ERIC Number: ED255409
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1984-Aug
Pages: 24
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Inception, Evolution, and Current State of the Moral Development School of Lawrence Kohlberg.
Cortese, Anthony J.
Tiryakian's "school" approach is used to analyze the evolution of Kohlberg's study of moral development over the past 25 years. The first part of the paper contrasts the paradigm approach (Kuhn 1970) to the schools approach in defining the development of the social sciences. Specifically, Kuhn's definition of a paradigm ("universally recognized scientific achievements that for a time provide model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners") is contrasted with Tiryakian's components of a "school" (a small community of intellectuals integrated around a central figure and a paradigm of empirical reality which is subject to investigation). Tiryakian suggests that the "schools" approach, rather than the "great man" or "key concepts/theories" approaches, more adequately defines the development of the social sciences and what social scientists actually do. The next section addresses the question of how the moral development school originated, by looking at how Piagetian structuralism provided theoretical direction for Kohlberg's dissertation at the University of Chicago. The socio-historical context of this work, the development of moral education programs, and changes in the field through the ideas of different members of the group are then covered. The concluding section deals with the present state of the school and discusses the major members of the school, the division of labor among them, challenges from outside the school, and possible future directions. (IS)
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers; Information Analyses
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A