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CANDELARIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY OF CABADBARAN, INC.
8605 Funcion St., Cabadbaran City

Email Address: [email protected]
Tel.No: 808-8811
NAME: _________________________________________ SCORE: _____________________

YEAR LEVEL: ___________________________________ DATE: ______________________
SUBJECT: Educ 1 – The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles
LESSON NO: 7
LESSON TITLE: KOHLBERG’S STAGES OF STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
DURATION HOURS: 3 HRS/PER WEEK
WEEK NO.: 5
SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1. Explain the stages of moral development
2. Analyze a person’s level of moral reasoning based on his responses to moral dilemmas.
3. Cite how the theory of moral development can be applied to your work as teacher later on.
RESOURCES:
1. Corpuz, B. et.al., I. (2018). The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles. LORIMAR Publishing Inc. Quezon City.
Background:
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
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 expensive to make, but the druggist was
charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $400 for the radium and charged $4,000 for a small dose of the drug. 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 that his wife was dying, and asked him 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 anxious and considers breaking into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife.
Should Heinz steal the drug? Why or why not?
Words to remember:
• Moral is a lesson that is learn from something.
• Dilemma is a situation that requires a choice between two equal alternatives.
• Moral dilemma can therefore be defined as a situation that will often involve an apparent mental conflict in which each in possible
course of action will breach some binding moral principle.
• Moral reasoning is a study in psychology that overlaps with moral philosophy. It is also called Moral development.
Who was Lawrence Kohlberg? 1927 - 1983

• Born in New York City in 1927.
• Kohlberg began studying psychology as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. In one year, Kohlberg had earned his B.A. in
psychology and continued his education as a graduate student at the University of Chicago. In 1958, Kohlberg earned his Ph.D
• Became fascinated by moral development in children.
• Kohlberg studied moral reasoning & development with much of his work based on that of Jean Piaget and John Dewey. He had a
brief teaching position at Yale University before moving onto Harvard in 1967.
• If Piaget designed specific tasks (Piagetian tasks) to learn about the cognitive development of children. Kohlberg utilized moral
dilemmas (Kohlberg Dilemmas). The case you read in the activity part of this module was written for this module but based on how
Kohlberg wrote his dilemmas. Like Piaget, he presented these dilemmas to the individuals in his research and asked for their
responses. He did not aim to judge whether the responses were right and wrong. He was interested in analyzing the moral reasoning
behind the responses.
Kohlberg's Stages
Pre-conventional level
• Stage 1: The punishment and obedience orientation • Stage 2: The instrumental purpose orientation
Conventional level
• Stage 3: The "good boy-good girl" orientation • Stage 4: The social-order-maintaining orientation
Post-conventional level
• Stage 5: The social-contract orientation • Stage 6: The universal ethical principle orientation
Levels of Moral Reasoning

• Pre-conventional—moral reasoning is based on external rewards and punishments
• Conventional—laws and rules are upheld simply because they are laws and rules
• Post-conventional—reasoning based on personal moral standards
PRECONVENTIONAL LEVEL
• Moral reasoning is based on the consequence/result of the act, not on the whether the act
itself is good or bad.
• Punishments and rewards dominate the sense of right & wrong
FOCUS: Self AGES:4 – 10 yrs. old
Behavior motivated by anticipation of pleasure or pain.
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Stage #1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation

• One is motivated by fear of punishment.
• He will act in order to avoid punishment.
EX: The child won’t grab the candy at the supermarket for fear of being slapped
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by children of Stage 1

For stealing: If you let your wife die, you will get into trouble. You’ll be blamed for not spending your money to save her and there
will be an investigation of you and the druggist for your wife’s death.
Against stealing: You should not steal the drug because you’ll be caught and sent to jail if you do. If you do get away, your
conscience would bother you thinking how the police would catch you at any minute.
Stage #2: Mutual Benefit.

• One is motivated to act by the benefit that one may obtain later.
• You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.
EX: A mother tells her child: “If you are quiet at the mall, I will buy you an ice cream.”

