1. KOHLBERG’S THEORY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT CAMERON MITCHELL & SHELBY WALDRON

2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Lawrence Kohlberg was born October 25, 1927 & grew up wealthy in Bronxville, New York He attended Andover Academy in Massachusetts He became a psychologist who applied the developmental approach of Jean Piaget, who he studied under, to analyze the changes in the moral reasoning of children. Kohlberg taught and did most of his research at Harvard University. According to the New York Time’s obituary, Kohlberg suffered from a tropical disease for 20 years. At the age of 59, Kohlberg’s body was found in the Boston Harbor. His car was found abandoned on a street in Winthrop, Mass. The autopsy indicated the cause of death was drowning, with little sign of struggle. Therefore, his cause of death is often rumored as suicide. Definitely NOT cuter than Vygotsky

3. KOHLBERG’S THEORY Kohlberg believed, and was able to demonstrate through studies, that people progressed in their moral reasoning (i.e. ethical behavior) through a series of stages. He believed that there were six stages which could be more generally classified into three levels. Kohlberg argues that everyone goes through the stages sequentially. One must progress through the stages in order, and one cannot get to a higher stage w/o passing through the stage immediately preceding it. Moral development is growth, and like all growth, takes place according to a pre-determined sequence. “Morality is the ability to see an issue from points of view other than just your own.” -Lawrence Kohlberg

4. KOHLBERG’S SIX STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT Level 1: Pre-Conventional Moral Development - At the pre-conventional level, we don’t have a personal code of morality. Instead, our moral code is shaped by the standards of adults and the consequences of following or breaking their rules. Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation. The child is good in order to avoid being punished. If a person is punished, they must have done wrong. Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange. At this stage children recognize that there is not just one right view that is handed down by the authorities. Different individuals have different viewpoints. Level 2: Conventional Moral Development - At the conventional level, we begin to internalize the moral standards of valued adult role models. Authority is internalized but not questioned and reasoning is based on the norms of the group to which the person belongs. Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships. The child is good in order to be seen as being a good person by others. Therefore, answers relate to the approval of others. Stage 4: Maintaining the Social Order. The child becomes aware of the wider rules of society so judgments concern obeying the rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt.

5. KOHLBERG’S SIX STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED …. Level 3: Post-Conventional Moral Development - Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles, and moral reasoning is based on individual rights and justice. According to Kohlberg, this level of moral reasoning is as far as most people get. Only 10-15% are capable of the kind of abstract thinking necessary for stage 5 or 6. That is to say most people take their moral views from those around them and only a minority think through ethical principles for themselves. Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights. The child/individual becomes aware that while rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest number, there are times when they will work against the interest of particular individuals. The issues are not always clear cut. For example, in Heinz’s dilemma the protection of life is more important than breaking the law against stealing. Stage 6: Universal Principles. People at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the law. The principles apply to everyone. E.g. human rights, justice and equality. The person will be prepared to act to defend these principles even if it means going against the rest of society in the process and having to pay the consequences of disapproval and or imprisonment. Kohlberg doubted few people reached this stage.

8. KOHLBERG’S HIENZ DILEMMA https://youtu.be/YxJ07klMhr0

9. OBJECTIVES The purpose of our research is to investigate the moral reasoning of children based on Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral reasoning. In particular, this study aims to answer the following questions; 1. Do children of the same grade level display the same stage of moral reasoning when presented with a Kohlberg dilemma? 2. Will boys and girls at the same grade level display similar stages of moral reasoning? 3. Does gender and grade level have an affect on what stage of moral reasoning a child is in?

10. HYPOTHESIS We hypothesized that: 1.Our results would correlate with Kohlberg’s findings. 2.In every scenario, on average, girls will be higher in their moral development than boys. 3.The results will be similar by gender & grade level.

11. OUR STUDY We went to Holy Family School & Strawn School. We presented a power point (based on Kohlberg’s Hienz dilemma) about a boy named “Billy”. After we presented the power point, the children were asked to answer a few questions. The questions included; 1.Should Billy quickly return the answer sheet back to the teacher? Why or Why not? 2.Should Billy hide the answer sheet in his desk and use it for the test? Why or Why not? 3.Does Billy have a right to use the paper because the teacher did not give him an extra day to study for the test? Why or Why not? 4.Should the teacher have allowed Billy an extra day to study? Why or Why not?

12. STATISTICAL RESULTS

13. OUR MODIFIED RUBRIC 1Threat of punishment Authority “Might makes right” 2Family appeasement / I deserve it Justice “What is in it for me?” 3Good Boy Peer Approval, don’t rock the boat “I want to be nice” 4Disagrees with teacher, but won’t do anything Don’t imbalance the class “My duty is to be honest” 5Cheat for family’s struggle / Don’t cheat for teacher’s right Not agreeing, protesting / The teacher knows more than me “Trying to peacefully change the rules” 6Cheat, teacher’s decision doesn’t have weight with my family’s level that they deserve / ethics of the whole system “Moral rules over classroom rules” “True to values” Pre- Conventional Conventional Post- Conventional

14. STATISTICAL RESULTS CONTINUED: AVERAGE LEVEL OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT (BASED ON OUR RUBRIC)

15. MORE STATISTICAL RESULTS… G = Girls B = Boys

16. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

17. FLAWS If we ever did this study again, we would try to have enough children in both public and private school to be able to analyze if there is a difference between the two. We also would have made the questions a bit more simple. For example, some of the children would answer “yes” to a question, but then in their “why or why not” they would reason against their own answer. Which leads us to believe that the questions might not have been as clear as they could have been.

18. SOURCES http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/08/obituaries/lawrence-kohlberg-is-dead.html http://www.famouspsychologists.org/lawrence-kohlberg/ Rest, James; Clark Power; Mary Brabeck (May 1988). "Lawrence Kohlberg (1927– 1987)" (PDF). American Psychologist. 5 43: 399–400.doi:10.1037/h0091958."Lawrence Kohlberg (1927– 1987)"doi10.1037/h0091958 http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED123144 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00405847709542675?journalCode=htip20 #.VkWXY3arTIU