LESSON 2 – THE FOUNDATIONAL
PRINCIPLES OF MORALITY AND YOU
THE MORAL AGENT
Moral character refers to the existence or lack of
virtues such as integrity, courage, fortitude,
honesty, and loyalty. To say that a certain person
has a good moral character means that he is a good
person and a good citizen with a sound moral
compass.
The term “character” is derived from the
Greek word ‘charaktếr,’ which was initially used
as a mark impressed upon a coin. The word
“character” later came to mean a distinct mark
by which one thing was distinguished from
others, and then chiefly to mean the assemblage
of qualities that distinguish one person from
another. This stress on distinctiveness or
individuality tends to merge “character” with
“personality” in modern usage. For instance, when
thinking of a person’s idiosyncratic mannerisms,
social gestures, or habits of dress, we might say
“he has personality” or that “he’s quite a
character.”
The used in ethics of the word “character,”
however, has a different linguistic history. At the
beginning of Book II of the Nichomachean Ethics,
the Greek philosopher Aristotle tells us that there
are two distinct human excellences, (1) excellences
of thought, and (2) excellences of character. His
phrase of excellences of (moral) character, ‘ếthikai
aretai,’ is often translated as “moral virtue(s)” and
“moral excellence(s).” The Greek ‘ếthikos’
(ethical) is the adjective cognate with ‘ếthos’
(character). So, when we speak of a ‘virtue’ or
an excellence of moral character, the
highlighting is not on mere distinctiveness or
individuality, but on the blend of qualities that
make a person the sort of ethically admirable
individual he is.
“Moral character,” therefore, in philosophical
sense, refers to having or lacking moral virtue. If
one lacks virtue, he may have any of the moral
vices, or he may be marked by a condition
somewhere between virtue and vice, such as
continence and incontinence.
Moreover, philosophers usually think that moral
character traits, unlike other personality or
psychological traits, have an irreducibly evaluative
dimension; that is, they involve a normative
judgment. The agent is morally responsible for
having the moral character trait itself or for the
outcome of that trait. Hence, a certain moral
character trait is a trait for which the agent is
morally involved.
In the process of moral development, there is
the circular relation between acts that build
character and moral character itself. Not all acts
help to build moral character, but those acts which
emanate from moral characters certainly matter in
moral development. Hence, there appears the
apparent circular relationship between individual
acts and moral character. A person’s actions
determine his moral character, but moral
character itself generates acts that help in
developing either virtue or vice.
Virtuous traits of character ought to be stable and
enduring and are not mere products of fortune, but
of learning, constant practice, and cultivation. But
we have to add that virtuous traits of character are
called excellences of the human being because
they are the best exercise of reason, which is the
activity of characteristic of human beings. In this
sense, the Greek moralists believe, virtuous acts
complete or perfect human life.
Nonetheless, the Greek philosophers think that it
takes someone of good moral character to
determine with regularity and reliability what
individual acts are appropriate and reasonable in
certain situations and that it takes someone of good
moral character to decide with regularity and
reliability how and when to secure goods and
resources for himself and others. Aristotle thus
states that, it is not easy to define in rules which
acts deserve moral praise and blame, and that,
these matters require the judgment of the virtuous
person, that is, someone with good moral
character.
Among the personnel designated by the society to
enable the schools to carry out its education
function, the teacher takes on a primary role.
Teachers are responsible in educating the youth,
as stated in the 1987 Constitution, Article XIV:
1) Second parents. Teachers may influence the
behavior and character of students, as they are
second to none in doing noble service of rearing
good citizens and future leaders of our nation. To a
great extent, the quality of education depends on
the ability of the teacher and the standard of
teaching he uses.
2) Heart of the educational system. The teacher
is the key to the learning process as they have the
biggest impact on student learning and
performance. A school may have the best facilities
and excellent learning tools but if its teachers are
inefficient and incompetent, its whole educational
program would collapse.
