The guarantee of the security of any country is the high morality of its citizens. These are not grandiloquent words, but the truth, confirmed by many historical examples, proving its absoluteness. Labor and military exploits in the name of freedom and prosperity of the Motherland are dictated not by the personal interest of its citizens, but by high spiritual feelings.
The relevance of the moral education of children
The media are full of shocking reports: there teenagers beat a friend or teacher, here they robbed a store, perpetrated a wild massacre of animals, set fire to a neighbor’s house out of revenge, staged a car accident for the sake of spectacular shots on the Internet … These wild acts are far from always committed under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Why is this happening? Neither parents nor school teach to steal, maim, kill, have fun at the expense of someone else's grief. Have moral ideals and guidelines changed? Weakened educational influence of the familyand schools? No amazing examples of moral selflessness?..
Probably, this is a topic for a large-scale sociological study. It is obvious that today the problem of educating a highly moral person is extremely relevant, moral feelings are the product of a whole system of family and public education.
What is morality?
Primitive morality, apparently, was born when a person began to understand that it is easier to survive in the wild if the rules of mutual assistance are established in society: help another and do not harm him. The semantic enrichment of this concept occurred as the rules of collective existence became more complex and the development of human feelings and emotions. He consciously began to coordinate his actions with the norms of his tribe, since his own well-being directly depended on the well-being of collective coexistence.
Moral and morality are synonyms denoting a certain code, a system of accepted rules, norms of behavior in relation to other members of society and to society itself. Moral feelings are the basis of human moral behavior.
Moral maturity is…
Moral education is impossible without the formation in each person of knowledge of moral ideals, norms and rules, the need to follow them in all circumstances.
The result of such education is the development of high moral feelings of a person (duty, conscience, shame, honor, dignity, compassion, mercy,tolerance, etc.) and such personal qualities as responsibility (for oneself, for others, for the common cause), courage, patriotism, adherence to principles, etc.
Internal moral and ethical feelings are certainly expressed in the external culture of human behavior, in his respect for other people, in his readiness to obey social requirements and control. They will not allow the individual to choose methods condemned by society to achieve life goals.
The essence of a person's moral maturity is expressed in his critical attitude towards himself and the ability to manage his own behavior according to generally accepted standards. Such a person sees his own shortcomings and is ready for self-education.
Patriotism as a moral feeling
Love for the Fatherland begins with love for parents, for one's family, for one's own home, village, city. As a person grows up, such high moral and patriotic feelings appear as pride in their countrymen, in the history of their country, respect for its symbols, readiness to work wholeheartedly for the common good, readiness to defend and sacrifice for the sake of national freedom.
Education of patriotism implies respect for the laws of the country and their unconditional implementation, tolerance towards traditions and customs, the faith of people of other nationalities.
A person's moral feelings are a kind of internal engine that encourages him to take active action. On the other hand, they can make him stopactivities contrary to public ethical standards.
Moral self-education
Education of a person occurs through external, third-party influence on his personality (family, school, work team). The pinnacle of the formation of a person's moral feelings is the emergence of her inner awareness of the need to engage in self-improvement, that is, self-education.
The purpose of self-education is the formation of the best habits, aspirations, qualities and getting rid of negative ones. To do this, it is necessary to develop the habit of introspection, self-assessment not only of one's own actions, but also of their internal motives. It is important that introspection be based on reference ideas of morality and law.
A correct ethical assessment of one's actions and their motives pushes a person to admit his erroneous actions, to find ways to correct them and restore his authority in the opinion of others.
There are many reasons to think about the qualities of one's own personality, since moral feelings are a vast field for philosophical reflection and sometimes require momentary resolution. In fact, what he will put at the forefront - his own interest or the interest of another person, society - this is one of the indicators of the level of upbringing of a person.
Methods of education of moral feelings
Family, educational institutions, public organizations carry out the order of the state to educate a person with certain moral qualities.
In the familyupbringing, the following methods are mainly used:
- personal example of parents,
- explanations,
- examples from life, cinema and literature,
- analysis, explanations of the feelings and actions of children and others,
- encouragement, stimulation of good feelings and deeds,
- requirements,
- punishments.
Moral feelings are a state of mind, they are hidden from the eyes of strangers. Parents should stimulate children's spontaneity in their expression, encourage confidential spiritual conversations, during which both the formation and correction of the feelings of a growing person take place. A proper family structure also serves this purpose.
Kindergarten and school are the successors of family education. Programs for the formation of moral and ethical feelings in children include both collective and individual forms of interaction with pupils. In educational and extracurricular activities, in labor, in specially organized contacts with veterans of war and labor, military personnel, representatives of various types of art, not only life, but also sensory experience of adults and children is exchanged.
Along with traditional methods, teachers use military-patriotic games, visits to places of military and labor glory, volunteer actions, honoring children and adults who have shown the best moral qualities in critical situations.
The indispensable conditions for the successful application of methods for the formation of moral and patriotic feelings and behavior of children and adolescents are strict adherence to themorality on the part of adults, the justice of rewards and punishments. On a respectful attitude towards the personality of the pupil, such methods as persuasion, suggestion, exercises in moral deeds, correction of undesirable behavior through the formation of moral feelings and experiences should be used.
