Kohlberg's theory of moral development Pre-conventional,conventional and post conventional level with stages like Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation,Stage 2 :Individualism and Exchange,Stage 3:Good Interpersonal Relationships,Stage 4:Maintaining the Social Order,Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights,Stage 6: Universal ethical Principles. educational implications and critics.Especially for NET/SLET/CTET/B.Ed./M.Ed./M.A and entrance Aspirants..

1. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
Episode :#1
Jagannath Kunar
Dept. of Higher Education
Govt. of Odisha
Email: jkuanr01@gmail.com

2. Skeletal framework……..
• Life Sketch of Kohlberg
• Stages of Moral Development as per Piaget
• Heinz Dilemma…??
• Kohlberg’s question on Heinz Dilemma
• Kohlberg’s Research
• Levels of moral reasoning
I. Pre-conventional Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation
Stage 2 :Individualism and Exchange
II Conventional Stage 3:Good Interpersonal Relationships
Stage 4:Maintaining the Social Order
III. Post-Conventional Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights
Stage 6: Universal Principles
• Educational Implications
• Critics

3. Life Sketch……….
• Name: Lawrence Kohlberg
• Born : October 25, 1927, Bronxville, New York
• Parents: Alfred Kohlberg, Charlotte Albrecht
• Ph.D. : Psychology , University of Chicago in 1958
• Served : Yale University(1959) Asst. Prof.
University of Chicago (1962) Asso.Prof.
Harvard University professor of education &
social psychology at between 1968 and 1987.
• Died: Apparent suicide in 1987 icy Boston Harbor
(Depression, tropical parasite contracted in Belize,1971)
Contribution: Stages of Moral Development, The Philosophy of Moral
Development (1981), The Psychology of Moral
Development (1984)

4. Stages of Moral Development
• Kohlberg’s theory was inspired by Jean Piaget’s
two stages of moral development theory
1. Moral realism:
• Morality imposed from the outside (e.g. parents,
teacher, God)
• Rules as being absolute and unchanging.
2. Moral relativism:
• Children recognize there is no absolute right or
wrong and that morality depends on intentions not
consequences.

5. • Lawrence Kohlberg (1958) agreed with Piaget theory of
moral development but wanted to develop his ideas
further.
• One of the best known Kohlberg’s (1958) stories concerns
a man called Heinz who lived somewhere in Europe

6. Heinz Dilemma…??

7. Kohlberg’s question on Heinz Dilemma
• Should Heinz have stolen the drug?
• Would it change anything if Heinz did not love his wife?
• What if the person dying was a stranger, would it make any
difference?
• Should the police arrest the chemist for murder if the woman
died?
# Kohlberg was not interested in answer yes/no but the reasoning
behind the answer

8. Kohlberg’s Research…
• Kohlberg collect the answers from the sample
comprised 72 Chicago boys aged 10–16 years.
• Identified three distinct levels of moral reasoning:
I. Pre-conventional
II. Conventional Each level has two sub-stages
III. Post-conventional

9. Levels of moral reasoning
Pre-conventional
Stage 1:
Obedience and Punishment
Orientation
Stage 2 :
Individualism and Exchange
Post-conventional
Stage 5:
Social Contract and Individual
Rights
Stage 6:
Universal Principles
Conventional
Stage 3:
Good Interpersonal
Relationships
Stage 4:
Maintaining the Social Order

10. Pre-conventional level
Stages
Stage 1:(Infancy)
Obedience and
Punishment Orientation
Characterstics
• The child/individual is good in order to
avoid being punished. If a person is
punished, S/he must have done wrong.

11. Stage 2 :(Pre-school)
Individualism and Exchange
• Children recognize that
there is not just one right
view that is handed down by
the authorities. Different
individuals have different
viewpoints.

12. Conventional
Stages
Stage 3:(School age)
Good Interpersonal
Relationships
Characteristics
• The child/individual is good in order
to be seen as being a good person by
others. Therefore, answers relate to the
approval of others.

13. Stage 4 ::(School age)
Maintaining the Social Order
• The child/individual
becomes aware of the wider
rules of society, so
judgments concern obeying
the rules in order to uphold
the law and to avoid guilt.

14. Post-Conventional
Stages
Stage 5: (Teen age)Social
Contract and Individual
Rights
Characterstics
• The child 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.

15. Stage6: (Adulthood)
Universal Principles.
• Person may have developed their own
set of moral guidelines which may or
may not fit the law. The principles apply
to everyone.
• The person will be prepared to act to
defend the principles E.g., human rights,
justice, and equality even if it means
going against the rest of society.
• Ready to pay the consequences of
disapproval and or imprisonment.
• Kohlberg doubted few people reached
this stage.

16. Educational Implications
• Kohlberg theory offers a stimulating challenge to our thinking and many insights which
can be blended into the continually evolving direction of educational programs
• Teaching students "how to think. " and understand why they think so.
• Provide simulated situation/problems/dilemma, a student is expected to comprehend the
facts of a dilemma, analyze the important issues, apply past learning to the problem,
generate alternative courses of action, evaluate the correctness or suitability of these
alternatives, and decide on the best solution to the problem.
• Kohlberg dilemma-solving method suggests a way in which teachers might focus
attention on moral issues in their disciplines
• Kohlberg's moral dilemma method promotes student involvement and activity
• Kohlberg's dilemma method seems ideally suited to promote adolescent moral growth
whether it be empathy, disagreement, confusion, etc
• Kohlberg emphasizes the importance of the environment in moral development so
teacher must create an environment before instruction

17. Critics ……..
• According to Gilligan (1977), because Kohlberg’s theory was based on an all-
male sample, the stages reflect a male definition of morality (it’s androcentric).
• Mens' morality is based on abstract principles of law and justice, while
womens' is based on principles of compassion and care.
• Gilligan is claiming that there is a sex bias in Kohlberg’s theory. He neglects
the feminine voice of compassion, love, and non-violence, which is associated
with the socialization of girls.
• His research was cross-sectional
• A better way to see if all children follow the same order through the stages
would have been to carry out longitudinal research
• Sample size was too small and qualitative technique like observation and
interviews are used so external validity was a question.

18. Link for Piaget’s theory of moral
development:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=yPdjgMQ2pZQ&t=1s
Link for Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=-ARDtsfdxbY&t=29s
Jagannath Kunar
Dept. of Higher Education
Govt. of Odisha
Email:jkuanr01@gmail.com https://youtu.be/x8FZZkFjnmc
https://youtu.be/hxb-e6MwIew