WHAT ARE SOME THEORIES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT?
SELF-CHECK ITEM: Consider the case of Ms. Lewis in the second chapter-opening vignette. How might Piaget and Kohlberg explain what happened when the teacher made a rule, then later tried to make an exception to the rule? Consider the developmental level of the students, how might Ms. Lewis prevent this situation from happening again? How might have things have been different if the students in Ms. Lewis s class were five years older? QUESTION 1: How might Piaget and Kohlberg explain what happened when the teacher made a rule, then later tried to make an exception to the rule? POSSIBLE RESPONSE: Piaget proposed that children are inflexible thinkers when it comes to questions of right and wrong. For Piaget, Ms. Lewis students are classified under the heteronomous stage of moral reasoning. According to Piaget, children in this stage are guided by the principle of moral realism. In other words, rules are inflexible mandates coming from all-powerful external sources beyond question. Therefo
