Roger Prentice, a teacher and lecturer on children’s education, has developed a model of education called SunWALK, designed to teach moral philosophy to children:

As parents or teachers, it’s impossible to put ourselves in the position of parents who have lost a child in one of the increasingly common acts of violence carried out in schools, such as the Columbine High School shooting in the United States some years ago.

What is clear, however, is the need for a strong and loving education in moral behaviour, to minimise the risk of these horrific events recurring.

After many years working as a teacher, I believe that moral education must incorporate the development of a child’s abilities to care, to be creative, and to critically assess positive and negative behaviour. The three C’s are the ways in which we engage with our self, with others and with the world at large.

Practically, examples of caring relevant in early education might include asking children to carry out acts of service to others; simple actions such as offering biscuits to their grandparents. In the early years, creativity can be taught by providing children with access to artistic materials so they can express themselves. And teaching criticality can take the form of asking questions such as looking at pictures and asking whether the red dog bigger or smaller than the blue dog? Which one is sad? How do we know he is sad?

As children get older, they come to understand that these three abilities - of engaging with themselves, with others, and the world at large, overlap and support each other. Caring becomes a domain for healthy moral and interpersonal behaviour, creativity provides an outlet for personal expression, and criticality enables the child to understand moral philosophy and the sciences.

To develop morally we need to grow in all three domains – and this learning appears to reap its best results if it is provided in a community, preferably one which is loving and just, and which can draw on strong spiritual and moral guidance.