educational purpose only

1. Kohlberg’s
Stages of
Moral
Development

2. OBJECTIVES
to:
 explain the stages of moral
development.
 analyze a person’s level of moral
reasoning based on his/her responses
to moral dilemmas.
 cite how the theory of moral
development can be applied to your
work as a teacher later on.

3. Moral or Morality
• Morality (from the Latin moralitas "manner,
character, proper behavior") is the differentiation of
intentions, decisions, and actions between those that
are distinguished as proper and those that are
improper. Good or Bad.
• Development:
• the act or process of growing or causing something to
grow or become larger or more advanced
• : the act or process of creating something over a period
of time
• : the state of being created or made more advanced

4. MORAL DEVELOPMENT
• Moral Development focuses on the
emergence changes and understanding the
Morality from infancy to adulthood

5. Any idea?

6. MORAL DILEMMA
In Europe, a woman was near death
from a special kind of cancer. There was
one drug that the doctors thought might
save her. It was a form of radium that a
druggist in the same town had recently
discovered. The drug was so expensive to
make, but the druggist was charging ten
times of what the drug cost him to make.
He paid $400 for the radium and charged

7. Continue please …
The sick woman’s husband, Heinz,
went to everyone he knew to borrow
the money and tried every legal means,
but he could only get together about
$2,000, which is half of what it cost.
He told the druggist to sell it cheaper
or let him pay later. But the druggist
said, “No, I discovered the drug and
I’m going to make money from it.” So,
having tried every legal means, Heinz
gets desperate and considers breaking

8. If you were Heinz would you
steal the drug? Why? Why not?
If I am Heinz, I will ?…

9. Answer ?

10. In which of these responses is your answer most
similar?
Stage 1 – “No, I wouldn’t steal the drug, because I
would be punished. The law says stealing is wrong,
so its wrong.”
Stage 2 – “No, I wouldn’t steal the drug, because while I
want to save my wife, being punished would be
worse than losing her. I could just get married again.”
Stage 3 –”No, I wouldn’t steal the drug, because people
would see me as a selfish thief who
breaks rules just for my own benefit.”

11. Continue please …
Stage 4 –”No, I wouldn’t steal the drug, because there
is a greater good to be maintained – rules exist in
order to protect all members of society. If I were to
act in my own selfish behalf and steal, it would set a
dangerous precedent with terrible long term
ramifications.”
Stage 5 –”No, I wouldn’t steal the drug, though it
would pain me miserably. I believe the rights of my
wife to the drug are valid, but they must be
balanced against the rights of the druggist. Her
rights to life are greater. I believe the druggist is
acting immorally, and that he should be implored to
sell it cheaper, but I would stop short of stealing and

12. Continue please …
and breaking laws that all of us have decided to
accept as good members of the society.”
Stage 6 –”I would steal the drug, administer it to my
wife, and then turn myself in to the police. I would
demand that I be punished to the full extent of the
law. While stealing is reprehensible, my ethical
principles value life above property, and therefore, to
be true to myself and to life itself, I must break the
lesser law in order to follow the greater good.”

13. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral
Development
According to
Kohlberg, moral
development occurs
in six stages :

14. LEVEL STAGE DESCRIPTION
Pre-conventional
Level-
Moral reasoning is
based on the
consequence/result
of the act, not on
the whether the act
is good or bad.
1
2
Punishment/Obedience.
One is motivated by fear of
punishment. He will act in
order to avoid punishment.
Mutual Benefit. One is
motivated to act by the
benefit that one may
obtain later. “You scratch
my back, I’ll scratch yours.”

15. LEVEL STAGE DESCRIPTION
Conventional
Level-
Moral Reasoning is
based on the
conventions or
“norms” of society.
These may include
approval of others,
law, order.
3
4
Social Approval.
One is motivated by what
others expect in behavior –
good boy, good girl. The person
acts because he/she values
how he/she will appears to
others. He/she gives
importance on what people
think or say.
Law and Order. One is
motivated to act in order to
uphold law and order. The
person will follow the law
because it is the law.

16. LEVEL STAGE DESCRIPTION
Post-conventional
Level -
Moral Reasoning is
based on enduring
or consistent
principles. It is not
just recognizing the
law, but the
principles behind
the law.
5
6
Social Contract.
Laws that are wrong can be
changed. One will act based on
social justice and the common
good.
Universal Principles.
This is associated with the
development of one’s conscience.
Having a set of standards that
drives one to possess moral
responsibility to make societal
changes regardless of
consequences to oneself.
Examples of persons are Mother
Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr.

17. Kohlberg and Moral Education
Goal of Moral Education-
is to encourage individuals to develop to the next
stage of moral reasoning. The most common tool
for doing this is to present a “moral dilemma”
and have students in groups determine and
justify what course the actor in the dilemma
should take.
Group Discussion, students are able to practice
moral reasoning and are able to learn from other
perspectives.

18. Continue please…
Kohlberg and his colleagues came up with the “just
community” schools approach towards
promoting moral development (Power, Higgins, &
Kohlberg, 1989).
The fundamental Goal of these schools is to
enhance students’ moral development by offering
them the chance to participate in a democratic
community. Here, democracy refers to more than
simply casting a vote. It entails full participation
of community members in arriving at consensual
rather than “majority rules” decision-making.

19. Summary
LEVEL STAGES DESCRIPTION
1. Pre-conventional
Level-
1 Punishment/
Obedience.
2 Mutual Benefit
2. Conventional
Level-
3 Social Approval.
4 Law and Order
3. Post-
conventional
Level
5 Social Contract
6 Universal
Principles.

20. Any Questions
??

21. THE END..

22. Thankyou...
GOD BLESS..

23. Presented by;
• Tadeo A. Rosalia- Reporter, PowerPoint
• Carlo Reston -Researcher
• Sahod Salimenang- Researcher