The Dilemmas of Early Childhood Educators in the Implementation of Moral Values

Abstract

Introducing children and adolescents to the world of values is inherent in the process of education. In the value theory, moral values are of particular importance because it is by putting those values into practice that the individual reassures his or her unique nature as a human being. In the wake of a crisis in moral values in the young generation, there is a growing need to concentrate teachers’ efforts on promoting moral behaviour in school students. The moral education of younger pupils calls particularly for the unambiguity of moral principles. Teachers should become examples for their pupils, without embracing moral relativism. This article presents the results of the author’s own study conducted among early childhood educators, which indicate the dilemmas and predicaments they face in their efforts to nurture children’s sense of morality.