Discussing Dilemmas in Promoting

Cognitive-Moral Growth

Theory, Pedagogy, and Resources

for Teaching History and
Contemporary Issues Through
Dilemma Discussions
Overview of Presentation

1. Rationale
2. Research and Theory in Moral Development
1. Piaget (1969)
2. (1971)
3. Gilligan (1982)
3. Implementing Dilemma Discussions in your
classroom
4. Curriculum Resources and Developing your
Own Dilemmas
Why Consider Social-Moral Issues
and Hold Dilemma Discussions
 Students have the need and capacity to
engage in discussions about American
history that can promote moral growth and
democratic aims
 In an adequately politicized classroom,
students may begin to experience school as
a place to which they can bring some
meaning. School will no longer be
experienced as a compulsory act in a
theater of the absurd (Nels Nodding)
 Guiding Principles of Dilemma
Discussions
 Integrated with standards and academic
aims
 Concordant with overall approach to
classroom atmosphere and development of
student personal responsibility
 Grounded in age-developmentally
appropriate discourse
 Guiding Principles of Social-Moral Issues
Research in Moral Development: Piaget’s
Influence
Research in Moral
Development:
Kohlberg’s Stages
of Moral Growth
 Principles of Morality that Come into Conflict
During a Dilemma Discussion
 Affiliation
 Authority
 Contract
 Conscience
 Law
 Life
 Liberty
 Punishment
 Property
 Truth
Research in Moral
Development: Gilligan
and Kohlbergian
Perspectives
Constructing a Discourse Community -
Types of Discourse
 Strategic discourse - aim to win an argument,
don’t have to listen.
– Debates
– family arguments
– teacher imposition of authority
 Communicative Discourse
– No Speaker can contradict themselves
– May only assert what you really believe
– Everyone is allowed to question any assumption
– Disputation of a proposition or norm not under
discussion must be given with a reason for wanting to
do so.
 Review and Development (5
minutes)
 Form groups of four or five at tables
 Summarize the points
 Expand and add ideas
 Raise Questions for Clarification
 Transactional Discourse Skills Builders (up
to 5 participants)
 Elaboration Game - Students provided with an issue. One
player records the # of paraphrases and elaboration
(paraphrases or selective parroting) - Grades inhibit
meaningful learning?
 Rebuttal Game - same as elaboration but now the
transactions must refute the statement of the other
accurately taking into account the argument presented -
Teachers should be drug-tested?
 Consensus Exercise (for older students) - students start in
small groups and are given a controversial issue
attempting to reach consensus on the issue. Don’t vote for
consensus - the death penalty should be abolished
The
Five Step
Dilemma
Discussion
Teaching
Process
 Kohlberg’s Questions for Facilitating
Dilemma Discussions
 Perception Checking: Can you tell me what Fred
Said
 Seeking Reasoning: Why?
 Definitional: What do you mean by terrorism?
 Student to Student Interaction: What do you think
of what Maria has argued for?
 Issue-related: How can breaking the law ever be
an act of justice?
 Role-switch: How would you feel if you were held
unjustly at Guatanomo?
 Universal Consequences: What if everybody ..?
 RESOURCE HIGHLIGHTS FROM
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Lockwood, Alan L. and David Harris. 1985. Reasoning With
Democratic Values: Ethical Problems in United States
History. New York: Teachers College Press. (examine
examples in handout: note the questions and issues raised)
 Power, F. C., Higgins, A., & Kohlberg, L. (1989). "Lawrence
Kohlberg's Approach to Moral Education." New York:
Columbia University Press.
 “Studies in Moral Development and Education” [online]
(cited 20 July 2004); available from
http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/; INTERNET.
 “Gilder Lehrman Institute of American Hisotry” [online] (cited
20 July 2004); available from
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/boisterous/section4_
7.html; INTERNET
 CREATING YOUR OWN DILEMMAS

 Identify significant events or central issues from

American history, e.g. Jim Crow Laws
 Identify the moral principles that are in conflict in
the dilemma
 Construct an abstract that contains the main
themes and moral principles you wish students to
address (dilemmas)
 Provide questions that ask students to
interpret/resolve the the issue of the dilemma
Review and Development
 In Groups of four of five
 Summarize key points
 Expand and add ideas
 Raise questions for
clarification