They are one of the components of education about which there are some controversial discussions. Some authors argue in favor of this formulation, while others address moral education and civic education separately. We choose moral-civic education, moral behavior of a person, taking into account the numerous obstacles established between the moral phenomenon and the social phenomenon of public life.
Society values
The connection between moral and civil behavior is not accidental. - this is what children should be taught from birth. Obviously, the two behaviors are related to each other and depend on each other because you cannot have moral behavior without following the laws, traditions and values of society. You cannot have good citizenship if you do not abide by the values, norms, rules that govern the life of the community in which you live.
Moral and civic education is an extremely complex component of education, since, on the one hand, its consequences are reflected in the entire state of the individual, and on the other hand, moral behavior is the presented moral norms and legal regulations. They subordinate all other values (scientific, cultural, professional, aesthetic, physical, environmental, etc.). Morality and civilization are thus fundamental aspects of a harmonious, authentic and complete personality.
Moral ideal
A good understanding of moral and civic education requires some clarification regarding morality and civility. Moral behavior is a social phenomenon, a form of social consciousness that reflects the relationships that are established between people in a social context, limited in time and space, with a regulatory function for people living together, stimulating and directing human behavior in accordance with social requirements. Its content is materialized in the moral ideal, values and moral rules, which constitute what is called the “structure of the moral system.”
Moral behavior is a theoretical model that expresses the moral quintessence of the human personality in the form of an image of moral perfection. Its essence is manifested in moral values, norms and rules.
Prototypes of morality
Moral values reflect the general requirements and requirements of moral behavior in the light of ideal prescriptions with an almost infinite range of applicability. We remember, for example, some of the most significant moral values are: patriotism, humanism, democracy, justice, freedom, honesty, honor, dignity, modesty, etc. Each of them corresponds to the meaning of good-bad, fair-dishonest, heroism - cowardice, etc. Moral standards are also moral requirements developed by society or a more limited community, which set out prototypes of moral behavior for specific situations (school, professional, family life).
Expressing the demands of moral values, they have a more limited scope than those that take the form of permissions, bonds, prohibitions, which lead to certain forms of action. The morality of the form of social consciousness is the source of the moral content of education and the reference basis for its assessment.
The moral aspect of the public belongs to the ideal sphere, while morality belongs to the sphere of reality. Morality presupposes an effective normative position, translated from ideal to reality. This is why moral education seeks to transform morality into virtue.
Formation of man
Civil law points to the organic connection that is vital between an individual and society. More precisely, education contributes to the formation of a person as a citizen, as an active supporter of the rule of law, militant human rights for the benefit of the homeland and the people to whom he belongs. Moral behavior is the goal of education, which is to form a person as a complete unit that feels, thinks and acts in accordance with the requirement of public morality.
This requires knowledge and adherence to moral ideals, values, norms and rules on which public morality is based. Knowledge of the structure and functioning of the rule of law, respect for laws, study and upholding of the values of democracy, rights and freedoms, understanding of peace, friendship, respect for human dignity, tolerance, non-discrimination based on nationality, religion, race, gender, etc. are also required.
Civic conscience
For the purpose of moral and civic education, the main objectives of this component of education are: the formation of a moral and civic conscience and the formation of moral and civic behavior.
It should be noted that this division between theoretical and practical tasks is made for didactic reasons, somewhat artificial, because the moral and civic profile of the subject develops simultaneously on both sides, accepting both information and action, feelings, beliefs, facts.
Formation of moral and civic conscience
Moral and civic conscience consists of a system and knowledge about values, laws, and norms governing a person’s relationship with society. These include the commandments that an individual applies to his position and within the many social relationships in which he participates. From a psychological point of view, moral and civic consciousness includes three components: cognitive, emotional and volitional.
Positive Action
It assumes the child’s knowledge of the content and requirements of values, moral and civil norms. Their knowledge is not limited to simple memorization, but presupposes an understanding of the requirements that they imply, an understanding of the need to comply with them. The results of this knowledge are reflected in the formation of moral and civil ideas, concepts and judgments.
Their role is to lead the child into the universe of moral and civic values, to make him understand the need to observe them. Without knowledge of moral and civil norms, a child cannot behave in accordance with the requirements that arise from society. But despite the necessity of moral and civic behavior, moral and civic knowledge is not associated with the mere presence of rules. In order for them to become a motivational factor for initiating, guiding, and maintaining moral citizenship behavior, they must be accompanied by a range of emotional positive feelings. This leads to the need for the emotional component of consciousness in the formation of moral behavior.
