Moral classrooms, moral children: creating a constructivist atmosphere in early education

1. What do we mean by "moral classrooms"? : Vignettes from three classrooms ; A study of the sociomoral atmospheres in three kindergarten classrooms ; Components of the sociomoral atmosphere ; Sociomoral outcomes of children from three different sociomoral atmospheres ; The sociomoral atmosphere as hidden curriculum ; So what is the constructivist sociomoral atmosphere?

2. What do we mean by "moral children"? : What we do not mean by "moral children" ; How children think about moral rules ; How children think about others ; Moral children in the classroom ; Mental relationships

3. How the sociomoral atmosphere influences a child's moral development : Social interaction and construction of the self ; Constructivist theory ; Attachment theory ; Peer relationships ; The constructivist teacher's role in promoting peer interaction ; 4. Establishing a constructivist sociomoral atmosphere : Definition of constructivist education ; Ideas for getting started ; Socializing children for self-regulation in a 1st-grade classroom

5. Conflict and its resolution : The role of conflict in development ; The sociomoral atmosphere and conflict resolution ; The constructivist teacher's attitude toward children's conflicts ; Principles of teaching in conflict situations ; Conflict prevention ; Conflict between teacher and child ; Conclusion

6. Group time : Objectives ; Types of group time ; Formal aspects of group time ; Leading group time ; Common problems at group time ; The issue of show-and-tell ; Examples of group time

7. Rule making : Objectives ; Principles of teaching ; Teacher-made classroom norms

8. Decision making and voting : Objectives ; Decisions about classroom activities ; Decisions about classroom procedures ; Decisions about special problems ; Principles of teaching ; When voting goes awry

9. Social and moral discussions : Moral judgment theory ; Moral dilemmas ; Objectives ; Principles of teaching ; Real-life moral discussions ; Hypothetical dilemmas drawn from real-life experiences

10. Cooperative alternatives to discipline : Two types of reaction to children's misbehavior ; Principles of teaching ; Situations that can lead to misbehavior

11. Activity time : Objectives ; Kinds of knowledge reflected in activities ; Planning for activity time ; Principles of teaching

12. Sociomoral atmosphere of the school : Kohlberg and colleagues' work on assessing moral culture ; Children's experience of the school atmosphere ; The teacher's experience of the school atmosphere ; Principles for administrators ; The sociomoral atmosphere of the State Department of Education

Appendix : Rationales for general categories of constructivist activities during activity time.