Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

KOHLBERG'S THEORY of MORAL DEVELOPMENT Kohlberg's Theory of Human Moral Development Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development consists of three specific stages: Level I or "Preconventional Morality," Level II or "Conventional Morality," and Level III or "Postconventional Morality" (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008). More specifically, Kohlberg's Level I comprises two stages of (1) Obedience and Punishment, and (2) Individualism and Exchange. Level II comprises stages (3) Good Interpersonal Relationships and (4) Maintaining the Social Order. Level III comprises stages (5) Social Contract and Individual Rights and (6) Universal Principles (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008).

In principle, Kohlberg's Level I is characterized by the shift from unquestioning and blind obedience to adults to a more individualistic concept of morality and the exchange of opinions and beliefs about what morality is. In the first stage of Level I, the child has no independent view of morality and merely memorizes whatever his parents and other adults tell him. By stage 2, the child has begun to apply independent reasoning although there is not necessarily any logically coherent or consistent ability to do so effectively (Crain, 1985).

By the time the individual reaches Kohlberg's Level II (stage 3), he begins to view morality as a concept that incorporates the welfare and the expectations of others around him, especially in relation to fairness and notions of causing harm to or benefiting others (Crain, 1985). The transition from stage 3 to stage 4 is marked by the broadening of the framework from others in the immediate vicinity or local community to the rest of society and the world.

By this stage, the individual has begun to have a concern about issues such as global poverty and social injustice in other societies (Crain, 1985). Kohlberg's Level III (stage 5) is the beginning of more abstract thinking that includes questioning the objective moral basis of rules and laws and the comparison of different societies and questioning of laws on the basis of more general concepts and principles of the respective rights and obligations of people and society and of the moral reasoning and values that underlie formal rules and laws.

By the final stage (6) of Level III, the individual strives to consider even more abstract questions about the basis of laws and the respective balance between concepts such as individual autonomous rights and the various conceptual and theoretical justifications and limitations of the right of society to dictate individual behavior (Crain, 1985; Pinker, 2002). Not all individuals necessarily ever reach stage 6, mainly because the intellectual processes involved are highly dependent on abstract forms of intelligence such as logical reasoning that are not shared by everyone equally (Pinker, 2002).

Implications of Kohlberg's Moral Development Theory on Education Naturally, Kohlberg's Level I pertains the most to the education of grade school-age students because children begin their formal education while still in stage 1 but transition through stage 2 during middle and late childhood.

The teacher who is cognizant of Kohlberg's theory and observant of student behavior might take the opportunity to help direct children who are beginning to make that transition to think about morality in ways that help them narrow their focus to understand basic concepts about why certain types of behavior may be moral or immoral.

Without guidance, children may merely shift from the concern over doing what adults say to doing that which avoids negative consequences for themselves but without giving much thought to what specifically makes certain types of behavior right or wrong (Crain, 1985).

In some respects, Kohlberg's Level II (stage 3) is similar to Level I stage 1, in that the adolescent may substitute the messages and expectations of family and community for those of any adult; however, in terms of the degree of independent moral reasoning, there is not necessarily much difference in the process of absorbing moral beliefs. Whereas young children accept whatever adults tell them, adolescents accept whatever their family and community define as morality (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2007; Pinker, 2002).

It is at this point in between stages 3 and 4 that teachers may have the opportunity to help students make the transition from defining morality in terms of local mores to appreciating the broader range of moral concepts. Likewise, educators have an opportunity at this point to help students begin to think.