Stages Kohlberg

The first stage explains that people act on the “fear of punishment” (Wadsworth 412). An example of this was when I was with the fourth grade class. Their teacher told them to read, and if she caught them talking that they would get in trouble and have to stay in from recess. The students, out of fear of losing recess, kept quiet and did whatever the teacher told them to. The second stage of this level describes when a person will “satisfy one’s self-interest” (Wadsworth 400). Another way of saying this is that students act more from an individual point of view. This brings us back to kindergarten when the kids had no sense of personal space and could not keep their hands off each other. The second level is known as the conventional mortality level (Cherry n.pag.). This stage represents an intermediate level of moral reasoning with two stages; stage three and stage four (Wadsworth 400). This stage describes more of the “good boy-good girl” aspect (Cherryn.pag.). This occurred really throughout every school I went to. The teachers really encouraged the “being nice” approach to everything. I mainly saw it click in when I went to the fourth grade class. Everyone in there had their certain “roles” and they all used their manners with each other. This also ties along with stage four. Stage four focuses on maintaining law and order by following the rules, doing one’s duty, and respecting authority (Cherry n.pag.). I saw more misbehaving from kindergarteners to second graders. I really noticed that once I arrived at middle school, the students started to mature more and started to follow rules and to do as they are told without questioning. The last level of this theory, level three, is known as the postconventional morality (Cherry n.pag.). This level is described as the highest level of moral reasoning. This level is mainly for the adults in realizing that there are rules of laws that are important for maintaining a society (Cherry n.pag.). I saw some of this is the intermediate and middle school. At these ages there was a lot less hitting and touching other students. Instead, they would sit down and talk with each other. The middle school students realized that there are greater consequences for their actions now that they are older. Kohlberg’s theory is a branch off of Piaget, but it deals with the moral reasoning instead.