Children's pluralistic conceptions of the justice of social practices
Abstract
To determine if children think the fairness of societal practices depends upon the implicit contract or definition of a situation, first, third and fifth graders were questioned about three situations: one emphasizing learning or mastery; a contest; and a test situation. For each situation, they judged the fairness, harmfulness, potential fairness (changeability), and effectiveness of three teaching or coaching practices: having more able individuals help the less able, having individuals compete publicly, and having them perform independently. Children judged the fairness and effectiveness of each practice differently for each situation. They also recognized that all practices could become or remain fair with participant consensus or over time and that the potential of a practice to cause harm differed depending upon the context. These results were obtained for educational and athletic activities. In these respects, children's conceptions of the fairness of societal practices resemble those of philosophers who advocate pluralistic conceptions of justice.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Feldhusen, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Educational psychology
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