Educational Environment and the Development of Moral Concepts

: Groups of twenty children, aged between 6 years, 7 months and 11 years, 3 months, attending either a traditional Catholic school or a Freinet school were compared on judgments involving moral concepts. Subjects in the two groups were matched for age, IQ, sex, school grade, religious affiliation, fathers’ occupational level, number of siblings and birth order. Moral conflict stories differed in the presence or absence of authority figures and peers, and were set either in the home or the school. Children attending the Freinet school exhibited the more advanced moral judgments for all stories combined. Stories involving peers only elicited more mature judgments than those involving authority figures. Freinet schools encourage democratic group self‐discipline and provide many and varied role‐taking opportunities. The results suggest that such practices accelerate moral development.