External obstacles
The affective component provides the energetic substrate necessary for the conduct of moral and civic knowledge. The subject's emotions and feelings towards moral and civic commands emphasize that he not only accepts values, norms, moral and civil rules, but also lives and identifies with them. It follows that both moral standards of behavior in society and affective attachment are necessary for moral-civic interaction. However, they are not enough, because often when performing moral and civic actions there may be a number of external obstacles (temporary problems, unfavorable circumstances) or internal (interests, desires), for which efforts are required or, in other words, the intervention of the volitional component is required.
Spiritual Needs
From the fusion of the three components of moral and civic consciousness, beliefs emerge as a product of cognitive, affective and volitional integration into the mental structure of a person. Once formed, they become “true spiritual needs,” the core of moral consciousness and create the conditions for a person to make a leap from motivated external behavior and consolidate his social and moral behavior.
The emergence and consolidation of moral norms can be traced back to prehistoric times. Its standards and samples originated in the distant past. Despite the fact that primitive man acted primarily from selfish motives, trying to find food, seize profitable territories, and survive in difficult natural conditions, even then the desire for social cooperation was obvious.
As a result, the emergence and approval of a humanistic behavior strategy developed as a result of active interpersonal cooperation with group members.
Peculiarities
Of course, at the dawn of the emergence of motives that determine the behavior of an individual, there were still mundane life and material benefits. However, the community, and after it the morals, quickly progressed, pushing any of the participants to fully adapt to the team and build long-term humanistic relationships.
Moral standards of behavior are so firmly established in people’s minds that they are no longer a forced survival tactic, but generally accepted motives of human behavior, an emotional need. The norm becomes:
- moral and emotional sympathy for one's neighbor;
- compassion;
- willingness to always come to the aid of those in trouble.
A person who spiritually and physically supported the members of his community could himself count on the same attitude, thanks to which community ties were strengthened, and the group’s resistance to various negative influences increased.
Formation of moral behavior today
If you look closely at the technical intricacies of educating a modern person, you can see echoes of humanity’s first steps on the path of morality formation. Already in a preschool institution, children quickly master the basic norms of behavior in a group, and through trial and error they learn to follow them in a variety of situations. In primary school conditions, moral education is given paramount attention.
A long stay in a group of similar people, strict discipline strengthens the content side of such a concept as “internal position”.
A student who is in daily contact with a large number of peers and teachers reaches a new level of control over his behavior, when every erroneous action begins to seem unacceptable, upsetting teachers, friends and comrades. Understanding the high value of moral behavior results in a set of actions that implement the following ideas:
- love;
- freedom;
- of good;
- justice.
The team gently but persistently leads each student to:
- rejection of immoral behavior;
- denial of hatred and destructive behavior.
A high strong-willed attitude, as well as an acceptable moral level, are generously rewarded by universal sympathy, strengthening spiritual aspirations.
Who is a moral person?
What is moral behavior in a modern highly competitive society? There is hardly any need to consider this concept as a complete renunciation of oneself and one’s own interests. But we can say for sure that a highly moral person is definitely devoid of gross egoism, arrogance and greed. Such an individual seeks the benefit of others and thinks about the good for the whole society. By showing altruism, this person deprives manipulators of the opportunity to control themselves.
Good deeds and humane attitudes literally save lives. A passionate conscience and high ideals do not allow evil to extinguish the faith in the bright future of humanity, which is present in each of the people from birth.
Looking at a highly moral “good” person, many may think that this is some kind of gift from above. However, there are many examples where purposeful work on oneself, one’s worldview and mistakes led to outstanding results.
Conscience and morality need to be developed. Giving up base impulses and following high ideals invariably transforms a person.
Good example
An active principle, a powerful will, striving to transform a person for the better - these are the components that can work miracles. The clearest example is the work of the outstanding teacher Makarenko, who, over the course of several years, managed to “forge” from a group of juvenile delinquents and vagabonds with a certain “thieves’ face” a brilliant team that strictly holds all members of the community within the framework of highly moral behavior. The factors that pushed them to do bad things are the regulator of behavior.
You've probably heard them say about someone: “He violated moral standards.” What are moral standards and why is their violation condemned?
