Piaget's Theory

of Moral
Development
 Piaget's Biography
-Jean William Fritz Piaget was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland

in 1896.

-A Swiss psychologist is known for his work on CHILD

DEVELOPMENT

-Piaget created the INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR GENETIC

EPISTEMOLOGY in GENEVA in 1955 and directed till death

-The great pioneer of the CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY OF

KNOWING

-"CONSTRUCTIVISM" term came into existence after his

theory of COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

-He died in 1980.

 Moral Development refers to:
-The Development of moral behavior and

moral concepts.

-Moral behavior is a socially desired

behavior.

-Moral concepts start developing when the

child learns what is good and what is bad,

what is right and what is wrong.

Piaget's Theory
of Moral
Development
-Started scientific study of Moral

Development from 1928.

-Published book "The Moral Judgement of

Child" in 1932

-Piaget found that children's ideas

regarding rules, moral judgments, and

punishment tend to change as they get

older.
 -Piaget conceptualizes moral

development as a constructivist

process, whereby the interplay of

action and thought builds moral

concepts.

 Piaget (1932)
suggested two main
types of moral
thinking:
1. Heteronomous
Morality:
is also known as

moral realism –

morality imposed

from the outside.

Heteronomous Morality:
Children regard morality as obeying
other people's rules and laws, which
cannot be changed.

Immanent Justice- All rules are made

by some authority figures and that
breaking the rules will lead to
immediate and severe punishment
Heteronomous Morality:
Expiatory punishment- the
punishment will be given to the guilty
and that punishment will be
proportional to the severity of wrong
doing.
Children consider rules as being
absolute and unchanging, i.e. 'divine
like'.
Heteronomous Morality:

behavior is judged as “bad” in terms of

the observable consequences,
regardless on the intentions or reasons
for that behavior.
 For Example:
There was once a little girl who was
called Marie. She wanted to give her
mother a nice surprise and cut out a
piece of sewing for her. But she
didn’t know how to use the scissors
properly and cut a big hole in her
dress.
 For Example:
A little girl called Margaret went and
took her mother’s scissors one day
when her mother was out. She played
with them for a bit. Then, as she
didn’t know how to use them
properly, she made a little hole in her
dress.
2. Autonomous
Morality:
is also known as

moral relativism –

morality based on

your own rules.

Autonomous Morality:
Children recognize there is no absolute
right or wrong and that morality
depends on intentions, not
consequences.
Children overcome the egocentrism of
middle childhood and have developed the
ability to see moral rules from other
people’s point of view.
Autonomous Morality:
Children recognize there is no absolute
right or wrong and that morality
depends on intentions, not
consequences.
Children's thinking becomes more adult-
like
Children's view on a lie- now judges lies
in terms of the betrayal of trust. They
understand that all lies are not the same.
 POINTS OF DIFFERENCE:
MORAL REALISM MORAL RELATIVISM

IMMANENT JUSTICE IMPERFECT JUSTICE

PUNISHMENT TO PUT
EXPIATORY PUNISHMENT
THINGS RIGHT
RULE ARE "DIVINE LIKE" RULES CAN BE CHANGED

CATEGORIZES BEHAVIOR CATEGORIZES BEHAVIOR

ON CONSEQUENSES ON INTENTIONS
 Application of Piaget's Theory
Based on his findings, Piaget
suggested that schools focus on
providing students with
opportunities to develop and
practice specific skills to aid in
their moral development.
 Application of Piaget's Theory

He purported that children

would learn best by situations
that required cooperative
decision-making and problem
solving with other children.

 Application of Piaget's Theory

Piaget believed that this
method would be more
effective than simply
indoctrinating children with
norms and rules.
THANK
YOU!!!