Morality as an obstacle to systematic learning

Abstract

There is an obstacle preventing the appropriation of knowledge among some children, which translates into school repetition and, consequently, school failure. This obstacle is not necessarily cognitive, functional, emotional, or social, but apparently of moral origin. The objective of this research is to investigate the value of obedience (state of heteronomy) among children as a possible cause of school failure, due to the link between obedience, authority, and rules. This research was conducted with 13 children aged 8 to 11, students of elementary schools in Lyon, France. Our protocol consisted of using moral stories, checking the children's consciousness of rules, analyzing their level of cognitive structure, and administering the projective "Family Educational" drawing test. This test allows us to assess the learning relationship between parents and children in the context of school failure and its possible link with their moral development. Our results have shown that most of our subjects were still in the stage of moral heteronomy. The majority of them have not yet acquired consciousness of the rules, so they live in a state in which unilateral respect predominates. They also face difficulties in decentering from their own point of view and moving to the point of view of others, which is a prerequisite for learning.