Research proposal

Theme: Moral Ascendancy

Title: The Important Role of the Teacher in the Moral Formation of a
Student in the Public High School

TH201: Introduction to Human and Christic Peace

Due Date: 5/19/2017

Date Submitted: 5/19/2017

Student

Rationale:
Teachers placed a very important role in the development of the life of the students as
they in their early age are looking for somebody to emulate into. While Lawrence
Kohlberg (1927-1987) stressed out that teenagers look up to their peers rather than
adults in building up their own values systems to see which fits best (Stages of Moral
Development) yet an adult guidance on how they should fit to the pluralistic society is
what they need and this is where the role of the teachers comes in. Coetzee and
Jansen in their book Emotional Intelligence in the Classroom argued that a teacher who
projects confidence in a childs competence and goodness is a powerful antidote to a
family where such confidence is lacking (as cited in Nathaniel Braden, 1994) 1. It will be
detrimental for the students then who failed to received affirmation from their parents to
be even more turned down by their teacher.

Students in public school setting likely to come from a lower class of the society. In our
school at Erico T. Nograles National High for example, three out of five students came
from a broken family. They live with a very minimal support from their parents who
themselves are struggling in the present situation they have. What will happen to these
students if they do not receive the support they need to get from their parents? They will
surely be at lost if their teachers who are supposed to be their second parents will also
abandon them.

This research then seeks to prove further the important role of the teacher especially in
the moral development of the students as Nadezhda Yachina has stress out that the
moral development of the students is now the key objective of modern education (The
Problem of Spiritual and Moral Formation of Personality) 2. The teacher then must
awaken the students desire for moral transformation and the best way to do this is to set
himself as a role model for the students to follow.
Historical background:
Children who grow up in a stable, two-parent Family have the
1 Braden, N. (1994). The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem

2 The Problem Of Spiritual And Moral Formation Of Personality, Retrieved on 7/15/2017 from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815041075
 best prospects for achieving income security as adults. (Fagan,
1999)3
Broken home children are 'five times more likely to suffer mental troubles' (Steve
Doughty)4
A single-parent Family background and the poverty that usually accompanies it
render children twice as likely to drop out of high school. (Fagan, 1999) 5
Deficient self-esteem can be a cause for underachievement at school or at work
Teachers play an important role in shaping the future of the students under their
care
Teachers can and should serve as role models who teach character and moral
virtues. (Lumpkin - 2008)6
Teachers should model integrity by choosing to do the right thing even when no
one is looking. (Lumpkin - 2008)7
Teachers should be willing to walk an extra mile for the sake of his/her student

Methodology
This study will be a combination of a quantitative and qualitative design. Questionnaires
will be given to teachers that will determine their religious background, their social

3 Fagan (1999), How Broken Families Rob Children of Their Chances for Future Prosperity, Retrieved from
http://www.heritage.org/marriage-and-family/report/how-broken-families-rob-children-their-chances-future-prosperity

4 Doughty, S., THE DAILY MAIL, updated October 2008, Retrieved on 7/15/2017 from
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article- 1079510/Children-broken-homes-times-likely-suffer-mental-troubles-says-
Government-study.html

5 Fagan (1999), How Broken Families Rob Children of Their Chances for Future Prosperity, Retrieved on 7/15/2017
from http://www.heritage.org/marriage-and-family/report/how-broken-families-rob-children-their-chances-future-
prosperity
6 (Lumpkin - 2008), Teachers as Role Models Teaching Character and Moral Virtues, p. 46. Retrieved on 7/17/2017
from https://www.csuchico.edu/kine/documents/teachersasrolemodels.pdf
7 (Lumpkin - 2008), Teachers as Role Models Teaching Character and Moral Virtues, p. 46. Retrieved on 7/17/2017
from https://www.csuchico.edu/kine/documents/teachersasrolemodels.pdf
status, and their age and civil status to determine whether it has an effect on how they
relate to their students.
a. Teachers religious background
b. Teachers social status
c. Teachers age and civil status

An interview and a focus group discussion will be done among randomly selected
students just to hear a firsthand knowledge of their experiences from their teachers.

Respondents
This research will be conducted among the teachers and students of Erico t. Nograles
National High School here in Davao City.

Exegesis:
People were destroyed because they lack knowledge (Hos. 4:6)
Education or formation dispels ignorance (Prov. 1:1-5)
Teaching career requires hard work as seen in the examples of the Jewish Rabbi
Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of
intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our
conduct according to reason and faith. They make possible ease, self-mastery,
and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous man is he who freely practices
the good. (CCC-1804)
Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in
the pursuit of the good. (CCC- 1808)
God wants everyone to have wisdom (James 1:5; Dan. 1:17)

Hermeneutics:
Poverty is never an excuse for gaining wisdom
Teacher should exhaust all possible options for the students to continue on
learning
Discouragement for both the teachers and the students is never an option
 Teachers should continue on learning for the sake of his/her students
Teachers must love their students as much as they love their teaching career