Hariduse tähendus inimese moraalsele arengule Immanuel Kanti pedagoogikakäsituses ja Lawrence Kohlbergi pedagoogikateoorias

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to show education as one of the fundamentals for rise of human morality. The paper is based on moral philosophy and pedagogy lectures of Immanuel Kant and practical research of Lawrence Kohlberg. Thesis proceeds from Kant' claim that morality rests on human rational intellect. According to Kant, every intellectual being has the potential of autonomy, and realizing that potential makes them capable to make moral decisions from their free will. Decisions are based on moral principles that are categorical and, in order to understand whether the decision is morally accurate, it has to be tested on the imperative. Although Kant's morality rests on human subjective will and has no link to empirical world, it needs experiences for its development. Human systematic development creates the best progress for becoming moral, which goal is to teach people to think. However, this can only take place in suitable educational condition that result in a child growing into an autonomic intellectual being who, with their rational mind, is capable of being legislative and create regulations that follow Kant's maxims. Lawrence Kohlberg, who was a supporter for Kant's views, researched te implementation of Kant's educational measures in practice. It turned out, that modern education does not create sufficient opportunities for development of an autonomous person. Kohlberg's experiment, where curriculum based on Kant's moral philosophy was implemented, displayed positive changes in schools; thieving stopped, inter-racial conflicts ended, thriving for better education increased, and drug-use as well as lying decreased. These results allow us to conclude that Kant's views on pedagogy are productive, and paying more attention to the development of a child's independence increases their moral development. Furthermore, supporting the formation of an independent self in a person's childhood, we create conditions for making the whole community more moral.