Previous research in environmental education and learning has mainly concerned students’ understanding of natural scientific knowledge, whereas research on the influence of other knowledge in learning environmental issues is marginal. Also, the interest in most studies investigating students’ natural scientific knowledge has been to capture constraints in students’ understanding, hence investigations of students’ meaning making are rare. The main objective of this thesis was to explore individual students’ reasoning regarding climate change, and the influence of knowledge on their reasoning. In Study I, students’ conceptions of the enhanced greenhouse effect (EGHE) were investigated. The results showed that students incorporated different pieces of information from different problem areas into the conceptualization of the EGHE. Setting up causal links between diversely different pieces of information seems to be a way to make meaning, and thus a necessary step in the learning process. Study II is an investigation of students’ solutions to climate change. The results indicated that students contextualized problems and solutions by addressing the individual(s), where the individual(s) was either “myself” or “someone else”. The different notions of the individual(s) became crucial as the students’ views of the environment, as well as society, changed according to the different contexts.  To further study students’ conceptions of “me” and “others”, Study III examined students’ conceptualized solutions to the dilemma between economic development and mitigating climate change. The findings suggested that students’ conceptualized nature as a “box” of resources, and that economic development would sustain and improve nature. Therefore, the dilemma between economic development and mitigating climate change or dealing with environmental problems did not exist. Results from all three studies were discussed with respect to theoretical implications. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:12:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2638.pdf: 868614 bytes, checksum: 460a11162dcd68accd25ed5b2019ba4b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-04 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The goal of this thesis is to study the Jürgen Habermas theories, focussing on the communicative action and the ethics of discourse. The thematic of the communicative action deals with a linguistic tour , in other words, Habermas starts to analyze the society not from a productive paradigm, known as a philosophical-historical inheritance which comes from Marx, but from an intersubjective communication paradigm. This new conception of society also requests a re-orientation under the perspective of how should be grounded the values and moral standard rules. In this sense, Habermas build together with Karl-Otto Apel the ethics of discourse, which transcribes the assumptions of the pragmatic language needed to a rational justification of standard rules from agreements or consensus. The procedure in the search for consensus is made through speeches (dialogues), which depend on a number of conditions, such as: equal rights of participation, absence of internal and external coercion, mutual recognition of all those affected by the effects of a rule, etc. With such a point of view, Habermas intends to seek to ensure the universality of the moral principle, as well as solve the problem of ethnocentrism, which caracterize the major part of the contemporary culture. In a globalized society in the technical levels, economic and social as the actual, but marked by a serious problems which affects the environment and stimulate the exploitation of labor and corruption, etc. the ethics of discourse presents itself as an attempt at moral reasoning very promising. / Trata-se, nesta tese, de um estudo das teorias morais de Jürgen Habermas, cujos temas de maior destaque dizem respeito à teoria do agir comunicativo e à ética do discurso. A temática do agir comunicativo remete ao chamado giro linguístico, ou seja, ao empenho do filósofo Habermas em analisar a sociedade não mais a partir do paradigma da produtividade, uma herança histórico-filosófica que procede de Marx, mas a partir do paradigma da comunicação intersubjetiva. Essa nova concepção de sociedade também requer uma reorientação sob a perspectiva de como devem ser fundamentados os valores e as normas morais. Neste sentido, Habermas elabora, junto com Karl-Otto Apel, a ética do discurso, em que estão transcritos os pressupostos pragmáticos da linguagem, necessários para uma fundamentação racional das normas a partir de acordos ou consensos. O procedimento na busca de consensos dá-se por meio de discursos (diálogos), que dependem de uma série de condições, como a igualdade de direitos de participação, ausência de coação interna e externa, reconhecimento recíproco de todos os atingidos pelos efeitos de uma norma etc. Com tal fundamentação, Habermas pretende garantir o universalismo do princípio moral bem como resolver o problema do etnocentrismo, que caracteriza grande parte das culturas contemporâneas. Numa sociedade globalizada nos níveis técnico, econômico e social como a atual, mas marcada por graves problemas que afetam o meio ambiente e estimulam a exploração da mão-de-obra e a corrupção etc., a ética do discurso se apresenta como uma tentativa de fundamentação moral muito promissora.

