Moral literacy is defined as the ability to contend with complex moral problems. The morally literate individual must acknowledge the multiple perspectives of individuals involved and assess both disagreements on and proposed responses to the problems. The development of these abilities involves learning and practicing a set of skills, including ethical sensitivity, listening, reflecting, critical thinking, and moral reasoning.
In addition to ethics education at Penn State, the Rock Ethics Institute is committed to providing moral literacy resources and education for K-12 populations. To this end, we gather and disseminate moral literacy information for K-12 researchers, leaders, teachers, and students. We organize numerous events that center on ethics, education, ethical leadership, and K-12 moral literacy (such as the Moral Literacy Colloquium, the Waterbury Lecture Series on Moral Development, the Values and Leadership Conference, and the Ethics and Education Interest Group).
In addition, the Rock Ethics Institute is a member of the Center for the Study of Leadership and Ethics in Education (CSLEE) a University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Program Center. The Center is devoted to the support, promotion and dissemination of theory and research on values and leadership. The Center for the Study of Leadership and Ethics in Education is a collaboration between the Rock Ethics Institute and seven other Centers.