Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina
Kohlberg’s 6 Stages of Moral Development YEAR 01
LECTURE - EDU101 (The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles) 1ST SEM
others to see that you're a good girl/boy
Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory
who is conforming with the ethics of the
- It claims that our development of moral
reasoning happens in six stages. The community. You care what the others think
stages themselves are structured in three of you.
levels:
1. Pre-conventional
STAGE 4: Authority and Maintaining
2. Conventional
Social Order
3. Post-conventional
- When the teacher sees the group fighting,
he immediately steps in and shouts: “Stop!
STAGE 1: Obedience and Punishment
Fighting at school is forbidden!” He feels
- You're afraid that the teacher may punish that, above all, it is important to follow the
you if you get caught fighting so you decide rules, otherwise chaos breaks out. He feels
not to help the victim. it is his duty to uphold the rules that sustain
a functioning society. For him, law and
STAGE 2: Self-interest order are the most important.
- You intervene and help the victim. You are
aware that you might get punished, but you STAGE 5: Social Contract
also know that you could become a victim - At this stage, we understand rules as a
someday. If you help the victim now, that social contract as opposed to strict order.
victim might help you in the future. You, who watches from afar, is not sure
how you feel about this. To you, rules make
STAGE 3: Interpersonal Accord and sense only if they serve the right purpose.
Conformity Obviously, the school rules prohibit
fighting. But maybe, Tom deserves to
finally learn his lesson. Just yesterday, Tom
- You saw the fight and wanted to
punched a young girl from grade one. She
intervene but you realized that all the
asks herself: Does a rule truly serve all
others were just watching, so you decided
members of the community?
not to get involved in the fight. You want
Kohlberg’s 6 Stages of Moral Development YEAR 01
LECTURE - EDU101 (The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles) 1ST SEM
others to see that you're a good girl/boy
Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory
who is conforming with the ethics of the
- It claims that our development of moral
reasoning happens in six stages. The community. You care what the others think
stages themselves are structured in three of you.
levels:
1. Pre-conventional
STAGE 4: Authority and Maintaining
2. Conventional
Social Order
3. Post-conventional
- When the teacher sees the group fighting,
he immediately steps in and shouts: “Stop!
STAGE 1: Obedience and Punishment
Fighting at school is forbidden!” He feels
- You're afraid that the teacher may punish that, above all, it is important to follow the
you if you get caught fighting so you decide rules, otherwise chaos breaks out. He feels
not to help the victim. it is his duty to uphold the rules that sustain
a functioning society. For him, law and
STAGE 2: Self-interest order are the most important.
- You intervene and help the victim. You are
aware that you might get punished, but you STAGE 5: Social Contract
also know that you could become a victim - At this stage, we understand rules as a
someday. If you help the victim now, that social contract as opposed to strict order.
victim might help you in the future. You, who watches from afar, is not sure
how you feel about this. To you, rules make
STAGE 3: Interpersonal Accord and sense only if they serve the right purpose.
Conformity Obviously, the school rules prohibit
fighting. But maybe, Tom deserves to
finally learn his lesson. Just yesterday, Tom
- You saw the fight and wanted to
punched a young girl from grade one. She
intervene but you realized that all the
asks herself: Does a rule truly serve all
others were just watching, so you decided
members of the community?
not to get involved in the fight. You want
