KOHLBERG’S THEORY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
MRS. PELLETIER
ENGLISH 3
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
 Moral development
is the gradual development of
an individuals concept of right
or wrong – conscious,
religious values, social
attitudes and certain
behavior.
KOHLBERG’S THEORY
 Developed stages of moral development that
everyone goes through
 In order to move from one stage to another, a
person must notice a deficiency in the way he/she
deals with moral dilemmas
 People cannot understanding moral reasoning any
more than one stage beyond their development
 Contains 3 levels:

Pre-conventional

Conventional

Post-conventional
PRE-CONVENTIONAL STAGE 1: OBEDIENCE AND PUNISHMENT
 Most common in young children
 See rules as fixed and absolute
 Obeying rules as a means of
avoiding punishment
PRE-CONVENTIONAL STAGE 2: INDIVIDUALISM AND EXCHANGE
 Account for individual points of
view
 Judge actions based on how they
serve individual needs
 Reciprocity is possible, but only if
it serves one’s own interests
CONVENTIONAL STAGE 3: INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
 “good boy-good girl” orientation
 Most common in teens
 Focused on living up to social expectations
and roles (of the family, community, etc.)
 Good behavior means having good motives
and interpersonal feelings (love, empathy,
trust, and concern for others)
CONVENTIONAL STAGE 4: LAW AND SOCIAL ORDER
 Focus on maintaining law and order and
obeying laws
 Guided by fear of punishment as in
Stage 1, but are able to explain why and
deliberate on the reasoning
 Emphasized in education:
 Must attend school
 Must abide by the dress code
POST-CONVENTIONAL STAGE 5: SOCIAL CONTRACT AND
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
 people begin to account for the
differing values, opinions, and beliefs of
other people
 Rules of law are important for
maintaining a society, but members of
the society should agree upon these
standards
POST-CONVENTIONAL STAGE 6: UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES
 based upon universal ethical
principles and abstract reasoning
 people follow these internalized
principles of justice, even if they
conflict with laws and rules
CONNECTION TO THE UNIT
 Education:
 Most people agree that the role of
education should be to teach academics
in preparation for a future career. What
about teaching morality? Should that be
the role of education as well? Why or
why not?
 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
 How does Huck’s sense of morality
evolve?
 Where does Huck learn his sense of
morality?
 Based on the novel, what does it mean
to be educated?