Moral and Social Development

WHAT ?

This week in class and in our reading we learned about Moral and Social Development. There are two major theorists we studied. Kohlberg had a theory on moral development and Erikson on social development. While learning about both of these theories I could see the different stages in people I know.

Kohlberg's theory on moral development is more controversial than the others because there is the question "Is school the right place for this?" The key to moral development in the school is not necessarily saying what is right or wrong, but developing moral reasoning, knowing how to choose between the two. Kohlberg's theory has three main levels with two stages in each.

Level 1- Preconventional Morality

• punishment avoidance/obedience
• exchange of favors

Level 2- Conventional Morality

• good boy/good girl
• law and order

Level 3- Postconventional Morality

• social contract
• universal ethical principle

Kohlbergs stages aren't exactly broken into stages, they progess through life and people can go in and out of each stage, sometimes multiple stages at once, throughout life. Stage six is something that is rarely reached. Kohlberg was a big fan of Piaget and talked about how moral dilemmas caus disequilibrium and therefore aide in development.

Erikson talked about the psychosocial crisis which means mind vs. society. Erikson's model of psychosocial development includes eight different categories. In class wer learned a mneumonic devise to help us remember all eight steps. Although they are a little silly, they help me to remember!

1. bun- infant- trust vs. mistrust
2. shoe- toddler-autonomy vs. doubt
3. tree- preschool- initiative vs. guilt
4. door- school age- industry vs. inferiority
5. hive- adolescence- identity vs. role confusion
6. sticks- young adulthood- intimicy vs. isolation
7. heaven- middle age- generativity vs. stagnation
8. gate- old age- integrity vs. despair

Although these steps don't always happen in the given age, they are widely accepted.

SO WHAT?

The basic message here is that kids need social interaction for personal and social development. As teachers we don't have the ability to control their environment at home, but we can provide an environment at school where they feel safe an callenged, where they have rules and consequences that help them understand why they have the rules. We need to give kids the opportunity to examine what they believe about themselves, about others, and about the world in general.

NOW WHAT?

I need to find ways in my teaching to give kids opportunities to develop morally and socially and also develope emotionally. I need to find ways to ask the hard questions so that no one feels threatened, so my students can examine their beliefs. This will be difficult to do, but it will help the students and make my class more useful in their lives.