Exploring the contribution of literature in English to students’ moral development in selected secondary schools in Kampala district.

Abstract

This study aimed at exploring the contribution of Literature in English to students’ morals development in selected secondary schools in Kampala district. The objectives of the study were; to establish how moral values are portrayed in selected literature texts studied in secondary schools, to find out students’ perception of moral values in selected literature texts studied in secondary schools and also the study sought to find out the extent to which teachers help students master the moral values portrayed in selected literature texts. This study was guided by the Kohlberg’s theory of moral development and reader response theory (RRT).The study used a qualitative research design and was conducted in Old Kampala senior school, Mengo senior school and Makerere college school all in Kampala district. The sample included 6 (six) secondary school teachers three of whom were literature teachers. 27 Senior four students offering Literature in English participated in this study and 9 students were selected from each school. Four methods of data collection were used and these included in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, classroom observations, and documentary analysis. The findings revealed that indeed moral lessons are portrayed in the selected literature texts studied. The texts studied showed that when learners are exposed to the stories, there are high chances of becoming responsible just by imitating or identifying with the morally upright characters. It was further revealed that majority of the students noted that learning literature texts helps them to expand their moral values, because literature texts always explore and emphasize the importance of some values like honesty and trust that they exhibit when they grow up. It was recommended that students should be encouraged to learn literature in order to develop the morals required by the society.