The emergence of moral norms. Moral standards determine how a person should behave in relation to society, other people, and himself. They did not arise immediately, but were formed throughout the history of the development of human society.
Primitive man could not survive alone. The need for collective existence in that period of time required the implementation of certain rules of living together. It was then that the instructions took shape: “Help your relatives,” “Don’t kill,” “Don’t steal,” “Don’t lie,” etc. Labor played a decisive role in this process, on the basis of which the demands of hard work, respect for elders, help and protection of the weak, etc. appeared and were consolidated in the minds and behavior of people. In the process of development of society, increasingly complex rules for the life of people together were established and consolidated, which turned into into habit and passed on from generation to generation.
The emergence of moral norms accompanied the formation of society itself and meant the transition of man from instinctive forms of behavior to conscious collective activity. Many elementary moral norms that arose in the era of the primitive communal system retain their significance today.
The importance of moral standards for society and individuals. Today we cannot imagine life in a society without generally accepted moral standards. Morality was initially addressed to each individual and regulated the relationship “person - person”, “person - collective”, “person - society”. In the process of development of society, increasingly complex rules of joint life were established and consolidated, which turned into norms and were passed on from generation to generation. At the same time, there was a process of denial of those norms and attitudes that no longer corresponded to the new conditions of social life.
Moral standards are inherent only to humans and are formed only in human society. But it is moral norms and attitudes that regulate human behavior and the development of society and are the most important components of culture. And here we must remember that for successful action, moral norms must be deeply assimilated by a person, “enter his soul,” and become part of his inner world. A person is moral only when moral standards and moral behavior become organic to him and help him behave correctly in a wide variety of situations. And society can develop successfully when its members have moral standards that correspond to the moral ideals of a given era.
The relationship of moral norms, qualities, principles, ideals. Moral standards are the simplest form of moral requirements. They require or prohibit a certain type of behavior. Moral norms directly affect all aspects of human relationships, instructing people to show mutual care, respect, and support; be modest, truthful, sincere; develop diligence, tact, and courage. Following moral standards characterizes such human qualities as politeness, decency, and honesty. Do not offend the weak, do not humiliate, do not insult a person, do not disturb others in public places - all these are simple norms of human behavior that are formed in a person from the first years of life. The norm determines the behavior of an individual in some typical situations that have been repeated for thousands of years. We usually follow norms out of habit, without thinking; Only violation of the norm attracts people's attention as a blatant disgrace.
The effectiveness of moral norms that force a person to act in a certain way is achieved with the help of public opinion : after all, it is unpleasant for everyone to be branded as an impolite, rude, tactless person, or to experience the condemnation or ridicule of others. Public opinion, forming certain standards of behavior, serves as a guarantor of the safety of every person, protection from moral tyranny on the part of other people.
Each person, developing as a person, acquires certain moral qualities. These qualities reflect the polarity of the moral world and are divided into good ( virtues ) and bad ( vices ). Even the ancient Greek sages identified four basic human virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation and justice. When assessing a person, we most often list these qualities. However, unlike norms, moral qualities are not reduced to prescriptions or prohibitions on certain actions, since a person with moral qualities is able to choose the necessary rules of behavior and moral norms. This means that each person is responsible for cultivating virtues in himself and those around him and rejecting vices.
But a person is usually not an ideal of morality or a living embodiment of all perfections. It also has shortcomings, and one, albeit important, virtue cannot atone for moral shortcomings. It is not enough to have individual positive traits - they must complement each other, forming a common line of behavior. Usually a person determines it for himself, developing some of his own moral principles : collectivism or individualism, hard work or laziness, altruism or selfishness.
Moral principle denotes a person’s strategic attitude in his relationships with people. When we choose principles, we choose a moral orientation as a whole and are able to rationally justify it.
Loyalty to a chosen positive moral orientation has long been considered a human dignity. It meant that a person in any life situation would not stray from the moral path. However, life is diverse, and the chosen principles do not always help make the right decision in a particular situation. Thus, in the past it happened that love for people was sacrificed to revolutionary principles, and even today, falsely understood comradeship sometimes pushes people to immoral and unspiritual actions. That is why one must constantly check one’s principles for humanity, compare them with moral ideals.
Moral ideal - This is a holistic example of moral behavior that people strive for, considering it the most reasonable, useful, and beautiful. This is all the best that has been developed by morality at this stage of its development. In childhood, our ideal may be a specific person. Subsequently, the ideal as a unity of positive qualities usually acquires a more generalized character. A moral ideal allows you to evaluate the behavior of other people and is a guideline for self-improvement; allows everyone to navigate life and choose a line of behavior.
