The 6 Stages of Moral Development

The other day I stumbled upon something very intriguing: Kohlberg's 6 Stages of Moral Development.

Lawrence Kohlberg theorizes that moral reasoning, the basis for ethical behavior, has six identifiable developmental stages. Expanding on Piaget's work, Kohlberg determined that the process of moral development was principally concerned with justice, and that it continued throughout the individual's lifetime, a notion that spawned dialogue on the philosophical implications of such research. For his studies, Kohlberg relied on stories such as the Heinz dilemma, and was interested in how individuals would justify their actions if placed in similar moral dilemmas. He then analyzed the form of moral reasoning displayed, rather than its conclusion, and classified it as belonging to one of six distinct stages.

This intrigued me because as a teacher, I know full well you cannot make a person do anything; what people do (or don't do) are their own choices. It's all about choice.

I thought about choice, moral development, why people do what they do. As a teacher, the question that challenges me is this:

If you can't make people do the right thing, what will motivate them to do the right thing, whatever that is?

The 6 stage of moral development clarified this for me. I have to find a way to guide young minds to reaching to post-conventional morality. I guess that's why teachers must reiterate that students must "make smart choices" and then when they don't, the teacher must explore with the student how their decision has affected others. Young people are naturally self-centered. We all start off with a small perspective of the world; as we get older our view expands outside of ourselves. Hopefully. I'm sure we've all seen some adults out there who never expanded their view to include the rest of the world.

Anyway, food for thought, stored here for future reference....

#photo