National Teachers College

Quiapo, Manila
School of Advance Studies
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GED 107: Psycho-Social Perspective of Education

Professor: Mr. Chester Relleve
Discussant: Danica O. Gariando
Topic: Theories of Moral Development
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I. Moral Development
Moral Development
Moral development is the process through which children develop
proper attitudes and behaviors toward other people in society, based
on social and cultural norms, rules, and laws.
II. Theories of Moral Development
Lawrence Kohlberg
An American psychologist best known for his theory of stages of moral
development. Kohlberg believed that individuals made progress by
mastering each stage, one at a time

Stages of Moral Development according to Lawrence Kohlberg

Level 1 (Pre-Conventional) - concerned with avoiding
punishment and getting needs met.

Stage 1 : Obedience and punishment orientation
(How can I avoid punishment?)
Stage 2 : Self-interest orientation (What's in it for
me?) (Paying for a benefit)

Level 2 (Conventional) - This level broadens the scope of
human wants and needs. Children in this level are concerned
about being accepted by others and living up to their
expectations.

Stage 3 : Interpersonal accord and conformity
(Social norms) (The good boy/girl attitude)
Stage 4 : Authority and social-order maintaining
orientation (Law and order morality)

Level 3 (Post-Conventional) - Also known as the principled
level, is marked by a growing realization that individuals are
separate entities from society, and that the individuals own
perspective may take precedence over societys view;
individuals may disobey rules inconsistent with their own
principles.

Stage 5 : Social contract orientation
Stage 6 : Universal ethical principles (Principled
conscience)

Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget is a Swiss developmental
psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies
with children, he recognized that cognitive development is closely tied
to moral development and was particularly interested in the way
children's thoughts about morality changed over time.

Stages of Moral Development according to Jean Piaget

Pre-moral Judgement

In this stage, children simply do not understand the concept
of rules and have no idea of morality, internal or external. It
is also characterized by automatic obedience to rules without
reasoning or judgement.

Heteronomous / Moral Realism

Children in this stage now understand the concept of rules but
they are seen as external and immutable. Children obey rules
largely because they are there. Since a rule tells you what
youre not supposed to do, moral realist children evaluate
wrongdoing in terms of its consequences, not the intentions
of the wrongdoer.

Autonomous/ Moral relativity

Children who have reached this stafe recognize that rules are
not fixed, but can be changed by mutual consent, and they
start to develop their own internal morality which is no longer
the same as external rules.





Carol Gilligan
An American feminist, ethicist, and psychologist best known for her
work with and against Lawrence Kohlberg on ethical
community and ethical relationships, and certain subject-object
problems in ethics. She proposed a feminist theory of morality, where
males and females follow different paths in their development of a
moral sense.

Three stages of Moral Development
Pre Conventional -person only cares for themselves in
order to ensure survival -This is how everyone is as
children
Conventional responsibility, more care shown for
other people.
Post Conventional - acceptance of the principle of care
for self and others is shown. Some people never reach
this level.

Thomas Lickona
Hes an American development psychologist and educationalist, and he
specializes in the field of character education since it has emerged.

STAGE 0: EGOCENTRIC REASONING (preschool
years - around age 4)

STAGE 1: UNQUESTIONED OBEDIENCE (around
kindergarten age)


STAGE 2: WHAT'S-IN-IT-FOR ME FAIRNESS (early
elementary grades)

STAGE 3: INTERPERSONAL CONFORMITY (middle-
to-upper elementary grades and early-to-mid teens)

STAGE 4: RESPONSIBILITY TO "THE SYSTEM"
(high-school years or late teens)


STAGE 5: PRINCIPLED CONSCIENCE (young
adulthood)

References :
Developmental Psychology: A Life-Span Approach; Hurlock, Elizabeth
B. ; Mc Graw Hill Book Company, 1982
http://www.healthofchildren.com/M/MoralDevelopment.html#ixzz37VAlLFIr

http://www.healthofchildren.com/M/MoralDevelopment.html#ixzz37VN1PPNJ
http://www.charactereducation.info/Articles/stages_of_moral_developm
ent.htm
http://everything2.com/title/Piaget%2527s+theory+of+moral+developm
ent
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/genpsymoraldev.html
http://www.healthofchildren.com/M/Moral-Development.html
http://humangrowth.tripod.com/id2.html