Civic moral disengagement, empathy and attitudes of prospective teachers towards cultural diversity

Abstract

The lack of moral commitment and empathy has been related to transgressive behaviours that deteriorate school coexistence. However, there is little scientific and educational work that highlights the relationship between these two variables and the attitudes of teachers and future teachers in the context of a society that tends towards cultural diversity and inclusive education. The study presented here analyses these attitudes in a total of 710 university students of Early Childhood and Primary Education (82.0% female; Medad = 20.72; SD = 3.93). This was a retrospective ex post facto cross-sectional study using self-reports. Results confirmed a significant inverse relationship between positive attitudes towards cultural diversity and certain expressions of civic moral disengagement. Cognitive and affective empathy were also found to exert an indirect effect on this relationship. The importance of working on empathy and morality transversally in the curricula for the training of future educators is discussed given the importance that should be attributed to attitudes and moral civic engagement towards an egalitarian education that develops critical thinking in the classroom.