中小学生道德信念的现实意义及培育

Practical Significance of Moral Beliefs and its Cultivation in Primary and Secondary Schools

While faith is mainly applied to the religious dimension，belief is more suitable for morality． Moral belief refers to the psychological tendencies to believe in someone or something and resolution to put it into practice． In fact，most Chinese people don’t have definite faith，as they are too realistic rather than pious． So it’s suggested that in moral education，it’s better to use moral belief instead of moral faith． In structure we have core moral beliefs and derivative moral beliefs． There are two types of moral beliefs: espoused beliefs and acting beliefs． Starting from the effectiveness of moral beliefs on students，the article puts forward some methods of cultivating the students in primary and secondary schools． From the perspectives of philosophy and psychology，we find that the moral beliefs attained in different periods change differently． Generally，moral beliefs attained in early times are difficult to change． After adulthood，moral beliefs are easier to change． So childhood is the best time for students to attain moral beliefs． School climate is an important factor which influences students’ moral beliefs ． As the foundation of school culture，the beliefs shared by members in schools are the important factors of moral beliefs． And teachers should try to create a healthy school culture in order to improve students’moral beliefs． Moral beliefs can influence the students’choice of values and self-discipline． Moral beliefs affect the decisions，behaviors and the ways they deal with problems． In Lewis’s opinion，the foundation of beliefs consists of power，logic deduction，affection，personal significant experiences，rational intuition，and application of personal scientific methods． Educators should help students to establish the early moral beliefs subtly，as children are nave and usually don’t question the moral beliefs taught by their teachers． Besides，school teachers and parents should make use of affection to help change students’moral beliefs． They can create effective situations to help students form moral beliefs through practice． Teachers should encourage students to practice，because students’moral beliefs and practice are closely linked，and mutually affected． In this way teachers can promote a virtuous cycle between students’ moral beliefs and practice． Teachers should also stimulate students to contemplate their behaviors． As Confucius said，we should contemplate ourselves three times a day． Ｒeading without thinking tends to throw one into bewilderment． By contemplation students can understand the meaningful ideas，and realize the importance of correct moral beliefs．