The aim of the study was to explore children’s conceptions of morality, specifically the meanings children assigned to situations of morality. The participants were eight to eleven-year-old children (n = 8; female = 5, male = 3) who attended a primary school in KwaZulu-Natal. The children completed vignettes depicting moral dilemmas involving the following hypothetical scenarios: scenario 1 = seeking revenge; scenario 2 = breach of a contract. Thematic analysis of the data uncovered three themes: (i) sense of right or wrong; (ii) ethics of care; and (iii) ideas about fairness. Findings reveal that the young children had advanced conceptions of morality and understandings of justice, ethics of care, and notions of fairness. It emerged that their moral reasoning, moral judgements, moral attributions, and moral emotions are intersecting in nature and are underpinned by the African values of Ubuntu.

该研究的目的是探索儿童的道德观念，特别是儿童对道德情境所赋予的意义。参加者为八至十一岁的儿童（n= 8; 女= 5，男= 3）在夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省的一所小学就读。孩子们完成了描绘道德困境的小插曲，涉及以下假设情景：情景1 =寻求报复；场景2 =违反合同。数据的主题分析揭示了三个主题：（i）对与错的感觉；（ii）护理伦理；（iii）关于公平的想法。调查结果表明，幼儿对道德的观念和对正义，照料的伦理以及公平观念的理解较高。结果表明，他们的道德推理，道德判断，道德归因和道德情感在本质上是相交的，并受到非洲Ubuntu价值观的支持。