“Kohlberg’s Ideas were a dominant force guiding moral development research for over forty years” (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, & Renn, 2010)

 Based on Paiget’s Model published in the 1920’s › Kohlberg’s early study of young males led him to revise Paiget’s original three stages › Kohlberg created three more stages  Presented “dilemmas” and asked open ended questions to secure results of moral development

 General cognitive structures  Social Perspective taking – being able to put yourself in another's place Both areas are necessary for moral development, but in no means are everything needed to foster moral development

 Exposure to high level cognitive thought › Exposure to thinking at any level higher than what an individual portrays is sufficient to foster growth and development  Disequilibrium › Students faced with situations that cause internal conflict in their moral reasoning structure

 Stage 1 – Heteronomous Mortality › Obeying the rules to avoid punishment › Do not consider the rights or concerns of others  Stage 2 – Individualistic, Instrumental Mortality › Follow the rules if it is in a persons best interest – “What’s in it for me” mentality › Ensure satisfaction of a persons own needs but also understand others have needs as well

 Stage 3 – Interpersonally Normative Morality › “Right” is defined by acceptable social roles  The expectations the people around you have  Gaining others approval  Shared feelings for the first time are more important than individual feelings  Stage 4 – Social System Mortality › Also known as law and order › Being defined as following the rules set forward by authority figures › Doing your duty as a citizen

 Stage 5 – Human Rights and Social Welfare Mortality › Citizens recognize that rules set forward by authority figures are merely a contract based on the majority › People tend to disobey rules if they find them not in agreement with there personal beliefs  Stage 6 – Morality of Universalizable, Reversible and Prescriptive General Ethical Principles › Moral obligations made by a person’s conscience › Seeing all sides of an issue and being unbiased › Following universally ethical rules  Example – equality of human rights

 Cultural Difference › Middle/upper class versus rural/working class › Western versus eastern philosophy  Religious Difference › Strong religious beliefs usually foster an unwavering loyalty to a higher power which is consistent with conventional stages of moral development

 Providing students with opportunities to discuss hypothetical moral dilemmas in a classroom setting  Moral Judgment Interviews to gain knowledge of student’s development in academic programs  Programs that foster personal development and reflection  Supportive social network = growth in moral judgment

 Postconvential level of mortality – putting ones personal beliefs above law and society › Arguing the validity of Stage 6 – is it possible?  Sex – biased › Carol Gilligan was the one to point this out

Cromag. (2012, March 25). Lawrence Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development [Web Log Post]. Retrieved from stages-of-moral-development Evans, N.J., Forney, D.S., Guido, F.M., Patton, L.D., & Renn, K.A. (2010). Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Khouanphet, S. (2010, September 24). Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development [Web Log Post] Retrieved from theory-of-moral-development.html Long, R. Lawrence Kohlberg. Retrieved from W.C. Crain. (1985). Theories of Development. Prentice-Hall. pp