With the foregoing statements, it must be noted
that Philippine Educational Philosophy
emphasized on the development of the Filipino
people to become productive citizens in society. It
is also stated in the provisions of the 1987
Constitution that education is one of the highest
priorities of the national government, because
through education people will obtain better
physical and intellectual training that will enable
them to achieve greater dignity and progress.
THE TEACHER AS A PERSON
The teacher is the representative of the
content and the school. How a teacher presents
himself makes an impression on administrators,
colleagues, parents, and students. Often a student
links the preference to a particular subject to a
teacher and the way the subject was taught. A
teacher who shows enthusiasm and competence for
a content area may transfer those feelings to the
students. The teacher’s personality is one of the
first sets of characteristics to look for in an
effective teacher. Many aspects of effective
teaching can be evaluated. But it is difficult to
effect change in an individual’s personality.
ATTRIBUTES TO AN EFFECTIVE
TEACHER
Several studies have been made of the abilities
and attributes of an effective teachers and the
relative desirability of various traits for success in
teaching. The following are some of the abilities
which the teacher must have:
A. The Teacher as Intellectual Model
1. The teacher should display an interest in
learning, and scholarly abilities of research,
analysis and application of information processing
to decisions
2. The teacher should have as a mature adult. This
requires behavior such as suppressing immediate
impulses to advance some long-range purpose,
identifying problems, and developing and carrying
out plans for solving problems.
3. The teacher should plan and execute the
educational program on the basis of the best
estimates of the conditions which the student will
face in the future. These include changing
requirements for continuing in various kinds of
academic programs, changing job requirements,
and changing relationships among people and
institutions.
B. The Effect of the Teacher’s Affective
Make-up
1. The teacher should learn to adjust her opinion or
evaluation of a student as the student’s
performance and interest change.
2. The teacher should have positive expectations
for each student which she is responsible for. This
does not mean that the teacher needs to be
disconnected from reality. On the contrary, a
realistic assessment of the student’s current
abilities should be the basis of a constant search
for a better learning plan for each student.
3. The teacher should have a previously
established plan for responding to a student’s
learning problem. It might take the form of using a
combination of a student’s profile, a case history
discussion with other teachers and observation of
the student’s immediate behavior in order to arrive
at a strategy for helping a student in the classroom.
4. The teacher should give each student a sense of
individual worth and importance by attention to
events which the student considers important, by
noticing the things which the student does best, by
positive references to the student as a student, and
by developing realistic self-evaluation based upon
evidence of change and growth.
5. The teacher should keep relaxed, professional
manner even when there are multiple demands
upon her time and attention. The teacher should be
sensitive to sing from the children
6. The teacher should be able to change his
behavior quickly in response to new information
about a student which he can attribute to his acts.
C. The Teacher as an Observer and Responder
to Student Behavior
1. The teacher should be able to classify student
responses (e. g., reciting a verbal chain) in order to
determine whether they are appropriate for the
learning objective.
2. The teacher should be able to write or select
performance objectives which can represent the
curriculum.
3. The teacher should be able to classify activities
on a priority scale from essential to nonessential
and to focus her efforts upon the essential activities
when there is shortage of time.
4. The teacher should be able to classify student
behavior according to the degree that it contributes
to learning objectives. (This is especially important
for the child who is not confident student). The
teacher should take some care to reinforce
productive activity, and to avoid reinforcing
non-productive activity.
5. The teacher should avoid using punishment
(e.g., shaming or angry criticism) for incorrect
responses during instruction.
6. The teacher should use rewards and
reinforcement which are appropriate for the task,
and appropriate to the individual student.
D. The Teacher’s Task of Employing a
Systematic Approach to Resource Allocation
and Decision Making
1. The teacher should learn to allow students to
make as many decisions as possible. This requires
that she be able to make an accurate determination
of the student’s decision-making ability.
2. The teacher should arrange instructional
materials so that they will be maximally accessible
to the students—preferably without the
intervention of an adult.
