Writers often use the concept of morality as a synonym for moral principles and ethical standards. The narrow meaning of the term means internal guidelines of the individual, according to which the individual acts based on conscience and free will. Morality is analogous to law, but it is not regulated by government codes. These are external requirements imposed on a person, his behavior, and attitude towards people.
Personal moral progress is a process of changing spiritual values, during which a person acquires independence, freedom, and harmony with himself. The key regulator is responsibility and a sense of duty. To achieve progress, an individual needs to master the cultural foundations, study and accept the norms existing in society.
Moral improvement is a change in a person’s inner world, his views on life under the influence of a number of events and phenomena. It is based on conclusions made by a person after a certain event.
What is spiritual and moral education?
The concept we are considering does not have a clear definition. But based on its content, we can say that the spiritual development of a person is the sphere of non-corporeal education, daily work aimed at acquiring knowledge, skills, faith, and a sense of beauty. The result of such development can be both material (artistic works) and immaterial (music, philosophy, religion).
Moral education involves the development in the individual of the moral values of humanity.
Spiritual and moral development takes the following forms:
- religion;
- morality;
- policy;
- right;
- philosophy;
- art;
- the science.
Epithets for the word “landmarks”
Moral, moral, spiritual, vital, reliable, clear, noticeable, correct, chosen, imposed, unique, original, recognized, accurate, basic, familiar, significant, faithful, main, important, united, best, definite, primary, last, new, different, historical, approximate, uncertain, suitable, necessary, convenient, regular, natural, internal, external, disappeared, distant, long-awaited, cherished, concrete, unknown, low, high, unclear, basic, foggy, ghostly, capital, world, national.
Religious education
When a person hears the concept of “spiritual development,” the first thing he thinks about is religion. This is natural, since from childhood a person is instilled with the dogma that the spirit is God’s creation. And religious education is completely based on the scriptures. Despite differences in history, forms of worship, traditions and customs, all three monotheistic religions preach the same thing - the principle of monotheism and following God's word.
Religious spiritual development begins with the personal example of parents - if adults follow religious dogmas, then the child will follow their example. But sometimes this is not enough for a child, and he demands an explanation. Then you can tell him that this or that action is permitted or prohibited by God, and He rewards for good deeds pleasing to Him, and He punishes for bad deeds. In addition to explanations, the following means of religious education will help:
- joint reading and discussion of religious literature;
- visiting places of worship;
- observing fasting and holy days;
- celebration of religious holidays.
If a child goes to school, then regular and religious schools come to the aid of parents. In the regular school they teach the subject “Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics,” which is divided into 6 areas:
- foundations of world religions;
- secular ethics;
- Orthodoxy;
- Judaism;
- Islam;
- Buddhism.
The main feature of religious education is that parents can choose for themselves in which direction to raise their child, since the course was developed by a group of scientists of different faiths.
In religious studies, in addition to the basics, you can study the Holy Scriptures and get to know your religion better.
Rules of morality
The basics of morality are actually very simple. Politeness and respect for each other come first. Add here a sense of tact and delicacy and you get the characteristics of a moral person.
The golden rule of morality is: treat others as you would like to be treated.
There is a parable about a wise man. It is in it that the rules of morality are revealed. Let us recall the content of the legend.
One of his students approached the sage. He said: “Oh, wisest one! You know so much about goodness and justice, you encourage people to be honest and kind to each other. You claim that this is the only way to achieve purity of soul. Can't you combine all the requirements? How should people treat each other? And the sage answered: “In return.”
That is, we should all treat others the way we would like them to treat us. If you do not visit your elderly parents, refuse to help them, and place the father and mother in a nursing home, then do not expect any different behavior from your children.
The basic rules of morality are expressed in parables. They were described by L. Tolstoy in stories for children. These works are studied by children in primary schools, and excerpts are read in kindergartens for educational purposes.
If you are thinking about your own morality, I recommend re-reading the parables and using folk wisdom. Then you will be able to define values for yourself and respect the same values among people around you.
Moral education
Ideas, principles, laws, norms and rules of behavior in society are components of moral education. In short, it is based on the development of the following qualities:
- feelings of kindness;
- helping one's neighbor;
- feelings of sympathy;
- the need to follow human morality.
To do this, you need to accustom the child to moral standards, form his positive moral experience, direct his behavior, feelings and consciousness towards the realization of moral values and form the moral character of the individual.
In this case, a child, teenager or adult is the object of moral education, and the family, school and other public organizations influence him. But conscious self-education is also possible, when a person himself forms activities aimed at improving moral qualities and the formation of habits and behavior in accordance with the ideals accepted in society. In this case, techniques such as self-esteem, self-order, self-hypnosis, self-correction, self-regulation, self-approval and self-punishment are used.
Politeness
This is something without which, in principle, it is impossible to exist comfortably in any established team. A polite person commands respect, recognition and praise. His actions are automatically approved, even if they are new and incomprehensible to the majority. Anyone who knows how to behave adequately to the current situation always ends up in a better position.
Politeness as a personal characteristic implies the presence of modesty. If a person does not expose himself to public scrutiny, or does not try to somehow infringe on others, then he is often credited with a high moral character.
Political education
Political education is a purposeful and systematic influence on the consciousness of an individual with one goal - to form certain political qualities.
Its main tasks are:
- rooting in the consciousness and behavior of values, norms, orientations and models accepted in a given society;
- the spread of a certain type of political culture.
The content of political education includes:
- The rational component is the transfer of basic political information, the formation of a system of knowledge about the political system. The rational component is implemented through school and university education and the government-controlled media.
- The emotional component is the formation of a certain attitude towards political objects and phenomena. It is closely related to a person's strong preference for politics. The emotional component is realized through such means as ceremonial parades, demonstrations, processions, celebrations, presentation of passports, party cards and awards.
