Level one and two of Kohlberg 's stages of moral development are present within the children and teachers of this case 's school and it has resulted in cheating and poor administrative decisions. Having most of the students at lower levels is harming the learning environment for the students and this needs to be resolved through activities and workshops for both the teachers and the students. Through the examples of actions taken at the school it is clear that the majority of the students and teachers are within the first two levels and this is negatively impacting the atmosphere with cheating and poor administrative decisions. Stage one is seen in two students with them only fearing repercussions from their actions and not whether they are …show more content…
First, both Truman and Elsa are pre-conventional level one stage one. This is clear due to their actions and moral reasoning being solely based off direct consequences and punishment. Elsa states after being asked if she would cheat again "it depends what the consequences are" (Case Study Description, 2016, Case 2). Here we can see that Elsa relates good and bad directly to punishment and consequences and this is directly representative of stage one. Truman, who also cheated, states a similar reason thinking he wouldn 't get caught. This is another clear example of level one stage one moral decision. These are pre-conventional stage one reasoning as their actions are punishment driven and cheating is only perceived as wrong if they are caught and punished. A key aspect of Kohlberg 's stages that differs from many other developmental systems is that there is no age restrictions on each stage. This is seen when both the principal and Mary are at level one stage two. Both Mary and the principal choose actions driven by self interest and does not consider outside groups and reputations. This is seen when Mary pays other students to do her homework. The principal if seen portraying stage two behavior when the case study describes the principal 's initiatives as being "in the personal interest of the principal rather than the students" (Case …show more content…
It would be necessary to workshop both the students and the administrative staff however this must be done separately to avoid embarrassment and keep the teachers being perceived as mentors. First the teachers should use the next personal development day to attend a workshop where they will participate in lessons and activities to learn Kohlberg 's stages of moral development. It is important to train the teachers first as they can then be good role models for the students and help them progress as well. After the teachers and the principal the next goal would be to help the students advance their moral development. If the students were younger in age I would suggest using more activities and childhood stories with messages behind them as they would be more receptive. Some stories that would help simulate moral discussion are "The Little Red Hen" or "The Little Engine That Could". These stories with themes of helping and deeper messages would be very useful in helping teach morals to younger children but would obviously be useless for older children. Another activity we learned that can help teach children 's morality is taking care of a class pet. This is because taking care of a fish or other pet requires students to pay attention and give care to something other than themselves and can help them get out of this first few stages. However, if the students were
Kohlberg’s theory was often criticized for being culturally biased towards individualistic cultures because the third and highest level of morality pertained most to middle-class Americans (168). Erikson’s theory of stage development revolved around accomplishing certain psychological goals to develop onto the next stage of life. Whichever goal was completed, would determine if a person could move on happily or have problems along the way (Myers 170).
Rest, J., Narvaez, D., Thoma, S., & Bebeau, M. (1999). DIT2: Devising and testing a revised instrument of moral judgment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(4), 644-659.
For this experiment we asked Norma Tapia to interview her to find out where exactly she lies in Kohlberg and Piagets moral stages. She is a seventeen year old high school senior who
As a preschool teacher, one should be reminded that selfish- behavior is very typical at this age (Omrod, 2014). When this behavior emerges in the classroom, one should encourage prosocial behavior. For example, encourage students to comfort each other when one is feeling sad or angry. Another important rule of thumb should is to make sure classroom standards should be made very clear at the beginning of the school year. These standards should be posted somewhere clearly for everyone to see. If a student misbehaves in class, revisit the standards and give reasons as to why their behavior is unacceptable, also focus on why and how their behavior caused harm or distress to other students or the teacher. Another way to encourage moral and prosocial behavior in the classroom is to model it. Children are more apt to exhibit moral and prosocial behavior when they see others behaving in such a way. Literature is also a great resource for modeling these behaviors as well as giving example of unacceptable behavior. Fun and interactive ways to model and encourag...
moral development. In these stages, Kohlberg concentrates on the reasons why people act the way they do; not the way they think about their actions or what action they take, but the reasoning behind their actions.
In Kohlbergs moral stages five & six people begin to understand morals and social good then moral reasoning. Basic human rights become important as well as principles.
