Postconventional Moral Development

The final stage of development is moral development. Moral development is how we make decisions based on what we know as right or wrong from the values we acquire from our families, friends, and experiences. As children develop they learn to achieve their needs and goals. Students want to do the right thing but can be concerned what their peers will think of their actions and decisions (Ormrod, 2012, p. 260). Karen shows this concern when worrying about what her classmates think about her while studying for French. One example is when Karen is afraid to take out the flashcards she had made prior to studying. When Karen sees that her peers are not using their flashcards to study, Karen decides it is best for her to leave her cards in her backpack.
Karen based her decision on whether or not to use her flashcards off of her friends actions. Karen saw that using flashcards may be regarded at something wrong. Through the stages of moral development, learning will be impacted. “Adolescence who think and behave in moral and prosocial ways gain more support from their teachers and peers, and, as a result, achieve greater academic and social success over the long run” (Ormrod, 2012, p.255). Karen views her friends actions as morally right to prepare for the French II test. With the impact that Karen’s peers have provided in her French class, she is able to better understand the curriculum.
There are three levels of moral reasoning development according to Kohlberg.
The end result of moral development is postconventional morality. This stage is rarely seen to occur before college. During this stage people are able to recognize the rules are agreements between a group of people about what is appropriate behavior or not. This stage focuses on human rights or universal code of ethics. In the case study, Karen is currently in the conventional level of moral development. During the conventional level, Kohlberg claims that people will often aim to meet the expectations set by the authoritative figures such as parents or teachers. This time frame says that people such as Karen will be concerned about other people’s perspectives when making decisions. Karen is worried throughout the case study what her friends may think about her if she wants to study with them or use her flashcards to prepare for the test. People in this stage focus on conformity to those around them. In the preconventional level of moral development, “decisions are based on what is best for themselves, without regard for others’ needs or feelings” (Ormrod, 2012, p. 259). Since this is the first level of moral development, people in this stage label their actions as right or wrong, good or bad based on the culture that surrounds them.
During Karen’s conventional level of moral development, most of her decisions are influenced from her peers around her. The conventional level allows for moral conflicts to be resolved in a group or social terms rather than in individual terms (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977, p. 56). Karen can take her friends method of studying and apply to not only to French test but to other classes Karen may struggle with. Karen has learned from her friends that better study methods come from practice rather than just
repetition.
Teachers have an enormous amount of impact on a student's moral development. If students begin to see their teacher cutting corners and making excuses, they will begin to think their teachers are exhibiting an appropriate behavior. Teachers can present students with situations that allow them to view different perspectives on morality. “The aim of moral education should be to stimulate people’s thinking ability over time in ways which will enable them to use more adequate and complex reasoning patterns to solve moral problems” (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977, p.56). Teachers need to expose their students to models of moral behavior, while presenting discussions and activities related to moral issues. Although Mr. Lanier is mentioned very little in the case study, his actions at the end of the study speak volumes. By writing “Good job!” on Karen’s paper, she feels more encouraged to better prepare for future tests.
Conclusion
In this case study, we discussed how cognitive, personal, social, and moral development play a role in Karen’s life. When it comes to cognitive development, Karen is in the formal operation stage, where she thinks of things that may or may not be true. She creates hypothetical situations that help her make decisions for her future plans in education. In regards to personal development Karen is in the final stage of personal development. She is searching for her adult identity through trial and error. Socially, Karen is in the adolescence stage, where she is focuses most of her time around peers. Although she is found spending most of her time with her friends, her family continues to impact Karen’s attitudes and behaviors. Finally, Karen’s moral development is found in the conventional level. Karen is more worried about her peers thoughts and actions regarding her decisions. Karen works to conform her actions to those around her, based on what they think is right or wrong. Based on this study, Karen is almost fully developed. Karen should stride to achieve the post conventional level of morality, basing her thoughts off of law and her own thoughts rather than the thoughts of others.