Customer Reviews

Moral Development: A Guide to Piaget and Kohlberg

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This book would be valuable for educators and parents of young children who want to help young people take steps to mature.

An important point of clarification is that the "moral development" in the title doesn't necessarily refer to how people learn between right and wrong as much as it does to how and why people learn and follow rules.

The first section outlines Jean Piaget's studies of how children learn the rules of playing marbles. Kids start by considering the rules sacred and untouchable and eventually develop their understanding to where the rules can be changed as long as everyone who's playing agrees. There is also discussion of Piaget's stories of moral judgement, where children were told very short stories containing moral situation or judgments and what the children's reactions were.

The second section outlines Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development (1. "Follow the rules or else I'll get punished" 2. "Follow the rules to get a reward" 3. Just trying to be a "good boy/girl", etc.)

Finally, the authors try to apply the moral development theories to the Christian life and also provide some practical applications for teachers and parents.

The reading isn't very exciting and I don't think many folks would read it just for fun. But it is a good introduction to the work of two important scientists. I believe most people fascinated by moral theology would find this book interesting.