Magister Commercii - MCom / Against the background of major corporate scandals internationally and in South Africa, questions are being asked about the level of morality of leaders in organisations. This study assessed the level of moral reasoning of senior managers in a South African company in the insurance industry. The study was based on Kohlberg’s Cognitive Moral Development (CMD) Theory and an assessment of key literature pieces relating to ethical leadership and business ethics. Research has demonstrated that ethical leaders have a significant influence on an organisation’s performance, reputation, sustainability, ethical climate and employee engagement. Globally and in the South African corporate context it is therefore important for organisations to understand the capacity of its leaders to behave ethically so that appropriate interventions can be engaged in. More specifically, this study aimed to assess the level of moral reasoning of managers in a large South African organisation and examined the relationship between the variables age, gender, race, tenure and education on the one hand and the level of moral reasoning on the other hand. This study also assessed the reliability of the Managerial Moral Judgment Test (MMJT). This study was a cross-sectional, quantitative study utilising a previously developed questionnaire, the Managerial Moral Judgment Test. This study contributed to the very sparse body of knowledge of managerial moral reasoning in the South African business context, while the research results can be used to identify managerial training and development needs in ethics in the organisation studied. This study found that the moral reasoning levels of managers at the research site, is at the conventional level, while the variables age, gender, race, tenure and education have no significant influence on the level of moral reasoning. In addition, this study established the internal reliability of the Managerial Moral Judgment Test and located ethical leadership and business ethics in the literature.

Cora Diamond nous présente dans son œuvre L’Esprit Réaliste une méthode nous permettant de répondre à la question « comment vivre? ». Elle nous présente aussi une méthode nous permettant d’élargir notre raisonnement moral et sortir du vocabulaire limité d’une interprétation plus traditionnelle de la philosophie morale. Aux questions de jugements, d’évaluations, de dilemmes et de métaéthique, elle souhaite introduire des concepts comme ceux de l’imagination, de l’improvisation, de la perception morale, de la texture d’être et d’aventure. La possibilité est aussi ouverte pour chercher une éducation morale non édifiante par la littérature. En effet, élargir le raisonnement moral implique aussi de ne pas se limiter à la forme argumentaire traditionnelle en philosophie. Il s’agit de voir la pertinence dans des œuvres littéraires comme des romans de fiction et des œuvres poétiques, mais aussi dans des œuvres cinématographiques. Diamond nous présente donc avec une éthique qui ne nous apporte pas de connaissances prescriptives, mais plutôt une connaissance conceptuelle et sensible. Elle nous apprend à voir les différences entre différentes conceptions de la vie, à se connaître soi-même et à aller à la rencontre de l’autre. / Cora Diamond presents to us in her work The Realistic Spirit a method allowing us to answer the question “how to live?” It also presents us with a method by which we can broaden our moral reasoning and break out of the limited vocabulary of a more traditional interpretation of moral philosophy. To questions of judgments, evaluations, dilemmas and meta-ethics, she wishes to introduce concepts such as those of imagination, improvisation, moral perception, texture of being and adventure. The possibility is also opened for seeking a non-edifying moral education through literature. Indeed, expanding moral reasoning also implies not being limited to the traditional form of argument in philosophy. It is about seeing the relevance in literary works like fiction novels and poetic works, but also in cinematographic works. Diamond therefore presents us with an ethic that does not provide us with prescriptive knowledge, but rather conceptual and sensitive knowledge. It teaches us to see the differences between different conceptions of life, to know ourselves and to meet others.

