Disciplineverbetering door Omvorming van de Klas tot een Morele Gemeenschap

Abstract

This article contends that, among other functions, schools should devote time and energy to the moral education of learners. How a school performs this task will, among others, depend on the prevailing culture of the country and the education system in question. Changing a class into a moral community with its own distinct discipline structure and culture is an onerous task that takes time and devoted attention on the part of educators (teachers), but can be of great value. To test the validity of this claim, the article commences with a brief background discussion of (Christian) school education in the Netherlands and in South Africa, with particular attention to the problem of moral development and the maintenance of acceptable order and discipline in schools. A brief discussion of morality is followed with an outline of how a school class could arguably be changed into a moral community in which the maintenance of good order and discipline would be a matter of course. A  brief outline of several practical steps that could be considered is offered in two addenda.