2-086 - Moral and Civic Development in Adolescence: Approaches to Interpersonal Conflicts and Societal Issues

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Moral reasoning, ethical values, and civic orientation are rooted in the meanings constructed from one’s social experiences. This symposium brings together presentations investigating the many facets of moral and civic development using comparisons of diverse populations and through investigations of narrative and intervention paradigms to reveal how children and adolescents approach complex topics and construct meaning from life experiences.
The first paper presents draws from longitudinal data from a diverse sample of adolescents and shows differential patterns of civic priorities and participation among African American, Hispanic, and White youth. Included is a discussion about how discrimination experiences and contextual factors influence beliefs about civic obligation and community participation.
The second paper describes the evaluation of school-based strategies designed to encourage meaningful conversations about challenging topics through the promotion of empathy and care for others. Qualitative and quantitate assessments show how strategies students appreciated being able to share and learn from their classmates.
The third paper integrates moral development and game-based learning. Data show that an online educational game designed to promote perspective-taking and ethical decision-making to can be a catalyst for debates and discussions with complex moral themes. The presentation will describe how findings led to the development of a school-based curriculum.
The fourth paper compares two modes of moral reasoning about a personal conflict by 10th graders: written narrative and digital podcasts. The findings show shifts in perspectives and resolutions across storytelling modes, suggesting that multimodal narratives can demonstrate more complex moral reasoning and conflict resolution strategies than unimodal narratives.

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chair

• Lacey J. Hilliard, Tufts University

Individual Presentations

• Race and Class Diversity in Civic Beliefs across Adolescence - Presenting Author: Aaron Metzger, West Virginia University; Non-Presenting Author: Lauren Alvis, West Virginia University; Non-Presenting Author: Amy Syvertsen, Search Institute; Non-Presenting Author: Laura Wray-Lake, University of California, Los Angeles

• Empathy Strategies in Secondary Schools: What do Students Say? - Presenting Author: Milena Batanova, Making Caring Common, Harvard University, Graduate School of Education; Non-Presenting Author: Joseph McIntyre, Harvard University

• Adolescents’ Reasoning about Moral and Ethical Quandaries through Game-play - Presenting Author: Lacey J. Hilliard, Tufts University; Non-Presenting Author: Robyn Ilten-Gee, University of California, Berkeley

• From Paper to Podcasts: Reasoning Shifts in High School Students' Personal Conflict Narratives - Presenting Author: Robyn Ilten-Gee, University of California, Berkeley