Can we teach morality without influencing the worldview of students?

Abstract

The central question in this article is whether teaching morality necessarily means paying attention to ‘worldview’. We investigate a conceptual and a justificatory relationship between these two. A distinction is made between organised and personal worldview and between narrow and broad morality. Some schools want to avoid influence on the students’ views based on organised worldviews they adhere to. This is not always possible. The article explains why. It demonstrates that that when one teaches broad morality, attention is paid to the personal worldview of students. Finally, the article discusses the implications of our analysis for reflections on education.