Stages of Growth and Development about learning: Moral Development- Lawrence Kohls Berg
1. Definitions:
Growth and Development:
The term Growth and development both represent the processes that result in changes in an organism right from the beginning of its life. However, the term development is more comprehensive than growth as it is related to the overall changes, structural as well as functional, in all aspects of one’s personality namely, physical, mental, emotional, social and moral taking place continuously right from conception till death.[1]
Moreover, development in general, from conception onward in various
dimensions of one’s personality is found to follow some basic rules known as
the principles of development. The knowledge of these principles of growth and
development proves quite useful to parents and teachers for ensuring the
harmonious growth and development of the personalities of their children.[2]
Moral Development
Kohl berg[3] defines “moral development as the development of an individual’s sense of justice.” for estimating one’s sense of justice he concentrated on one’s views on morality with the help of a test of moral judgment consisting of a set of moral dilemmas. He differs from the popular view that children imbibe the sense and methods of moral judgment from their parents and elders by way of learning. According to him ‘as soon as we talk with children about morality, we find that they have many ways of making judgments which are not internalized from the outside, and which do not come in any direct and obvious way from parents, teachers and even peers. And he also clarified that internal or cognitive processes like thinking and reasoning also play a major role in moral development.[4]
2.
KOHLBERG’S THEORY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Introduction to Kohlberg theory:
Lawrence Kohlberg a psychologist in
the University of Harvard developed this theory ; a theory of the development
of moral judgement in the individual, right from the years of early
childhood. He has based his theory of
moral development on the findings of his studies conducted on hundreds of
children from different cultures. [5] He
contributed immensely in the field of moral development and helped in the
development of cognitive moral development in American psychology. [6]
According to him, Moral development is the process by which a person makes moral judgments, which may or may not manifest themselves in actual behaviour. The emphasis is on the way an individual thinks about moral or ethical issues, and not necessarily the way he or she acts. [7]
The Six Levels:
Level 1: This level is
titled Pre-conventional Morality. ( Ages
4- 10 years). This level is characterized by children who are egocentric , not
in terms of selfishness but in the sense that the world ( as far as they know)
revolves around them and their responses to life. [8] The
child begins to make judgments about what is right or wrong, good or bad. He is
persuaded to take such judgments either to avoid punishment or to earn rewards.[9]
Development of morality at this
level usually follows the two following stages:
Stage 1: The stage of obedience for avoiding punishments.
In the beginning, the child’s
morality is controlled by the fear of punishment. He tries to obey his parents
and elders purely to avoid punishment. The child assumes that powerful
authorities hand down a fixed set of rules which he or she must obey without
any questions.[10] The
child makes moral decisions based on the consequences they expect. [11]
Stage 2: The stage of
conforming to obtain rewards and favours in return .
In the second stage, children’s moral level judgment is based on self- interest and considerations of what others can do for them in return. Here they value a reward because it has some practical utility for them.[12] They avoid punishment and seek rewards. In this stage aswell as the first stage, external rewards provide the necessary stimuli for making moral judgements.[13]
Level
2: Conventional morality level (10-13years)
The
second level in Kohlberg’s model, Conventional morality, is generally reached
between ages 10 and 13. This level includes Stage 3 and Stage 4.
Obedience Orientation
Stage 3
is concerned with “maintaining mutual relations, approval of others and act in
ways to avoid disapproval. In this stage, children evaluate acts according to
the motives behind them and can take circumstances into account. Children in
this stage want to help others, can judge the intentions of others, and can
develop their own ideas regarding morality.
Law and Order Orientation
Stage 4
refers to “social concern and conscience.” the child accepts rules and
convention because of their importance in maintaining a functioning society. At
this stage, individuals are concerned with respecting authority, maintaining
social order, and doing their duty within society. The rules are seen as being
the same for everyone, and obeying rules by doing what one is “supposed” to do
is seen as valuable and important. In
this stage, an act is considered wrong if it harms others or violates a rule or
law.[14]
3. Post
Conventional Level
Individual
judgment is based on self-chosen principles and moral reasoning is based on
individual right and justice. only 10-15% are capable of the kind of abstract
thinking necessary for stage 5 or 6, most people take their moral view from
those around them and only a minority think through ethical principles for
themselves.
3.1 Social
Contrast Orientation
At
this stage the individual’s moral judgment are internalized in such a form that
he responds positively to authority only if he agrees with the principles upon
which the demands of authority are based. The individual at this stage begin to
think in rational term, valuing the right of human being and the welfare of the
society.
3.2
Universal Ethical Principles
Orientation
At this stage the controlling forces for making moral judgment are highly internalized. The decision of the individual are now based upon his conscience and the belief in universal principles of respect, justice and equality. He does what he as an individual think right regardless of legal restrictions or opinion of others. This stage people act according to the inner voice of their conscience and lead a life that they can without self-condemnation of feeling of guilt or shame.
[1] Advanced educational
psychology, S.K. Mangal
[2] ibid
[3] A psychologist
belonging to the university of Harward
[4] ibid
[5] SK Mangal, Advanced Educational
Psychology (New Delhi: PHI Learning
Pvt. Ltd., 2011), 112.
[6] John C. Gibbs , Moral
Development and Reality (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), 81.
[7] Ronald T. Habermas, Introduction
to Christian Education and Formation (Michigan: Zondervan,2009), 75.
[8] Habermas, Introduction
to Christian Education…, 76.
[9] William Crain, Theories of
Development: Concepts and Applications (New York: Routledge, 2016), 120.
[10] Mangal, Advanced
Educational Psychology…,113
[11] Habermas, Introduction
to Christian Education…, 76
[12] Mangal, Advanced
Educational Psychology…,113
[13] Habermas, Introduction
to Christian education…, 75
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