品格教育能夠促進公德嗎？

Can We Promote the Gongde (Public Morality) by Implementing Character Education?

簡成熙(Cheng-Hsi Chien)

《課程與教學》 9卷2期 (2006/04) Pp. 13-30

https://doi.org/10.6384/CIQ.200604.0013

摘要

在理想的訴求上，華人世界一向很重視道德教育。在另一方面，國人的「公德」－為了個人私利或方便而破壞公共利益的行為－的欠缺，也為人所詬病。台灣在1990年代的教育課程改革，道德教育已不單獨設科，近年來，西方「品格教育」的重振已高唱入雲。本文首先簡要掃描西方倫理學與德育的發展，探討品格教育在西方復甦的因緣，再從台灣的脈絡中界定「公德」的意義。研究者試圖說明，品格教育（道德教育）在台灣重新受到重視的背景因素，是受到西方德行倫理學復甦及九年一貫課程「缺德」的影響；再者，公德本身的重點，應在「公」而非「德」，立基於德行倫理學、社群主義的品格教育，不一定能促成國人公德的提升。公德的提升，仍須強化公私領域之分際、個人自主性、對陌生人的尊重等傳統自由主義的重點。研究者企圖從哲學論證中，使教育工作者更能體會品格教育的內涵，而不致於淪為教育口號的呼籲，能真正正視品格教育可能在華人社會與自由主義的抵觸，而能達成品格教育的理想。

關鍵字

品格教育 ； 道德教育 ； 公德 ； 德行倫理學

並列摘要

Although moral education plays an important role as an educational ideal in Ancient China, the deficiency of gongde or public morality, which means the individual pursuing personal interest but violating the public interest, is apparent in Chinese living world. As we know, moral education as a school subject has been canceled in elementary and high school in the educational curriculum reform in the last ten years in Taiwan. That is one of the reasons why so many scholars and the public reemphasize the importance of moral education. However, moral education or character education has been advocated recently just as an educational slogan. In this paper, the author first defines the meaning of gongde chiefly referred to the negative civic behavior-citizen's restraint from damaging public interest or harming other people in public sphere, which has been popular meaning of gongde since 1963 in Taiwan. Then, the author wants to interpret that the philosophical foundations of character education are the virtue ethics and communitarianism, yet the philosophical foundation of gongde is classic liberalism. That is, gongde differs significantly from the Western idea of civic virtues- citizen's participation to the public affairs positively. The author argues the two concepts between character education and gongde existing intensive relation in Chinese cultural context. Can we promote the gongde (public morality) by implementing character education? The answer of the author is negative. Even though the limit of character education is discussed in this paper, the author provides some suggestions and still believes that character education has positive value for people civilization in the new century.

並列關鍵字

character education ； moral education ； gongde

參考文獻

陳弱水(2003)。中國歷史上「公」的觀念及其現代變形－一個類型的與整體的考察。政治與社會哲學評論。7，87-144。

Arthur, J.,Bailey, R.(2000).School and community: The communitarian agenda in education.Landon and New York:Falmer.

Benhabib, S.(1994).Situating the self: Gender, community and postmodernism in contemporary ethics.Cambridge:Polity Press.

Callan, E.,White, J.,N. Bloke,P. Smeyers,R. Smith,P. Standish (Eds)(2003).The Blackwell guide to the philosophy of education.Oxford:Blackwell Publishing.

Carr, D.(1991).Educating the virtues: An essay on the philosophical psychology of moral development and education.London and New York:Routledge.