Download Moral Development

Moral Development
Unit 5
Lesson 4
Objectives
 Define
morality.
 Explain Kohlberg’s stages of moral
development.
 Explore moral dilemmas.
Warm Up
 What
is cognitive
development?
 Dvpt
of mental
activities that aid
our understanding
of world.
Review
 What

is a schema?
Organized set of thoughts or behaviors, a way
of knowing
 How
do we change our schemas, or
learn?


Assimilation – New fits into old
Accommodation – Change old to fit new
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Piaget's_Stages
Piaget’s Dating Game
Directions
1
Bachelor/Bachelorette and 4 contestants
up at a time
 Bachelor
will ask question.
 Contestants will answer.
 Audience will decide which stage of
Piaget’s cognitive dvpt contestant’s
answer represents
Rd 1

“How would you show you’re interested in me?”
“How would you show your interest in me?”
 Preoperational
 “I would lovingly stare at your face.”
 Sensorimotor
 “I would write you a note and tell you.”
 Concrete Operational
 “I would rearrange the alphabet to put U & I together.”
 Formal Operational

Rd 2

“What would we do on a typical date?”
“Dinner and a movie, or movie and dinner.”
 Concrete Operations
 “Visit the art museum and discuss which piece best captures
the spirit of our relationship.”
 Formal Operations
 “Whatever I feel like.”
 Preoperational
 “Go to the beach and play in the sand and water.”
 Sensorimotor

Rd 3

“At the end of our date, how would you say goodnight?”
“Start crying and hyperventilating because you’re leaving.”
 Sensorimotor
 “It would depend on how the overall date went.”
 Concrete Operations
 “I don’t believe in physical intimacy on a first date, it goes
against my morals.”
 Formal Operational
 “Did you know it gets dark out so I can go to sleep?”
 Preoperational

Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg
(1973)


How people dvp
concepts of right and
wrong.
Moral dilemmas
Heinz

Listen to the following
moral dilemma…

Answer:



Should he have done
what he did?
Was he right or
wrong? Why?
Explain your answer
on paper
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Dvpt
 Preconventional
 Conventional
(Morality focused on self)
(Morality focused on others)
 Postconventional
higher power)
(Morality focused on
Preconventional Morality

Assign great importance to the authority of adults

Stage 1: Obedience & Punishment



Right is what authority says is right
An action is wrong if it’s punished
Stage 2: Individualism & Exchange


See different sides to every issue, no longer single authority
Right means acting in own best-interests
• Make deals/exchange favors…I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine

Punishment is risk to avoid
Conventional Morality

Children value rules, which they follow to get approval of
others

Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships


Want the approval of people close to them
Right is what will gain approval of others
• Good Boy/Good Girl Behaviors

Stage 4: Maintain Law & Order


More concerned with rules of larger society
Right means obeying laws, respecting authority, maintaining
social order
Postconventional Morality

Flexibility allows people to consider what’s truly
important to them (what would make good/ideal society).

Stage 5: Social Contract & Individual Rights



Want to follow society’s rules, but don’t see those rules as
absolute.
Basic rights & democratic processes that give everyone a say
Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles

What’s right and wrong is decided by individual, based on
abstract ethical principles (justice, equality, conscience)
Heinz Dilemma Responses?

With a partner, craft a response from each stage

1- Should not steal for fear of going to prison
2- Steal it, he’ll be happier if wife is healed
3- Steal it, his wife expects him to get it
4- Don’t steal, it’s against the law
5- Steal it, everyone has right to live, regardless
of what law says
6- Should steal, human life of more value than
property rights





Heinz Dilemma Responses?

With a partner, craft a response from each stage
(These are only examples, other right answers!)






1- Should not steal for fear of going to prison
2- Steal it, he’ll be happier if wife is healed
3- Steal it, his wife expects him to get it
4- Don’t steal, it’s against the law
5- Steal it, everyone has right to live, regardless
of what law says
6- Should steal, human life of more value than
property rights
Kohlberg Activities

Kohlberg’s Stages
Part B

Personal Dilemmas


Jonathan
Moral Dilemmas


Jot down your
response.
Is there pattern in
responses?
Think-Pair-Share

What other factors
could account for
moral development?




Religious text
Conscience
What feels right
Absence of moral
decision making
Helping Kids Develop Morality

Provide decent adult role models.
 Positive feedback for good character &
behaviors.
 Empathy – ability to feel another person’s
feelings…motivation for a child to behave
morally.
 Talk out dilemmas, help children problem solve
& draw conclusion.
 Encourage to think through actions and be brave
& stand up for what they believe in.
Closure
 Describe
the major changes from pre to
conventional to post-conventional moral
reasoning.



Pre-conventional – based on external consequences &
personal gain
Conventional – based on rules of group to which
individual belongs
Post-conventional – based on personal authority with
self-chosen principles
Homework


QUIZ!
Infancy & Childhood
 Cognitive & Moral
Development