Abstract

An investigation of moral modelling in schools, based on psychological and neuroscientific theories of moral development, uses grounded theory analysis of interviews, lesson observations and field notes to examine the effect of empathic teachers on developing positive behaviour and learning specifically with children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. These students are at high risk of disaffection, low achievement and reduced self-esteem in school which can impact on the learning and lives of others both in classrooms and beyond. The paper concludes that behaviour and learning can clearly be improved by empathic teachers in specific contexts but that general classroom conditions in schools inhibit the profoundly empathic relationships needed for moral development, with substantial implications for longer term morality for these children, both in school and wider society. Policy makers and schools need to plan strategically to provide adequate support for such students at an early stage