Moral Development in Children: Bandura, Kohlberg and Piaget

Define Moral

Moral refers to the principles that determine the goodness or evil of human actions and the character of persons. It is the point of view from which the goodness or evil of behavior is judged, and it is a social construct that is transmitted to the next generation.

Common Points in Bandura's Theory of Moral Development

1 - Development is the learning of moral conduct and the internalization of standards and values transmitted by people around the child in different environments.

2 - Moral development does not follow a single, regular, and homogeneous evolutionary progression.

3 - Conduct is learned through experimentation and through the consequences of one's own conduct, the observation of others' conduct, and its consequences.

The Four Core Areas of Kohlberg's Morality

1 - The development of moral stages and levels.

2 - To promote the child's reasoning about what is right, beyond what is considered good.

3 - Social perspective-taking at each stage of moral development.

4 - What each stage considers to be good for the child.

Characteristics of Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

1 - Invariant: they follow a fixed order.

2 - They are universal.

3 - They form a joint structure.

4 - They are hierarchical and interrelated.

Conditions for Creating the School Environment for Moral Development

1 - Offer children situations for experimentation, conflicts, interactions, and consequences.

2 - Present moral conflicts for discussion in groups.

3 - Perceive relationships in the classroom as a fair community.

Stages of Moral Development

• Heteronomous: Morality is based on the rules and authority of adults.
• Autonomy and mutual cooperation: Morality is based on mutual respect among equals.

Moral realism: It is characterized by a unilateral respect for norms imposed by authority. Students consider rules as mandatory impositions.

Social realism: Piaget called children in this stage heteronomous. They comply with rules in a fully reliable manner, and they confuse the objective and the subjective.

Conditions Children Need to Advance Toward Autonomous Morality and Cooperation

1 - Social opportunities to maintain reciprocal interactions in equality and mutual respect.

2 - Social aspects are essential elements of moral autonomy in programs.

3 - Cognitive development.

Action Strategies

1 - It is necessary for the content of moral education to be clear for the child's understanding and to be sufficient and motivating.

2 - The school's climate of valuing should be welcoming, warm, and secure. Create a welcoming environment.

3 - The relationships between children and teachers are a primary source and a basic component of the field of moral learning within the school.

4 - The family's consideration is important in the moral education of children.

Technique: Praise

It is easier to counteract negative attitudes of children with constant criticism by providing positive attitudes and praise. This is combined with positive reinforcement, especially for good and evil behavior.

Technique: Ignore

Ignore behavior that is unpleasant. We call the child for positive behavior by paying attention to behaviors that please.

Technique: Broken Record

It does not consist of getting annoyed. If the child does not stop, ignore the child. This technique does not work if applied only once. Negative responses for the child produce a result, giving the attitude that is irritating, annoying, or a tantrum. If you are tired and want to obtain always the same response, it is disappearing; do not apply other techniques.

Technique: Reward

Reward consists of recognizing the child for doing something good, previously warning the child with such a reward.

Technique: Time Out

The child is removed from the group for a few minutes, having been left out of the game they enjoyed, because of an inappropriate behavior.