Key Learning Theories

Kohlberg modified and expanded upon Piaget’s work to form a theory that explained the development of moral reasoning. He outlined the development in six stages, with three different levels; he proposed that moral development is a process that occurs

Some of these individuals include Jean Piaget and later Lawrence Kohlberg who came along and extended the aforementioned theorist bodies of work (Hayes, 1994). To understand the foundation of Kohlberg’s work, an adequate understanding of Piaget’s theories of moral development must exist first. After extensive research surrounding the question regarding the correspondence of thoughts and actions, Piaget developed a theory that morality in children followed social interaction and learning (Bergman, 2002). Essentially, children develop moral thinking after exercising moral behaviors. In other words, the mind follows the body. Action will induce retrospective analysis and the foundation of new beliefs.

Learning, as defined by Slavin (2012), is “a change in an individual caused by experience” (p. 116). Learning can occur intentionally or unintentionally. All learning, however, is stimulated by something that is the learner (student) has encountered. As an instructor, your goal every day is to use the right stimuli to capture the student’s attention so they can absorb the knowledge you are trying to share.

There is a lot of evidence that focuses on moral development as a life-long process that develops throughout a person’s life and changes based on a variety of factors. The first is Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. Inspired by early work of Piaget on moral judgment, Kohlberg set out to develop a more comprehensive cognitive understanding of moral development. Kohlberg used with clinical interviewing procedure in which he presented a sample 10-to-16- year old boys with hypothetical moral dilemmas presenting in the conflict between two moral values- and asked them what the main actor should do and why. ? Real life moral dilemmas often help to highlight the role of emotion in moral judgment. Then he followed the participants longitudinally, reinter viewing

Lawrence Kohlberg is known for his theory of moral development developed in 1958. His theory was dependent on the thinking of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and American philosopher John Dewey. It consists of three levels of moral reasoning: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. These levels are based on the degree to which an individual accommodates to the conventional standards of society. Each level aquires two stages that serve as different standards of sophistication in moral reasoning. Overall, Kohlberg affirms that moral development is a process of maturing that emerges from thinking about about moral issues (“Kohlberg’s Moral Development”).

Kohlberg and Piaget both believe that moral development occurs through social interaction. When Kohlberg started his theory it developed from Piaget’s theory, but he used a more polished way to understand morality by breaking it down into several models. Kohlberg focused on positive and negative reactions to moral issues in children. In contrast to one another Piaget uses a two stage model, while Kohlberg uses a six-stage model. Piaget was the first to create the stages of child development however, many theorist came after and developed their own approach. Piaget created structured stages of development that ranged from infants to adolescents, Kohlberg also created structured stages of moral development but his didn’t focus on an specific age. In addition, Kohlberg focuses on development throughout a person’s life while Piaget stops his focus at the age of

Every individual within a society develops morality, either independently or with the help of other people. For an individual to grow morally, he or she needs knowledge or background information in order to differentiate right from wrong. Moral psychology, is defined in the field of psychology, as the study of the development of the moral sense (Britannica Moral psychology). In other words, it is the capacity for forming judgments about what is morally right or wrong, good or bad. Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg hypothesized an individual’s development of moral standards progresses through various levels. The early level, the child utilizes physical experiences such as pleasure or pain, as the source for moral decisions. At this level, the child’s

Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg expanded on developmental psychologist Jean Piaget's theory of moral reasoning by creating the six stages of moral development. The six stages are divided into three categories: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. Though the theory has several important criticisms, including its focus on individualistic cultures and the discrepancy between what people say they'd do in a situation vs their actual course of action, the theory provides an interesting breakdown of motivation and the way it factors into moral decision-making.

As you aged, did you ever notice that your understanding of right and wrong principles changed? According to psychologists Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg it should have. Individually the two psychologists have made remarkable discoveries on how children develop and use their moral development.

During this critical period of learning, children can be considered good or bad, clever or dull, happy or unhappy, and so on. During this stage, children develop emotional habits that match the vision they have of themselves, be behaving accordingly to certain lines that are taken by adults.

For nearly thirty years he has amplified his Cognitive-Developmental theory of moralisation which has now become prominent in the field of moral development and its application to moral education. Kohlberg proposed that moral difficulties motivated their own development through a fixed sequence of increasingly adaptable kinds of moral reasoning.

To begin, it is necessary to outline Kohlberg's six stages of moral development that constitute the core of his theory. The first two stages are what Kohlberg calls the "pre-conventional" level of moral reasoning, because it is indicative of a moral reasoning that is more rudimentary and myopic than the kind of moral reasoning supposedly engaged in by the majority of individuals. Although the stages do not necessarily relate to actual lifetime development, children frequently engage in this level of moral reasoning. The

Essential to the success of every society is moral development. Lawrence Kohlberg cultivated and advanced the framework of Piaget’s life’s work in the area of moral development. He theorized that we formulate ways of thinking through our experiences. Such experiences included but weren’t limited to an understanding of the moral concepts of human welfare, rights, equality and justice. Through his research Kohlberg ascertained that we go through various stages of moral maturity and cognitive-development. This paper explores the moral development theory of Lawrence Kohlberg. With an overview of the three levels of Kolhberg’s moral development as well as insight into the various stages within each level, this paper familiarizes its readers with Kohlberg and his life’s work.

In American education, teachers are focused on the intellectual growth of students. However, as educators, teachers not only have the opportunity to grow students intellectually, but also more holistically. One crucial area of a student’s life that is impacted by education is their morality. This paper will explore Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, which addresses the idea of a person 's progression of morality. It will first examine the concept of the theory and its founder. It will then follow with examples from classrooms today, and from my own personal experience as a K-12 student. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implications of this theory for educational psychology, and encourage an implementation of it that will benefit teachers, students and ultimately society as a whole.

Lawrence Kohlberg is the author of a three-level theory that is based on moral development; it includes two stages per level that are very specific to that individual level. Kohlberg 's theory blossomed from the theory of Jean piaget 's, in which he continued his work. The three levels of Kohlberg’s Theory are the preconventional level, conventional level, and post conventional level. The three levels are put in this order based on the ages that are expected to be in each level. Although it is believed that the age affects the level they are in; it is possible for an age group to be in a different level of moral development. Kohlberg’s theory was not a walk in the park; in fact, Kohlberg spent his life on producing his theory: “Kohlberg