Journal of Moral Education, Vol. 33, No. 2, June 2004 In support of the cognitive-developmental approach to moral education: a response to David Carr Aaron S. Richmond* & Rhoda Cummings University of Nevada, USA David Carr (2002) has argued against the use of developmental theories as a basis for curriculum development in moral education. Although we find common ground with some aspects of Carr’s arguments, we disagree with several of his criticisms of the cognitive-developmental approach to moral education. He confuses romantic ideology (as espoused by Rousseau and others) and progressive ideology (as espoused by Dewey and others); he assumes that developmental theories have no endpoint or final goal from which to structure moral education; and he argues against the use of psychological inquiry to validate a philosophical ought. This paper is an attempt to clarify Carr’s arguments and propose a justification for the developmental approach to moral education. Introduction This article is a response to Carr’s (2002) critique of the application of developmen- tal theories to moral education. According to Carr, there are distinct and possibly irreconcilable differences between the ‘traditionalist’ and ‘progressive’ approaches to moral education. He uses the traditional/progressive dichotomy to illustrate the shortcomings of the progressive, or developmental approach to moral education. According to Carr, the aims and goals of the traditionalist, or cultural transmission model of moral education, is to instruct children in the knowledge, values and virtues characteristic of civil societies. By comparison, Carr criticizes the progressive- developmental model for its lack of any determinant endpoint to give shape to educational efforts so that moral education is a matter of process rather than product. Further, the processes relevant to education are not specified, and the teacher has no *Corresponding author: CEP Dept./MS281, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA. Email: richmond@unr.edu ISSN 0305-7240 print; ISSN 1465-3877 online/04/020197-09  2004 Journal of Moral Education Ltd DOI: 10.1080/0305724042000215230