Moral Development during the School Years
Moral Development during the School Years There are many stages of moral development during the years ranging from 7 to 11, also known as the school years. One man, Lawrence Kohlberg, studied moral reasoning by presenting subjects with a set of ethical dilemmas. Responses to these allowed him to describe how children reasoned about situations that demanded moral judgments. Kohlberg came up with three levels and six stages of moral reasoning. Level one, preconventional moral reasoning, places emphasis on getting rewards and avoiding punishments. ... Level two, conventional moral reasoning, emphasis is placed on social rules. ... The third and last level of moral reasoning is, postconventional moral reasoning. In this level emphasis is now on moral principles. ... According to Kohlberg, how people reason determines their stage of moral development.