Moral Development of Children through Teachings of Sikhism

Description

Page: 332-336

Mandeep Kaur Arora (Department of Psychology, Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi, Delhi)

The present study attempts to study the effectiveness of teaching Sikhism towards inculcating moral values within early childhood. 28 females (8yrs to 12 years) were recruited for this study by using the purposive sampling method. The study was conducted in a specifically designed room for 28 days. The pre-post design with a control group was used. The intervention was given to 14 females (Experimental Group, EG) and the other 14 females of the same age were not given any intervention (control group, CG). A moral judgment test and a Gurmat Checklist were administered before and after the intervention for the control and experimental group. The interviews were conducted with parents and peer groups of the EG. The results were analyzed quantitatively using independent ‘t’ test and qualitatively by content analysis. The finding showed non-significant results in the moral judgment test (MJT). As MJT was purely based on reasoning and captures only cognitive development it fails to capture the overall change that occurred in children. The GC showed significant changes in children. The GC might show changes because the checklist was developed purely on the basis of the curriculum taught to EG. However, we could observe changes in the overall personality of the children analyzed through content analysis. Recent findings suggest that moral education is socially communicated in a culture Indian perspective places importance on interpersonal orientation rather than to justice orientation. Otherwise, the checklist and content analysis suggest that the intervention not only leads to moral but also to overall development in children.