MRAVNÁ VÝCHOVA V ŠKOLÁCH NA SLOVENSKU A V ZAHRANI ČÍ

MORAL EDUCATION AND CZECH SCHOOLS
Pavel VACEK, Czech Republic
Abstract
The status quo of moral education in Czech schools is presented in a wider historical and social
context in the first part of the text. The author concentrates on outlining why so little attention is paid
to this issue at the moment. Consequently, the work shows what options schools and teachers in
general have in influencing pupils‘ character within the context of the changes taking place in the
contemporary Czech education system. The final part of the work offers comments and suggests
concrete standards and procedures that would, if appropriately applied, allow for positive changes in
the quality of moral education in the Czech Republic.
Introduction
If applying a very critical point of view, a report with the above stated title could be very brief, as the
situation concerning moral education in Czech schools is very difficult to describe (to record). It is due
to the fact that moral education lacks a coherent and coordinated concept.
As I have written before, there is little to assess because there are only scarce examples of systematic
ethics. These examples are mostly results of “personal” involvement of schools or individual teachers
(Vacek, 2002).
When basic ethical issues are discussed (good/evil, politeness/rudeness, morality/immorality)
they are usually connected with more or less serious breaking of school rules or discipline, which is
normally followed by a punishment. Both expert as well as lay public suggest more restrictions, call
for “old times” and strange general moralizing. The unsystematic and episodic character of moral
education in Czech schools is paradox because schools are traditionally expected to provide for the
formation of pupils´ character, and as our findings have shown teachers also view it as essential
(Vacek, Lašek, 2007, a,b). However, it seems there are some positive things to come.
Historical context
The status quo of moral education in the Czech Republic cannot be considered outside a wider social
and historical context. Although almost 20 years have passed since the fall of the totalitarian regime,
there are still repercussions of the so-called “ominous heritage”.
Contamination of the whole education system with the only “scientific ideology” was most clearly
shown in the area of moral education. Within the so-called communist education moral education was
burdened most heavily by the ideological ballast of “the only scientific” doctrine of Marxism and
Leninism. The concept of the communist moral education was based on dogmatic understanding of
ethics, in which the so-called communist ethics (moral) was superior to other ethical systems, in terms
of history as well as present. The moral codex of the builder of communism was a caricature and a
dangerous promotion of “being devoted” to the idea of communism, social patriotism and proletarian
internationalism with serious consequences for the formation of teachers´ and pupils´ characters. The
so-called “double morality”, which was typical for the age of “normalisation”, increased the moral
deficit of the whole society.
S. Kučerová shows that the relation of good and evil used to be naively regarded as solved by the
gradual transformation of the social order into the socialist and subsequently communist order. “All
´evil´ was reduced to anachronisms of capitalism in consciousness, classless society was promoted as
perfect and absolutely conflict free” (Kučerová, 1990, s. 30).
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