PEDC 1 WEEK 9

• Moral development


  Process through which children develop proper attitudes and behaviors toward other people in society, based on social and cultural norms, rules, and laws
• Morals


  More of a societal view of right or wrong
• Values


  More of an individual view of right or wrong
• Kohlberg


  • Believed that moral growth occurs through interaction with one's environment
  • Moral development progresses through defined stages
• Kohlberg's research method


  1. Presented moral dilemmas to those he studied

  2. Determined which stage of moral development they were in, based on the reasons behind their answer, not the answer itself
• Six Stages of Moral Development

  • Level 1-Pre-conventional level
  • Level 2-Conventional level
  • Level 3-Post-conventional level
• Moral reasoning at Pre-conventional level

  Based on the consequence/result of the act, not on whether the act itself is good or bad
• Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation

  1. The child/individual is good in order to avoid being punished

  2. If a person is punished, they must have done wrong
• Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange


  1. Children recognize that there is not just one right view that is handed down by the authorities

  2. Different individuals have different viewpoints
• Moral reasoning at Conventional level


  Based on the conventions or "norms" of society, including approval of others and law and order
• Stage 3. Good interpersonal Relationships


  The child/individual is good in order to be seen as being a good person by others
• Stage 4. Authority and Social Order

  1. The child/individual becomes aware of the wider rules of society

  2. Judgments concern obeying the rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt
• Moral reasoning at Post-conventional level

  Based on enduring or consistent principles, not just recognizing the law, but the principles behind the law
• Stage 5. Social Contract

  1. The child/individual 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

  2. The issues are not always clear-cut
• In Heinz's dilemma, the protection of life is more important than breaking the law against stealing
• Stage 6. Universal Principles

  1. People at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the law

  2. The principles apply to everyone

  3. This is associated with the development of one's conscience

  4. Having a set of standards that drives one to possess moral responsibility to make societal changes regardless of consequences to oneself
• Persons at Stage 6

  • Mother Teresa
  • Martin Luther King Jr.
• Universal Principles

  • Human rights, justice, and equality
  • The person will be prepared to act to defend these principles even if it means going against the rest of society in the process and having to pay the consequences of disapproval and or imprisonment
• Kohlberg doubted few people reached Stage 6
• Fowler's Faith Development Theory

  A theory of faith development created by James W. Fowler
• Stages of Faith Development

  • Pre-Stage: Undifferentiated Faith
  • Stage 1: Intuitive-Projective Faith
  • Stage 2: Mythic-Literal Faith
• Pre-Stage: Undifferentiated Faith

  • Generally children from birth through about 2 years of age
  • Have the potential for faith but lack the ability to act on that potential
  • Through loving care from parents and other adults, young children start to build a lived experience of trust, courage, hope and love
  • Children experience faith as a connection between themselves and their caregiver
• Stage 1: Intuitive-Projective Faith

  • Generally pre-school aged children
  • Children of this age are unable to think abstractly and generally unable to see the world from anyone else's perspective
  • Faith is not a thought-out set of ideas, but instead a set of impressions that are largely gained from their parents or other significant adults in their lives
  • Children become involved with the rituals of their religious community by experiencing them and learning from those around them
• Stage 2: Mythic-Literal Faith

  • Generally ages 6 to 12
  • Children at this age are able to start to work out the difference between verified facts and things that might be more fantasy or speculation
  • Children's source of religious authority starts to expand past parents and trusted adults to others in their community like teachers and friends
  • Faith is something to be experienced because children think in concrete and literal ways
  • Faith becomes the stories told and the rituals practiced
  • Later in this stage children begin to have the capacity to understand that others might have different beliefs than them
• Stage 3: Synthetic-Conventional Faith


  • Generally starts about the age of 13 and goes until around 18
  • Some people stay at this stage for their entire life
• People at this stage

  • Are able to think abstractly
  • Can see a more cohesive narrative about values and morals in stories, rituals and symbols of their faith
  • Have the ability to see things from someone else's perspective
  • Can imagine what others think about them and their faith
• Claiming faith as their own


  Instead of just being what their family does
• The faith that is claimed is usually still the faith of their family
• Stage 4: Individuative-Reflective Faith


  • Usually starts in late adolescence (18 to 22 years old)
  • People of many generations experience the end of dissonance that comes with the real questions of faith that one begins to address at this stage of development
• People in Stage 4


  • Start to question their tradition assumptions around the faith
  • Start to question the authority structures of their faith
• People in Stage 4

  May leave their religious community if the answers to the questions they are asking are not to their liking
• Greater maturity in Stage 4

  • Gained by rejecting some parts of their faith while affirming other parts
  • The person starts to take greater ownership of their own faith journey
• Stage 5: Conjunctive Faith


  • People do not usually get to this stage until their early thirties
  • The struggles and questioning of stage four give way to a more comfortable place
  • Some answers have been found and the person at this stage is comfortable allowing that all the answers might not be easily found
• People in Stage 5


  • The strong need for individual reflection gives way to a sense of the importance of community in faith development
  • More open to other people's faith perspectives, not because they are moving away from their faith but because they have a realization that other people's faiths might inform and deepen their own
• Stage 6: Universalizing Faith


  • It is a rare person who reaches this stage
  • People at this stage have a special grace that makes them seem more lucid, more simple, and yet somehow more fully human than the rest of us
  • They have the ability to relate to anyone at any stage and from any faith, without condescension but also able to challenge the assumptions that those of other stages might have
  • They cherish life but also do not hold on to life too tightly, putting their faith in action and challenging the status quo to create justice in the world
• People who have reached Stage 6

  • Gandhi
  • Mother Teresa