An Empirical Study on Moral Judgment Competence and Civic Competencies of High School and University Students in Morocco

Abstract

Two kinds of skills or competencies are particularly important for the development of democratic personality and the functioning of democratic institutions: moral judgment competence defined as the ability of the person to judge and act in accordance with his own moral principles, and civic competencies. These competencies are supposed to be linked to the quality of educational systems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence and effect of academic environment on the development of moral and civic competencies for school and university students. The sample of the study consisted of 1040 students of both genders aged 12 to 26. The participants completed three study instruments: Georg Lind’s Moral judgment Test (MJT) that measures the participants’ abilities to make moral decision, the International Association for the evaluation of Educational Achievement (IAE) civic knowledge test, and Ramsden’s measure of ethos. Results of the study indicate a statistically significant decrease in the level of moral reasoning and civic knowledge of students across the levels of educational system. In addition, the results revealed that the students’ feelings and perceptions of their academic environment become more negative as we move from middle to secondary school to higher education. Observational evidence indicates that negative environmental impacts can lead to moral regression in higher education. Furthermore, the quality of education, the applied curriculum, and the type of socialization are susceptible to favour the appearance and exacerbation of moral segmentation.