Kohlberg’s Stages of

Moral Developme

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OBJECTIVES

to: explain the stages of moral

development. analyze a person’s level of

moral reasoning based on his/her responses to moral dilemmas.

cite how the theory of moral development can be applied to your work as a teacher later on.

Moral or Morality• Morality (from the Latin moralitas "manner, character,

proper behavior") is the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are distinguished as proper and those that are improper. Good or Bad.

• Development: • the act or process of growing or causing something to

grow or become larger or more advanced • : the act or process of creating something over a period of

time • : the state of being created or made more advanced

MORAL DEVELOPMENT

• Moral Development focuses on the

emergence changes and understanding the

Morality from infancy to adulthood

Any idea?

MORAL DILEMMA In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was so expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times of what the drug cost him to make. He paid $400 for the radium and charged $4,000 for a small dose of the drug.

Continue please …

The sick woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money and tried every legal means, but he could only get together about $2,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, “No, I discovered the drug and I’m going to make money from it.” So, having tried every legal means, Heinz gets desperate and considers breaking into the mans store to steal the drug for his wife.

If you were Heinz would you steal the drug? Why? Why not?

If I am Heinz, I will ?…

Answer ?

In which of these responses is your answer most similar?

Stage 1 – “No, I wouldn’t steal the drug, because I would be punished. The law says stealing is wrong, so its wrong.”

Stage 2 – “No, I wouldn’t steal the drug, because while I want to save my wife, being punished would be worse than losing her. I could just get married again.”

Stage 3 –”No, I wouldn’t steal the drug, because people would see me as a selfish thief who

breaks rules just for my own benefit.”

Continue please …Stage 4 –”No, I wouldn’t steal the drug, because there is

a greater good to be maintained – rules exist in order to protect all members of society. If I were to act in my own selfish behalf and steal, it would set a dangerous precedent with terrible long term ramifications.”

Stage 5 –”No, I wouldn’t steal the drug, though it would pain me miserably. I believe the rights of my wife to the drug are valid, but they must be balanced against the rights of the druggist. Her rights to life are greater. I believe the druggist is acting immorally, and that he should be implored to sell it cheaper, but I would stop short of stealing and

Continue please … and breaking laws that all of us have decided to

accept as good members of the society.”Stage 6 –”I would steal the drug, administer it to my

wife, and then turn myself in to the police. I would demand that I be punished to the full extent of the law. While stealing is reprehensible, my ethical principles value life above property, and therefore, to be true to myself and to life itself, I must break the lesser law in order to follow the greater good.”

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development

According to Kohlberg, moral development occurs in six stages :

LEVEL STAGE DESCRIPTION

Pre-conventional Level-

Moral reasoning is based on the consequence/result of the act, not on the whether the act is good or bad.

1

2

Punishment/Obedience. One is motivated by fear of punishment. He will act in order to avoid punishment.

Mutual Benefit. One is motivated to act by the benefit that one may obtain later. “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”

LEVEL STAGE DESCRIPTION

Conventional Level-

Moral Reasoning is based on the conventions or “norms” of society. These may include approval of others, law, order.

3

4

Social Approval. One is motivated by what others expect in behavior – good boy, good girl. The person acts because he/she values how he/she will appears to others. He/she gives importance on what people think or say.

Law and Order. One is motivated to act in order to uphold law and order. The person will follow the law because it is the law.

LEVEL STAGE DESCRIPTION

Post-conventional Level -

Moral Reasoning is based on enduring or consistent principles. It is not just recognizing the law, but the principles behind the law.

5

6

Social Contract. Laws that are wrong can be changed. One will act based on social justice and the common good.

Universal Principles. This is associated with the development of one’s conscience. Having a set of standards that drives one to possess moral responsibility to make societal changes regardless of consequences to oneself. Examples of persons are Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Kohlberg and Moral Education

Goal of Moral Education- is to encourage individuals to develop to the next

stage of moral reasoning. The most common tool for doing this is to present a “moral dilemma” and have students in groups determine and justify what course the actor in the dilemma should take.

Group Discussion, students are able to practice moral reasoning and are able to learn from other perspectives.

Continue please…

Kohlberg and his colleagues came up with the “just community” schools approach towards promoting moral development (Power, Higgins, & Kohlberg, 1989).

The fundamental Goal of these schools is to enhance students’ moral development by offering them the chance to participate in a democratic community. Here, democracy refers to more than simply casting a vote. It entails full participation of community members in arriving at consensual rather than “majority rules” decision-making.

SummaryLEVEL STAGES DESCRIPTION

1. Pre-conventional Level- 1 Punishment/

Obedience.2 Mutual Benefit

2. Conventional Level-

3 Social Approval.

4 Law and Order

3. Post-conventional

Level

5 Social Contract

6 Universal Principles.

Any Questions ??

THE END..

Thankyou...GOD BLESS..

Presented by;• Tadeo A. Rosalia- Reporter, PowerPoint

• Carlo Reston -Researcher

• Sahod Salimenang- Researcher