The purpose of this dissertation was to conduct an outcomes-based program evaluation for the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) campus of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The study included one primary research question, with two subquestions. The primary research question asked to what extent students in the program developed moral judgment consistent with program goals of rehabilitating students and preparing them for effective ministry. The first subquestion asked whether statistically significant differences existed in the moral reasoning of students of different class years. The second subquestion asked whether statistically significant differences existed in the moral reasoning of students of different personality types. A cross-sectional study was conducted with students during the fall of 2005 using the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT-2) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instruments. All 101 program students were invited to participate in the study. To provide a benchmark for student scores, 30 Seminary faculty members were asked to complete the DIT-2. The student response rates were 94% for the DIT-2 instrument and 97% for the MBTI instrument. The response rate for faculty was 20%. After removing two outliers from the freshmen class, statistically significant differences were found in the principled moral reasoning scores (P scores) of freshmen (m = 22.146, sd = 12.002) and juniors (m = 30.274, sd = 13.165). No significant differences were found in moral reasoning based upon personality types. The mean P score among faculty members was 34.02 (sd = 15.25). In response to the primary research question, it was determined student scores did show moral reasoning differences consistent with the program goals. Conclusions reached in this study were limited because of the cross-sectional design. Further research is necessary before conclusions may be generalized beyond the sample.

The focus of this research was to identify the moral reasoning and moral judgment of elementary school principals who serve in high-poverty schools. The study was undertaken at the request of the client public school district who was attempting to identify characteristics of current elementary principals serving in high-poverty schools. Two research questions guided this study concerning the moral operational level of the principals. The theoretical framework of the study was based on the work of Lawrence Kohlberg and his stages of moral development. Participating principals were administered the Defining Issues Test-2 (DIT-2), a pencil-paper questionnaire that presented five moral dilemmas and a series of statements asking for the participant to rank solutions to the dilemmas. The results indicated that the majority of participants operated from lower levels of moral development, reasoning, and judgment. Participants’ scores were matched with their schools’ performance grades. There was not an indication that high moral scores and high school performance were linked. This study confirmed the results of an early study conducted by Vitton and Wasonga (2009) and encourages a deeper examination of the results of accountability and principal decision making.

Previous research by Vitton & Wasonga (2009) and Strenth (2013) found public school K-12 principals struggling in the moral reasoning and decision-making measures of the second Defining Issues Test ("DIT-2"). In response to these studies, this research sought to collect, to examine, and to compare DIT-2 data for educational leaders at various stages of the principalship track in an effort to determine and/or to isolate the locus of principals' reported underperformance. The moral reasoning and decision-making of regular-education K-12 public school principals and assistant principals in Florida, and current master's degree students in educational leadership programs at a large public Florida university were measured and compared. Research questions were posed: 1) to find the levels of moral reasoning and decision-making reached by acting principals, acting assistant principals, and current master's students in educational leadership programs; 2) to determine if there was a difference between these principals, assistant principals, and master's students in moral reasoning and decision-making; and 3) to see if there was a difference in moral reasoning and decision-making between principals across various years of experience. The DIT-2 was administered anonymously to participants through an online link, and was scored by the University of Alabama's Office for the Study of Ethical Development. Data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistical methods principally to determine the degree to which participants reasoned and made decisions based upon personal interests, upon the maintenance of norms, or upon the basis of more sophisticated principles. Results showed master's students in educational leadership outperforming active principals and assistant principals in moral reasoning and decision-making by more often employing sophisticated principles and by more often avoiding choices associated with personal interests. With regard to principals, the difference was statistically significant on DIT-2 N-2 scores (based on ANOVA and t-test results) and P-scores (based on t-test results, but not based on ANOVA results). Principals not only underperformed master's students in educational leadership statistically significantly, but also underperformed active assistant principals in comparisons of group means on DIT-2 sub-scores. This research confirms the prior works of Strenth (2013) and Vitton & Wasonga (2009), where principals had been found to struggle in measures of moral reasoning and decision-making. These consecutive and consistent findings now require consideration, discussion, and action by the array of K-12 public school stakeholders. In response to the startling findings that K-12 principals are significantly underperforming those still aspiring for the principalship, a substantial, alarmed, and sober re-examination must take place as to what has happened to principals in K-12 public schools, and as to what can and must be done about it.

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