Education for Moral Development:
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development and
Integrative Education
CS480 Computer Science Seminar
Fall, 2002
Recent Management Behavior
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Enron
Tyco
WorldCom
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Questions
• Can education result in moral behavior?
• If so, are there stages one moves through in developing
moral precepts (principles that guide moral behavior),
like acquiring complex ideas in mathematics?
• Is there a relationship between cognitive development
and moral development?
• If the answer to the above questions is “yes”, what kind
of education can bring about moral maturity?
The following discussion is based on Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development and Integrative Education, by G. Baxter and C. Rarick,
“Ethical Issues in business”, p37-44, Boyd & Fraser 1991
Kohlberg’s Approach to Answer the Questions
• Kohlberg sought to determine whether there are
universal stages in the development of moral judgments.
He presented stories similar to the following to children
and adults of various ages and cultural backgrounds.
A lady is dying of illness and there is one drug that could
cure her. The medicine costs $200 to make by a man
who invented it but the man wants to sell the medicine
for $2,000. The lady’s husband tried but failed to borrow
the much needed $2,000 so he asked the man to sell the
medicine for less. The man refuseed and the husband of
the sick lady stole the medicine. Is the husband’s
behavior justified? Is it right or wrong for him to do it? Is
the man wrong?
By analyzing questions and answers to a series of stories
of this type (each portraying a moral dilemma) kohlberg
proposed six development stages of moral judgment
grouped into three broad levels.
Level I: pre-conventional morality
• Stage 1: punishment orientation --- obeys rules
to avoid punishment.
• Stage 2: reward orientation --- conforms to
obtain reward, to have favors returned.
• Example answers:
– If you let your wife die, you’ll get in trouble (approve).
– If you steal the drug and get caught, you’ll be sent to
jail (disapprove).
– The husband’s action is judged from right or wrong on
the basis of punishment --- stage 1; children who are
7 years old or younger are predominantly at this level.
Level II: conventional morality
• Stage 3: good-boy/girl orientation --- conform to avoid
disapproval of others.
• Stage 4: authority orientation --- upholds laws and social
rules to avoid censure of authorities and feelings of guilt
about “not doing one’s duty”.
By age 13, a majority of the moral dilemmas are resolved
at level II --- actions are evaluated in terms of
maintaining a good image in the eyes of other people. In
stage 3, one seeks approval by being “nice”; in stage 4,
one is concerned with “doing one’s duty”, showing
respect for authority, and conforming to social order in
which one is raised.
Level III: post-conventional morality
• Stage 5: social-contract orientation --- actions guided by
principles commonly agreed on as essential to the public
welfare; principles upheld to retain respect of peers and
thus self-respect.
• Stage 6: ethical principle orientation --- actions guided by
self-chosen ethical principles that usually value justice,
dignity, and equality; principles upheld to avoid selfcondemnation.
Kohlberg observed that many individuals never progress
beyond level II. He sees the stages of moral
development as closed tied to stages of (Piaget’s)
cognitive development. To reach level III, one must be
capable of formulating abstract ethical principles and
upholding them to avoid self-condemnation. According to
Kohlberg, less than 10% of his subjects over age 16
show the kind of “clear-principled”.
How is stage-6 thinking exemplified
• Judgment of the husband’s behavior
– By the law of society, he was wrong,
– But by the law of nature or of God the druggist was
wrong and the husband was justified; human life is
above-financial gain.
– Regardless who was dying, if it was a total stranger,
human being has a duty to save him from dying.
• Progressing from one stage to the next involves
internal reorganization rather than a simple
acquisition of the moral concepts prevalent in
their culture.
Importance of integration: well designed
core of general education
• Integrate moral reasoning and moral behavior.
• Consider long-term consequences of one’s
actions (rather than immediate gain) and to
integrate one’s behavior accordingly.
• Put oneself in someone else’s position, that is, to
integrate one’s own understandings, to motivate
oneself to help.
• The integrated GE curriculum increase cognitive
skills, which in turn increase in dealing with
principles. One can compare and contrast
principles, pick and choose among ethical
principles that supercede any laws or social
agreements.
Morality is a maturation process
• Morality or ethics cannot be taught directly and
there is limited benefit in from instructing
students in what is right and wrong.
• The best way for moral development is to put
oneself in different scenarios and challenge
oneself by thinking critically the situation. So in
your presentation, use different scenarios and
posing interesting, controversial or conflicting
questions (particularly those that are related to
recent events.)