Chapter 54: Playful Activity and Thought as the Medium for Moral Development: Implications for Moral Education

Themes related to moral development and moral education have been proposed over many centuries by Western theorists (e.g., Plato, Rousseau, Calvin) and often these themes had playful, or at least imaginative aspects (Plato’s cave, Rousseau’s free spirit, Calvin’s Biblical origin story). Themes related to morality in other cultures have also been pervasive and these theories have often drawn on imaginative spirits (e.g., Zeus, Athena, Raven, Coyote) or on childhood playful repetition of adult behaviors to instill moral education (e.g., Confucius, Puritans). During the early half of the 20th century, theorists who were prominent primarily for other aspects of their theoretical writings, such as Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, and Lev Vygotsky, also looked at aspects of moral development through the lens of playful activity. For example, they discussed the moral-emotional meanings of pretense and block play (Erikson, 1977), the influence of games with rules on moral reasoning (Piaget, 1965), the creation of guilt and shame through imagined wish-fulfilling plots (S. Freud, 1938), expressions of inappropriate thoughts and behaviors through joking (S. Freud, 1960), playful demonstration of painful moral-emotional themes as part of a healing process (A. Freud, 1989), and practice of self-regulation behavior in sociodramatic play (Vygotsky, 1967). Through these aspects of their work they suggested that playful actions and imaginative thoughts often address moral issues, promote moral behaviors, and enhance moral emotions and thus can contribute to understanding of moral development, definitions of morality, sources of moral capacities, and suggestions for moral education.