The ability to admit your mistakes
If a person shows emotional flexibility, then he certainly deserves respect. Being able to admit mistakes made is definitely a skill for strong people who want to constantly move forward. A weak person usually insists on his own rightness to the last, because he is afraid to discover existing shortcomings.
Only those who have gone through the process of their own individual development have a clear idea of how the world actually works. If you are not afraid to address your mistakes in a timely manner, you can grow significantly personally and professionally.
Legal education
Related to political education is legal education, which is understood as the purposeful activity of government agencies and society, influencing the legal consciousness, culture and behavior of people to follow the law and its norms.
Thanks to legal education, citizens develop confidence and independence in the legal sphere. This stimulates the legal activity of individual citizens, which involves conscious, proactive, social, moral and responsible behavior.
Legal education includes the following elements:
- legal experience of the society;
- pedagogical and psychological methods of influencing citizens (personal example, persuasion, encouragement, punishment, coercion);
- forms of education - the external and behavioral aspects of the relationship between the state and the population.
Legal education is carried out with the participation of schools, universities, the media, legal education and self-education.
Philosophical education
Despite the fact that philosophy is a difficult science for children to understand, it is still the child who asks the first serious questions about existence, the universe and the meaning of life. This is due to the fact that the baby is not yet bound by stereotypes and does not know philosophical concepts, and the adult, due to his knowledge, is embarrassed or afraid to ask any questions. Because of the purity of consciousness, the child is freed from embarrassment and fear.
A child, and later a teenager, needs to be explained in simple language such philosophical categories as matter, movement, space, consciousness, time, freedom, ideal, truth, goodness, justice, morality, reason.
Cultivating a sense of beauty
With the words “spiritual development,” along with religion, art also evokes a clear association. The formation process can be divided into 4 stages:
- impression;
- sensory-emotional experience;
- knowledge;
- grade.
These same criteria constitute the main content of the feeling of beauty.
Experiences can be gained through reading fiction, watching films, listening to concerts, visiting exhibitions and museums. Art consists not only of beauty, but of other categories of aesthetics - ugliness, sublimity, baseness, tragedy and comedy. A comprehensive perception of all categories of aesthetics allows us to form a sense of beauty.
After viewing, it is important to comment on what you saw, not only from the position of “like or dislike,” but also to justify why, what feelings this or that object evokes. These actions will allow you to accumulate sensory-emotional experience and sensitively perceive reality.
Over time, a person develops favorite works of art, movements and authors. Studying them will allow you to reasonably evaluate what you see. This stage is called knowledge accumulation.
The next stage of development is analysis. The ability to analyze can be developed with the help of reviews from professional critics in magazines, television and radio programs. In this case, you need to compare different points of view, agree or refute them. Over time, you will develop your own point of view.
Discussing with friends is also helpful.
Mental education
Mental education is the formation of a knowledge system based on the fundamentals of science. The system includes the following categories:
- logical thinking;
- memory;
- attention;
- imagination;
- capabilities;
- development of inclination and talent;
- desire to constantly learn new things and improve existing general educational and special knowledge, skills and abilities.
Obtaining this knowledge is achieved through:
- systematic training at school, university and other educational institutions;
- extracurricular, extracurricular and independent work.
The content of mental education depends on the educational program, the profile of professional training and cognitive interests, which presupposes knowledge of specific educational material, facts, terminology, symbols, names, titles, dates, concepts of various types, connections and dependencies between them, as well as methods of their use and understanding places of their application in the system of sciences.
How does personality development occur?
The spiritual development of a child begins in the family with its own style of education, which depends on the requirements of society. At each stage, spiritual development must meet these requirements.
- Infancy - basic trust in the world in the person of the mother is formed.
- Age from 1 to 2 years. The child becomes independent, as he walks independently, controls his needs and can express his desires.
- Age from 2 to 5 years. An important period in a child’s life, which affects the spiritual and moral development and upbringing. At this age, the main position in life is occupied by play, through which the child learns to communicate with the world, gets acquainted with the basics of certain forms of spiritual and moral development - religious, mental, moral. Therefore, it is important to pay special attention to the game.
- School age. School education comes to the aid of family development, where the child gains new knowledge and skills. During this same period, he may encounter failures at school, which can lead to insecurity. Therefore, it is important to support him during this period and explain that failures are just a reason to become better.
- Middle and high school. This is a period of self-determination when a teenager is looking for himself and his place in the world. At this time, his philosophical, political and legal development begins, the formation of a sense of beauty moves to the sensory-emotional stage.
- The period when a person’s spiritual development has reached its fullest, and he has formed the necessary baggage with which he will continue to go through life.
- The accumulated knowledge helps to find a life partner who is close in spiritual and moral development, a job, and to take care of family and children.
- The period after 50 years when a person completes spiritual/moral development and rethinks his life through acquired spiritual experience. As a result, he understands that his life is unique, realizes and accepts the logical outcome of life.
What are we talking about?
Textbooks on raising children and adolescents usually discuss this topic as one of the mandatory topics.
Among the moral qualities, the concept of conscience is often mentioned, love for the Motherland, respect for parents and others, belonging to the family and the state are mentioned.
Such qualities are usually not included in the list of advantages when writing a resume or cover letter. At the same time, the problem of moral education is much more obvious for society than, for example, the lack of people with higher education or the ability to drive a car.
In addition, moral qualities must be instilled in a person from childhood and brought up during adolescence. If there are any gaps or difficulties in this matter, then, unfortunately, not many people of conscious age recognize the existence of a problem.
Not every adult will openly say that he was not brought up with the correct attitude towards nature, others, and the state. He will rather begin to develop those qualities that will help him achieve success in his work, as well as take his rightful place in society.