3. The teacher should use or develop procedures,
forms, and schedules for learning decision making
for learning activities.
E. The Teacher as a Knowledge Source
1. The teacher should be able to make a competent
instructional response to the unique learning
problems of each group of students, who maybe
working on activities which span years of the
curriculum. This will probably require specific
training, using microteaching and critical
incidence techniques.
2. The teacher should answer student’s question in
such a way as to promote learning by the student.
No fixed rules can be stated, saying that questions
should not be answered. Sometimes a question
should be answered simply so that the students can
get on with what he is doing. At other times a
question should be answered with a question, and
still other times the student should be referred to a
reference source. In general, responding to a
student questions can be one of the most rewarding
parts of the life of a teacher. When the student
takes the initiative by asking a question, it is an
important sign of intellectual activity.
F. The Teacher’s Task in Data Collection and Use
1. The teacher should assess the entering behavior
of students—their mastery of prerequisite
knowledge and abilities.
2. The teacher should assess what the student
learns outside of the school, and she should
assume that much relevant learning does take place
outside of the school.
3. The teacher should observe (and if possible,
measure) the latency of student responses, and
develop tactics for dealing with either very long
latencies or impulsive responses.
4. The teacher should develop guidelines (with
expert assistance) as to when a student can be
expected to make creative responses as opposed to
a limited or closely guided responses.
G.The Teacher Task in the Student’s Career
Development
1. The teacher should use examples and instances
in the instructional process which are motivating
because they relate to the student’s career goals.
2. The teacher should provide instruction directly
related to the saleable skills required, needed, or
wanted by an individual student.
3. The teacher should use the activities in
technical, vocational, and arts and crafts programs
to promote motivation for learning academic skills
which are related to the student’s possible career
choices.
What is Morality?
Society expects much from a teacher. Henry
Brooks Adams, said it succinctly: “A teacher
affects eternity; he can never tell where his
influence stops.” For a teacher to be able to cope
up with these expectations, he/she should be
anchored on a bedrock foundation of ethical and
moral principles.
Morality refers to the quality of human acts by
which we call them right or wrong, good or evil
(Panizo, 1964). A human action is right when it
conforms with the norm, rule or law of morality.
Otherwise, it is said to be wrong.
A man’s action, habit or character is good when
it is not lacking of what it is natural to man, i.e.
when it is in accordance with man’s nature. Man
has intellect and free will. His intellect makes him
capable of thinking, judging, and reasoning, his
free will gives him the ability to choose. Unlike
the beasts, he is not bound by instincts.
Meaning of foundational moral principle
What is meant by foundational moral
principle? The word principle comes from the
Latin word princeps which means a beginning,
a source. A principle is that on which something is
based, founded, originated, initiated. It is likened
to the foundation of a building upon which all
other parts stand. A foundational moral principle
is, therefore, the universal norm upon which all
other principles on the rightness or wrongness of
an action are based. It is the surce of morality.
Where is this foundational moral principle?
It is contained in the natural law. Many moralists,
authors, and philosophers may have referred to this
foundational moral principle in different terms.
But it may be acceptable to all believers and
non-believers alike to refer to it as natural law.
What is meant by natural law? It is the law
“written in the hearts of men” (Romans 2:15). For
theists, it is “man’s share in the Eternal Law of
God…” (Panizo, 1964) St. Thomas defines it “as
the light of natural reason, whereby we discern
what is good and what is evil…an imprint on us of
the divine light…” (Panizo, 1964) It is the law that
says: “Do good and avoid evil.” This is the
fundamental or foundational moral principle.
All men and women, regardless of race and
belief, have a sense of this foundational moral
principle. It is ingrained in man’s nature. It is built
into the design of human nature and woven into
the fabric of the normal human mind. We are
inclined to do what we recognize as good and
avoid that which we recognize as evil.
