Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development, and my classroom culture
Written on April 1, 2008 – 9:25 am | by Ed Warkentin
I recently read the book, “Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire,” by Rafe Esquith, an interesting book about an unconventional teacher who has been able to glean from his experiences several “tried and true” techniques that he has found great success with. Other things that he does, most of us have never had the boldness (or time) to try with our students. He begins with his classroom management technique. He, appropriately, emphasizes his classroom culture, discussing themes such as respect, fear, and trust. This chapter got to a more fundamental level than I had gone with my students before. I talk about respect A LOT with my students. It’s a better fundamental rule than the large lists that many teachers come up with. What was new from Rafe was his reference to Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. These stages encourage us to teach students to not just do (or not do) something because of avoiding punishment, a very low level, but just because it’s right (Level VI, what Rafe calls the “Atticus Finch Level”).My current plan for beginning next school year, and how to form the classroom culture goes something like this: I’ll ask my students list, on separate Post-It’s, rules they think we should have in our classroom. I’ll then have them post them on the board. With some moving around by me, eventually, all their suggested rules will be in two categories: “Treat others the way you want to be treated” and “Always do your very best.” I credit Bob Sprankle with the clarity on these two rules. I heard him mention it once in one of his podcasts, and thought, “Yeah – that makes sense!” I used to have several more, that can basically be included in the first. Then, I’ll spend some time at the beginning of the year directly teaching my students these six levels:
I. I Don’t Want to Get in Trouble
II. I Want a Reward
III. I Want to Please Somebody (The “good boy/girl” attitude)
IV. Follow the Rules
V. I Am Considerate of Other People
VI. I Have a Personal Code of Behavior and I Follow It (The Atticus Finch Level)