• For stealing: If you do happen to get caught you could give the drug back and you wouldn’t get much of
a sentence. It wouldn’t bother you much to serve a little jail term if you have your wife when you get
out.
• Against stealing: He may not get much of a jail term if steals the drug, but his wife will probably die
before he gets out so it won’t do him much good. If his wife dies, he shouldn’t blame himself. It
wasn’t his fault that she has cancer.
CONVENTIONAL LEVEL
• Moral reasoning is based on the conventions or “norms” of society.
• This may include approval of others,
• law and order.
FOCUS: Significant Others, "Tyranny of the They" (They say…. AGES:10 – 13
yrs. old
Acceptance of the rules and standards of one's group.
Stage #3: 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 appear to others.
• He/she gives importance on what people will think or say.
EX: Volunteering at a nursing home is the right thing to do.

• For stealing: Nobody will think you’re bad if you steal the drug but your family will think you’re an
inhuman husband if you don’t. If you let your wife die, you’ll never be able to look anybody in the
face again.
• Against stealing: It isn’t just the druggist who will think you are a criminal, everyone else will, too.
After you steal it, you’ll feel bad thinking about how you’ve brought dishonor on your family and
yourself. You won’t be able to face anyone again.
Stage #4: 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.
EX: If you drink and drive your endangering the lives of others on the road, not just yourself.

• For stealing: If you have any sense of honor, you won’t let your wife die because you’re
afraid to do the only thing that will save her. You’ll always feel guilty that you caused her death
if you don’t do your duty to her.
• Against stealing: You’re desperate and you may not know you’re doing wrong when you steal
the drug. But you’ll know you did wrong after you’re punished and sent to jail.
You’ll always feel guilty for your dishonesty and lawbreaking
THE POSTCONVENTIONAL LEVEL

• Moral reasoning is based on enduring or consistent principles. It is not just
recognizing the law, but the principles behind the law.
Stage #5: Social Contract

Laws that are wrong can be changed. One will act based on social justice and the
common good.
At stage 5, people begin to ask, "What makes for a good society?" They begin to
think about society considering the rights and values that a society ought to uphold.
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• For stealing: The law wasn’t set up for these circumstances. Taking the drug in this situation isn’t really right, but it’s justified to do
it.
• Against stealing: You can’t completely blame someone for stealing but extreme circumstances don’t really justify taking the law in
your own hands. You can’t have everyone stealing whenever they get desperate. The end may be good, but the ends don’t justify the
means
Stage #6: Universal Ethical Principal Orientation

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.
EX: Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of the bus because it was an unjust law discriminating against African Americans.

• For stealing: This is a situation which forces him to choose between stealing and letting his wife die. In a situation where the choice
must be made, it is morally right to steal. He has to act in terms if the principle of preserving and respecting life.
• Against stealing: Heinz is faced with the decision of whether to consider the other people who need the drug just as badly as his
wife. Heinz ought to act not according to his particular feelings toward his wife, but considering the value of all the loves involved.
Criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory

• Research has not supported Kohlberg’s belief that the development of abstract thinking in adolescence invariably leads people to the
formation of idealistic moral principles
• Some cross-cultural psychologists argue that Kohlberg’s stories and scoring system reflect a Western emphasis on individual rights,
harm, and justice that is not shared in many cultures.
• Kohlberg’s early research was conducted entirely with male subjects, yet it became the basis for a theory applied to both males and
females.
Task 1
Read the scenario presented and state your answer. Identify what stage of moral dilemma are you.
ANSWER
The four situations were: pushing the man (named Joe) off the bridge using one's hands, using a pole
to push Joe off the bridge, and using a trap door and a remote switch either in a place distant from
Joe or standing close to Joe when flipping the switch. The people rated pushing the man off with
one's hands as the least morally acceptable action and using the switch and trap door when standing
distant from the man as the most morally acceptable.

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CANDELARIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY OF CABADBARAN, INC.

8605 Funcion St., Cabadbaran City

NAME: _____________________ SCORE: _

Who was Lawrence Kohlberg? 1927 - 1983

Levels of Moral Reasoning

Stage #1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation

Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by children of Stage 1

Stage #2: Mutual Benefit.

Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by children of Stage 2

Stage #3: Social Approval

Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by children of Stage 3

Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by children of Stage 4

THE POSTCONVENTIONAL LEVEL

Stage #5: Social Contract

Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by children of Stage 5

Stage #6: Universal Ethical Principal Orientation

Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by children of Stage 6

Criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory

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