Thus, moral norms, qualities, principles, ideals do not act independently, independently of each other, but represent the main elements of the moral system. All of them are closely interconnected and interdependent.
Some conclusions:
1.Moral standards are general rules of conduct. They have been formed and changed throughout the history of the development of human society. One such norm is known as the “Golden Rule of Morality.”
2. People are encouraged to act in accordance with moral standards not only by public opinion, but also by the inner voice of conscience.
3. Moral norms, qualities, principles, ideals, acting together, constitute the moral system of a given society.
4. Guided by moral norms, principles, and ideals, a person regulates his behavior and improves himself, and society as a whole can successfully move along the path of moral progress.
Questions and tasks:
1. What is meant by moral standards? What is the significance of moral standards for individuals and for society?
2. Are there any moral standards that you personally do not like? What would happen if they could be canceled?
3. In your opinion, is public opinion about a person’s morality always fair? Why do we follow it?
4. Often I want to answer all the teachings: “I don’t owe anyone anything.” Is it so?
5. Why do we need to follow moral rules? Why do we sometimes want to avoid it?
6. Do you have a moral ideal? What do you understand by moral ideal?
7. A person with strong moral principles, a principled person - is this good or bad? Why?
Ethical standards of behavior are the secret of well-being in any society
Hello friends, guests and regular readers of my Blog. Have you ever denied yourself something because you were afraid that the result of your action, or even the action itself, would be judged by others? I decided today to discuss with you the ethical standards of human behavior.
Let's start with the simplest
You can imagine that we all live in a huge dormitory, where the rooms are our personal space, and everything else is common areas. In order for life not to turn into a nightmare, going beyond the confines of our rooms, we all must follow certain, both public and unspoken rules - the social norms of society.
Social norms can be divided into:
- Ethical
- Legal
- Religious
- Political
- Aesthetic
With the development of all mankind, almost every one of these norms has changed. The changes practically did not affect only ethical standards, as an unshakable foundation in human relations.
Ethical Standards of Conduct
Let's figure out what ethical standards are and what they are. Ethics (from the Greek etos - custom) is a branch of philosophy that studies morality.
It is believed that the first person who decided to combine several concepts about human behavior under one word was the well-known Aristotle. In his treatises, he proposed the concept of “ethics” as “virtues or virtues manifested in human behavior.” In his opinion, ethics should help to understand which actions are permissible and which are not.
In a nutshell, today ethical standards mean the totality of values accumulated by society and the moral responsibilities of a person in relation to both these accumulations and to society itself as a whole.
Rules of etiquette, culture of behavior, morality - all these are ethical standards of behavior that are regulators of relationships. They affect absolutely all interpersonal actions between people: from simple friendly communication to a large set of rules of corporate or professional ethics.
The main secret of well-being in any society is a single rule for everyone: “Act towards others as you want others to act towards you!”
Informally, norms of behavior are divided into types:
- Real are, in fact, any actions that a person performs;
- Verbal is a verbal or speech form of communication.
These two concepts are inseparable. You will hardly be considered polite if your even very civilized word is at odds with uncultured behavior. Imagine a person who greets you while savoring his teeth with a fork. Not very nice, right?
Everyone has their own limits of ethical standards; they depend, first of all, on the people around them, the level of upbringing and education. The standard of cultural human behavior is when ethical norms cease to be rules and become personal norms, internal convictions.
Etiquette as a set of rules
The rules of etiquette also dictate the boundaries of our behavior. Remember, just recently we talked to you about. Etiquette is nothing more than that very necessary template that regulates our communication with each other.
If you accidentally step on someone's foot, you apologize, a polite man will open the door for a woman, and when we receive change at the store, we all say "Thank you." The way we follow the norms of behavior, including etiquette, can characterize us as a cultured or uncultured person.
Personal and general
It is interesting that ethical standards of behavior differ in different countries. For example, in Spain, just by entering the elevator, you will hear a friendly “Hola” from everyone who is already there. In our country, greeting complete strangers in public for no reason is not practiced. And no one will be offended at you if, when you enter the pool locker room, you don’t start shaking everyone’s hands. That is, our communication traditions are completely different.