Panizo says: ‘Writings, customs, and
monuments of past and present generations point
out to this conclusion: that all peoples on earth, no
matter how savage and illiterate, have recognized a
supreme law of divine origin commanding good
and forbidding evil” (1964). The same thing was
said by the Chinese philosopher Mencius long
ago:
“All men have a mind which cannot bear to see the
sufferings of others…If men suddenly see a child
about to fall into a well, they will without
exception experience a feeling of alarm and
distress…From this case we may perceive that the
feeling of commiseration is essential to man, that
he who lacks the feeling of commiseration is not a
man; that he who lack a feeling of shame and
dislike is not a man; he who lacks a feeling of
modesty and yielding is not a man; and that he
who lacks a sense of right and wrong is not a
man…Man has these four beginnings…(Fung
Yulan, 1948, 69-70).
The natural law that says “do good and avoid
evil” comes in different versions. Kung-fu-tsu said
the same when he taught: “Do not do unto others
what you do not like others to do to you.” This is
also the Golden Rule of Christianity only it is
written in the positive form: “Do to others what
you like others do to you.” Immanuel Kant’s
version is “Act in such a way that your maxim can
be the maxim for all.” For Christians, this Golden
Rule is made more explicit in the Ten
Commandments and the Eight Beatitudes. These
are summarized in the two great commandments,
“love God with all your heart, with all your mind,
with all your strength” and “love your neighbour
as you love yourself.” The Buddhists state this
through the eightfold path.
For Buddhists, they do good when they “(1) strive
to know the truth; (2) resolve to resist evil; (3) say
nothing to hurt others; (4) respect life, morality
and property; (5) engage in a job that does not
injure others; (6) strive to free their mind of evil;
(7) control their feelings and thoughts; and (8)
practice proper forms of concentration” (World
Book Encyclopedia, 1988). Buddha taught that
“hatred does not cease by hatred; hatred only
ceases by love.” The Islamic Koran forbids “lying,
stealing, adultery, and murder.” It also teaches
“honor parent, kindness to slaves, protection for
the orphaned and the widowed, and charity to the
poor. It teaches the virtues of faith in God,
patience, kindness, honesty, industry, honor,
courage, and generosity” (World Book
Encyclopedia, 1988). Furthermore, the Muslims
abide by the Five Pillars of Islam: 1) belief in
Allah and in Muhammad his prophet; 2) prayer
five times a day; 3) self-purification by fasting; 4)
almsgiving; and 5) pilgrimage to Mecca for those
who can afford.
Teacher as a person of good moral character
As laid down in the preamble of the Code of
Ethics of Professional Teachers, “teachers are
duly licensed professionals who possesses
dignity and reputation with high moral values
as well as technical and professional
competence in the practice of their noble
profession, they strictly adhere to. observe, and
practice this set of ethical and moral principles,
standards, and values.”
From the above preamble, the words moral
values are mentioned twice, to accentuate on the
good moral character expected of the teacher.
When is a person of good moral character? One
Christian author describes four ways of describing
good moral character:
1) being fully human – you have realized
substantially your potential as a human person;
2) being a loving person – you are caring in an
unselfish and mature manner with yourself, other
people and God;
3) being a virtuous person – you have acquired
good habits and attitudes and you practice them
consistently in your daily life; and
4) being morally mature person – you have
reached a level of development emotionally,
socially, mentally, spiritually appropriate to your
developmental stage (Cosgrave, 2004).
In short, you are on the right track when you
strive to develop your potential, you love and care
for yourself and make this love flow to others, you
lead a virtuous life, and as you advance in age you
also advance in your emotional, social, intellectual
and spiritual life.
Activity/Questions to Ponder on
Answer the following questions for further
discussion.
1. What does the following statement imply on the
role of religion in the moral formation of man?
“If God did not exist, then everything would be
permitted.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky

2. Who said the following words and what do they

say about the natural law?
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control. Against such things
there is no law.”