In Europe a woman was near death from cancer. One drug might save her, a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The druggist was charging $2,000, ten times what the drug cost him to make. The sick woman’s husband went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but still could not get together even half the cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it to him cheaper or let him pay for the rest later, but the druggist said “No.” The husband got desperate and broke into the man’s store to steal the drug for his wife. Should the husband have done this? Why?

A moral dilemma…

Lawrence KohlbergOctober 25, 1927 – January 19, 1987

American Psychologist

Emphasis: Moral development

Teacher at Yale, the University of Chicago and Harvard

“When people consider moral dilemmas, it is their reasoning that is important, not their final decision.”

Kohlberg ’s Piaget!!!!!!!

Kohlberg’s theories on moral reasoning are an elaboration and refinement of Piaget’s theories

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning

Kohlberg proposed that people pass through 6 stages of moral judgment or reasoning.

Stages 1 & 2: Preconventional Level

The preconventional level is the first stage of moral development where the child’s choices are based primarily around the rules set down by others.

Most children will pass through stage 1 & 2 by the age of 9

Stage 1: Punishment & Obedience One’s moral decisions

are based upon the physical consequences of actions

The child will only act good in order to avoid being punished

Don’t let the man get you down!

Instrumental Relativist Orientation What is “right” is

whatever satisfies one’s own needs, and occasionally the needs of others.

“You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours” interpretation of fairness and reciprocity

Stage 2

It’s all about

Stages 3 & 4: Conventional Level Individual adopts rules and will sometimes

subordinate own needs to those of the group. Expectations of family, group or nation seen as valuable in own right regardless of immediate and obvious consequences.

Good Boy - Good Girl Orientation

Characterized by being “nice”

Good behavior is whatever pleases or helps others

Stage 3

Orientation

Doing One’s Duty Respecting

Authority Maintaining

Social Order

Stage 4

Post Conventional Level Attained by fewer than

25% of all adults Stages 5 & 6 are

characterized by a person’s ability to define their values based upon their own ethical principles

Stages 5 & 6

Social Contract Orientation A societies laws and values

are seen as somewhat arbitrary and culturally specific

What is right is defined in terms of general individual’s rights or by terms and standards agreed upon by society

Laws are not seen as “frozen” but always up for debate and subject to change

Stage 5

Universal Ethical Principal Orientation

What is right is defined by one’s own conscience and ethical principles. “Justice is above the law.”

The Golden Rule vs. the 10 Commandments Abstract and ethical not

specific moral prescriptions

Stage 6

Reflections Later in life Kohlberg

speculated that stages 5 & 6 are really not separated and should be combined

Moral development is principally concerned with justice and continues throughout one’s lifespan

Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory One limitation of his work

is that it mostly involved boys.

Boys’ moral reasoning revolves primarily around issues of justice, girls are more concerned about issues of caring and responsibility for others.

Another criticism is that young children can often reason about moral situations in more sophisticated ways than a stage theory would suggest.

The most important limitation of Kohlberg’s theory is that it deals with moral reasoning than with actual behavior.

Value to Practitioners Educators (and families) have grappled with the important

distinction that theories deal with moral reasoning rather than actual moral behavior.

Many schools have chosen to institutionalize a global, inclusive approach to character building with input from teachers, administrators, parents, and, at the higher grade levels, even students. This emphasizes the individual citizen as a member of the social institution and advocate particular levels of moral behavior.

A teacher might choose to capitalize on students’ natural curiosity and might teach values and decision making through “What if…?” discussions.

SOURCES Educational

Psychology (8th and 9th Editions) R. Slavin

Wikipedia, duh. And a couple youtube

videos..which didn’t really help much http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=zY4etXWYS84&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=M1zLxQTIPEQ&feature=related