Postconventional Ethics as a Methodological Paradigm of Modern National-Patriotic and Civic Education

Abstract

The article examines postconventional ethics as a methodological foundation of contemporary national-patriotic and civic education. The author argues that modern Ukrainian society requires not only the cultivation of loyalty to the state but, above all, the development of moral autonomy, responsibility, and citizens’ critical thinking. The purpose of the study is to explore how postconventional approaches to morality — in the sense proposed by L. Kohlberg, J. Habermas, C. Gilligan, M. Nussbaum, W. Kymlicka, and K. A. Appiah — can serve as a basis for renewing educational strategies of patriotic upbringing in Ukraine.

The methodological framework combines philosophical-anthropological, hermeneutic, axiological, and comparative approaches. The content analysis of current educational policies and strategies has made it possible to trace how traditional (conventional) and postconventional models of morality coexist within the Ukrainian pedagogical space.

The results demonstrate that postconventional ethics offers a new perspective on patriotic education — not as an ideological directive but as a process of moral maturation of the individual, capable of acting from inner conviction rather than external prescription. Patriotism in this sense unites love for one’s homeland with ethical reasoning, critical reflection on social reality, and moral solidarity.

The scientific novelty of the paper lies in interpreting postconventional ethics as an integrated methodological paradigm of civic education. The author introduces the concept of postconventional patriotism — a form of ethically mature attachment to one’s country based on the synthesis of national self-awareness and universal moral values.

The practical significance of the research is in its applicability to the design of educational courses, training programs, and civic-moral projects aimed at developing moral competence, empathy, and ethical reflection. Such an approach contributes to forming a citizen who combines love for the homeland with openness, dignity, and moral responsibility.