I noticed in Piaget stages of moral development Kevin is in the autonomous morality stage. Kevin has realized the rules at school and standards can be negotiated and or changed because his parents can get the school to change the rules or policies for his benefit. On Kohlberg’s stage Kevin, his behaviors can be related to the conventional level stage 4. Broderick and Blewitt describes Kohlberg’s conventional morality as “what is right depends on other’s approval or on the need to maintain social order” (pg. 261). Kevin’s peers react to his negative behaviors is effecting his moral
“Once a teacher has identified an opening in the curriculum for exploring a moral value, the next step is to plan an effective lesson or unit around that value. That means selecting good materials (Lickona, 1991, p. 170)”. I feel this book is exactly that, a riveting story that can expose students to great moral values.
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development is three levels consisting of two stages in each. Kohlberg’s Theory explains how a human’s mind morally develops. Level one is typically common in younger children. The two stages in level one are pre-conventional stages. Stage one is obedience and punishment driven; one will judge an action by the consequences given. Stage two is out of self interest. Level two is mostly common in teenagers. The stages in this level
Lawrence Kohlberg conducted research on the moral development of children. He wanted to understand how they develop a sense of right or wrong and how justice is served. Kohlberg used surveys in which he included moral dilemmas where he asked the subjects to evaluate a moral conflict. Through his studies, Kohlberg observed that moral growth and development precedes through stages such as those of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development. He theorized that moral growth begins at the beginning of life and continues until the day one dies. He believed that people proceed through each stage of moral development consecutively without skipping or going back to a previous stage. The stages of thought processing, implying qualitatively different modes of thinking and of problem solving are included in the three levels of pre-conventional, conventional and post conventional development. (2)
The moral development of children can depend on many factors. Parenting and upbringing of the child, their environment, social environment, gender, and race are all aspects that can contribute to how a child develops their moral standards and expectations. Many psychologist have tried for several years to develop a theory to how morality is developed. One in particular is Lawrence Kohlberg (1958), his moral development theory is based on the cognitive development of children and it is thought that moral development proceeds and changes as cognitive development occurs (Arnett, 2012). Kohlberg’s moral development theory consist of 3 different levels each containing 2 stages altogether making 6 stages of moral development, as Kohlberg conducted
Kohlberg, L. (1984). The psychology of moral development: the nature and validity of moral stages. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Children are warned not to be dishonest throughout multiple aspects of life, and this ideal is consistently reminded throughout higher academic institutions and other professional settings. Academic dishonesty describes student behavior which is not in accordance with the ethical standards or ideas considered to be good in a specific culture (Muñoz-García & Aviles-Herrera, 2014). In one study related to academic dishonesty among children, experimenters concluded after the first test that there was a large rate of children who were engaging in academic dishonesty (Callender, Olson, Kerr, & Sameroff, 2010), however the reasoning behind the majority of children cheating can be due to the young age of the children and the innate disregard to follow
In a society with a vast array of different beliefs and mediums through which these beliefs are presented, children can get lost in an overwhelming sea of influential ideas and concepts not necessarily intended for their eyes and ears. Character education is a concept that calls for teachers and school curriculums to guide students in learning what Edward F. DeRoche and Mary M. Williams (2001, p. 25) described as “core values held sacred by a democratic society.” Parents are generally considered the teachers of morals, but if values like sharing, compassion, and honesty are never enforced or addressed outside the home, these values may never be established as a stable foundation in the child’s mind. Character education’s purpose is to help children choose to be well-mannered, stable, cooperative individuals. Character education is not in every school system, but its support is growing along with the amount of research evidence increasing in its favor (Viadero, 2003). The teaching of values in education has evolved into character education, and today there are different studies, designs, and resources for character education programs in schools to foster moral growth and citizenship in children.
According to Kohlberg, individuals progress through a series of stages in the evolution of their sense of justice and in the kind of reasoning that they utilize to make moral judgments (Feldman, R., 2013, p. 426). His work modified and expanded from Jean Piaget’s previous work to form a theory of cognitive development that explained how pre-adolescent children develop moral reasoning (Cherry, K., 2014, October 12). Kohlberg’s theory of moral development focuses on children’s ability to distinguish right from wrong based on their perception. His theory claims that individuals progress through the levels morality in a fixed order and