This is another principle of dividing ethical standards - personal and group.
“I’m an artist, I see it that way!”
Personal norms are what I talked about above - our internal framework determined by society, upbringing and education. This is our inner world, our sense of self. Following personal ethical standards can be defined as the level of internal dignity. For example, only you decide whether you can throw an ice cream wrapper into the bushes if no one sees you.
Group behavior
All humanity, one way or another, is united in groups. From a family or a team at work to the whole state. From birth, a person belongs to some society, and cannot but obey certain rules. Including ethical standards of behavior. Group ethics are the rules of interaction within such a group.
Once in any group, a person is forced to accept the rules generally accepted in this society. Remember the saying - you don’t go to someone else’s monastery with your own rules? This is a reference to group ethical standards. Moreover, each team, as can be seen from the example above about greetings in Russia and Spain, has its own principles of communication: including linguistic or even moral.
You say: norms, patterns, rules, frameworks - where is the freedom? We live in a society where the boundaries of our freedom are strictly limited by the boundaries of another person's freedom. That's why rules are needed. It's easier to live with them.
Why is culture of behavior so important? It depends on its level how outsiders will treat you - as a pleasant, friendly person or as an arrogant, ill-mannered boor.
The ability to behave “in public” culturally, correctly and appropriately to the situation has a beneficial effect on both your career and friendships.
“Being cultured” – what does it mean?
External and internal cultures are not necessarily closely related; sometimes they even contradict each other.
Thus, an individual who is famous for his rude and ill-mannered behavior may turn out to be the owner of a rich spiritual world and an excellent education.
And, on the contrary, a polite and sympathetic comrade who observes etiquette to the last word, from the inside is empty, ignorant, unprofessional and immoral.
External culture of behavior is the interaction of an individual with his environment. It is expressed in contacts with the world - colleagues, friends, family, in compliance with the rules of etiquette and other social norms.
These are everyday forms of our behavior: in a word, everything that we do when we find ourselves inside the world around us, and even long before this moment. 
Preparing for contact with society (hygiene, choosing clothes, putting your appearance in order) also counts!
One should not think of external culture as something artificial and superficial. It is absorbed by a person from childhood in the course of upbringing, training, and communication.
Many actions are programmed in us, and we do not hesitate to comply with certain behavioral norms - we say hello, wash our faces, thank them, work hard, give way, offer help.
For many, competent interaction with society occurs organically and naturally, because it is instilled almost from birth.
These are a kind of “rules of life” - respect your elders, show politeness and tact, be responsible, don’t be rude, don’t be late, ask permission, and the like.
Ideally, external and internal cultures complement and harmoniously highlight each other’s best sides.
The beauty of the soul, high moral standards, morality and education must coexist with visual grooming, competent speech and a courteous attitude towards others.
It is not for nothing that it is believed that a truly good person is beautiful from all sides.
What does a culture of behavior include?
It is most clearly expressed in interactions with the team - at work, at university, at school. What else does culture of behavior mean?
1. Actions of an individual in a public place (in a park and transport, in line, in a bank, at a bus stop). Ways to resolve conflicts with surrounding strangers.
2. Attitude to work and to nature, responsibility, care for the environment.
3. Household culture – fulfillment of personal needs, organization of leisure time.
7. Hygiene, external neatness, clothing style appropriate to the occasion.
As you already understand, external culture is not just how we treat other people.
If an individual violates obligations and misses deadlines at work, grimaces on the bus and hurls curses, does not say hello back and does not wash clothes for years, throws garbage past the trash can and plucks a neighbor’s flowerbed - this is also a culture of behavior. More precisely, its absence.
Cultural behavior in society
Ways of interacting with society are formed from a young age.
The following have a special influence on the emerging culture of behavior:
- Parenting
- National culture, mentality
- An example set by loved ones
In addition, a person’s behavior is indirectly influenced by religious and racial affiliation, character, education received, degree of financial security, social circle and lifestyle.
And the developed society itself teaches us to act one way or another, introducing modern principles of comfortable coexistence into our consciousness.
You need to understand that in the Middle Ages or during antiquity, the rules of behavior in society were completely different!
Having learned to comply with the laws that exist in the world around us, the child becomes a full-fledged person. He enters a team, a society, already able to behave appropriately to the situation.
The norms that are ingrained into a person at a young age are quite natural and understandable. After all, in the end, they are all eloquent manifestations of Humanity as such.
