism of moral qualities within that life. In contrast, life-based moral education not only emphasizes the holism of life and the holism of moral qualities but also focuses on the holism of moral education itself, as life-based moral education is inherently a holistic form of moral education. Life-based moral education concerns multiple aspects. First, it is deeply connected to the holistic nature of life, starting from life, proceeding within life, and returning to life—it does not create a separate "parallel world" that divorces moral education from life. Second, the moral qualities cultivated by life-based moral education are not intellectual in nature but are multi-dimensional, consisting of moral content woven together by intellectual, emotional, and other dimensions. Such qualities are confirmed and embodied in moral actions, making them tangible and perceptible in daily life. Third, the holism of life-based moral education is also reflected in its integration into all aspects of a person's life, unlike traditional moral education, which teaches morality in specialized courses and times while remaining indifferent, indifferent, or even consciously acting against morality in other courses and periods. Life-based moral education requires individuals to live morally and learn morality through moral living. As mentioned earlier, life is holistic, and the life upon which life-based moral education relies is not fragmented in space or cut off in time. From the perspective of school education, school life is not a vacuum; all aspects of life are related to morality and carry moral significance. From the perspective of the life journey, life-based moral education not only permeates all stages of school life but also extends beyond it, representing lifelong moral education. Finally, the holism of life-based moral education is also reflected in its being a form of moral education where both educators and learners are educated. Both parties receive education through life interactions, bound by "a set of moral principles," rather than the "fragmented moral education" where learners receive education while educators remain detached from moral considerations. Intellectual moral education strips away the social dimension of moral education, reducing it to an intellectual or cognitive activity largely unrelated to social relationships. In reality, moral development does not occur through abstract moral knowledge learning or intellectual moral inquiry but through interaction and communication within social relationships. Interpersonal interaction and communication are both conditions and backgrounds for moral development and also driving forces and internal factors. "Interaction is the beginning of social life and also its fundamental content." The proposal of life-based moral education aims to overcome the "academic," "intellectual," and interpersonal isolation of intellectual moral education, advocating for the realization of moral education's reality, interpersonal nature, and multidirectionality through interpersonal interaction and communication within social relationships. Social relationships have two aspects: "First, the ways in which they (people) interact with each other, their words and actions toward each other; second, their concepts of their relationships with each other, i.e., their perceptions of each other, or the tacit understanding, strategies, and expectations that guide their behavior." Both aspects are necessary conditions for the formation and development of moral qualities. The first aspect is also the process of moral development, as moral development is not an isolated phenomenon but occurs through interactions between people. The second aspect is both a prerequisite for moral behavior, as moral choices depend on understanding others, and a process of moral development itself, as the "tacit understanding, strategies, and expectations" that guide behavior inherently contain moral elements. In summary, the formation of moral qualities cannot be a purely individual cognitive process detached from social relationships; it must be a social process. An individual is not born as a natural being but as a social entity with inherent social characteristics. The survival and development of individuals, including the formation and development of moral qualities, take place within existing social relationships through social practice (including social interaction practice). Moral learning cannot be achieved through specialized "theoretical studies," as such studies can only impart rigid moral dogmas; nor can it be achieved through detached moral cultivation "apart from life," as moral abilities that exist outside real-life contexts do not exist. The fundamental flaw of intellectual moral education lies in its detachment from the real-life world, employing intellectual thinking to engage in cognitive, abstract moral education, lacking practicality. Life-based moral education is moral education that takes place through living morally within life, representing practical moral education. The practicality of life-based moral education stems from the practicality of life itself—life cannot be merely thought about; it must be lived. From ordinary customs and daily to moral education activities built upon this foundation, all are practical. The practicality of life-based moral education is reflected throughout its entire process. As mentioned earlier, life-based moral education begins with life, proceeds within life, and returns to life, permeating the entire process of life practice. Life-based moral education is moral education that learns morality through living morally, and its occurrence, operation, and completion at any stage are all carried out in practice. Morality is not just talk or an event one can observe from the sidelines; moral learning cannot take place through detached discussions or cold observation. Moral education subjects must recognize society and morality, experience moral life, develop the ability to reason and perceive morally, and then internalize their understanding, experiences, and insights into their lives. Life-based moral education is such an ongoing moral practice. In this moral practice, there is no lack of moral reflection, but it is moral reflection within moral practice. Thinking moral education uses fictional, abstract, and philosophical moral materials as the basis for moral education, cultivating abstract moral thinking that lacks concrete content and, therefore, is not real. Life-based moral education draws its materials from the lived reality of moral education subjects and cultivates living moral individuals, representing authentic moral education. The authenticity of life-based moral education is reflected in multiple aspects. First, its authenticity lies in the concrete, present, and real nature of the life it is rooted in, integrating life-based moral education with the real lives of its subjects. Second, the process of life-based moral education is concrete, perceptible, and tangible, taking place in the daily lives of its subjects, where their understanding, experiences, feelings, and insights are all real. Third, the materials used in life-based moral education come from the current lives of its subjects, making its authenticity undeniable. Of course, while life-based moral education emphasizes the materials of present life, it does not reject tradition or the accumulated virtues and norms of humanity. Rather, it learns traditional virtues and norms through life, which are more authentic and richer than any textbook. Fourth, the authenticity of life-based moral education is also reflected in its naturalness. Life-based moral education guides people to live morally, making it natural rather than fictional. Such moral education that exists solely for moral purposes, is performative, or is merely for show is alien to life-based moral education. Life-based moral education is a natural and authentic form of moral education that guides the life process. Finally, the authenticity of life-based moral education is also reflected in its real outcomes. Learning to swim through practice yields solid skills, and learning morality through living morally yields equally real results. Morality learned from life is "moral knowledge," not "knowledge of observations," but the crystallization of life, a real quality that can be directly transformed into moral actions.