Current research on moral education and development in Europe

The Moral and Social Action Interdisciplinary Colloquium (MOSAIC) is an international multidisciplinary network of scholars working within the fields of the philosophy, psychology and sociology of moral development, moral education and moral thought. MOSAIC runs an annual conference, traditionally in June or July. This conference attracts an international mix of doctoral students, early career researchers and more established academics. The theme of the 2005 conference, held at the Universität Konstanz in Germany, was the moral and religious challenges facing education in Europe. The programme was diverse, with papers covering topics as varied as values education, religious orientation, morality across cultures, measuring morality, individual differences and moral domains. The inaugural lecture, delivered by Reinhard Hesse of the Pedagogical University of Freiburg, Switzerland, discussed how global changes impact on ethical reasoning and how, in an age of nuclear arsenals, ethics and science are welded together. He concluded that individuals must do all they can to sustain the globe and change destructive human urges. This research review aims to showcase some of the research presented at this MOSAIC conference. A selection of seven abstracts extended and edited to form summaries demonstrates the varied research in the fields of moral development, moral education and moral thought currently being undertaken by MOSAIC members. These provide a resource for those involved in, or who intend to embark on, related work. The first summary, from Mudje Koca of Liverpool Hope University, UK, is concerned with the implicit barriers faced by university students living with a disability. The next two summaries explore the challenges ethno-religious conflict pose for moral development. Marijana Handziska of Ss Cyril & Methodius University, Republic of Macedonia, focused on the impact that living during a period of political instability in the Republic of Macedonia had on the moral competence of Macedonian adolescents, whilst I explored how differences in the intensity of ethno-political conflicts impact on moral maturity. Both studies illustrated the negative and regressive impact political violence has on moral development. Sieglinde Weyringer and Jean-Luc Patry of the University of Salzburg, Austria, presented a values education programme being pioneered in Austria. Georg Lind, from the University of Konstanz, Germany, reflected on the 30th anniversary of the Moral Judgment Test (MJT; Lind & Wakenhut, 1985) by presenting the findings from 17 validation studies. The presentation illustrated the development of Journal of Moral Education Vol. 35, No. 1, March 2006, pp. 129–136