Morality defines the behavior patterns and rules that people have to comply with in a society. Moral development is the process of the individual adapting to life by taking into account the value judgments of the society and combining them with his own value judgments. Moral development in a child begins with feeling safe from birth. In the process, it is expected that the child's unique morality will be formed by combining the values taught with the child's innate characteristics. This article includes a theoretical examination and summary of moral development, especially in children between the ages of 2-12, in terms of Piaget and Kohlberg.
Piaget emphasized some special concepts in moral development. These; The child's consciousness, his application of the rules of the game, his thoughts about lying and theft, his attitudes towards justice, responsibility and punishment. Piaget taught the child the rules of the game and questioned whether he should play with himself within the framework of these rules. During the game, he observed how the child adopted the rules and coped with mistakes. Children first accept the rules as they are and comply with them (2-7 age range). Then, as the cognitive development process progresses, their conscious awareness increases and they move to the stage where they can verbally express the rules and their internalized thoughts (7-12 age range). The development process between these two takes time. Based on Piaget's 'Cognitive Development Theory', two opposing moral understandings have been identified. The first is the 'egocentric' morality seen in children in the preoperational period, and the other is; It is the moral understanding of 'cooperation and mutual relationship' seen with children in the procedure period.
Moral Understanding and Development in Pre-Procedure Children (2-7 Age Range):
Children in this age group do not play the rules of their games with conscious awareness. They play individual games and are completely self-centered. As the age increases, imitation behaviors begin. They build their games by imitating the games of other children. Although they are still 'egocentric' in their play, they learn the basic rules of being in a social environment. For example; 4-year-old A sees B putting Legos away after playing with them in class. to imitate. These rules are imposed on preoperational children by adults. Children follow rules not because they internalize the reasons for following them, but because they believe they have to. At the same time, it has been observed that children in this period (2-7 years old) judge lies and theft based entirely on concrete results and do not attach any importance to the intention of the criminal. Therefore, in their eyes, lying to children is not equal to lying to adults, because the financial consequences of lying to adults are more severe, and the fairest punishment for this age group is the punishment that hurts the most. For example; A, who complained to her teacher about her friend who hit her; Rather than talking to the hitting child and understanding that his action is wrong, he expects the teacher to give him the heaviest punishment.
Moral Understanding and Development in Children in the Process Period (7-12 Age Range):
The understanding of morality in children of this period is based on mutual cooperation. Now that the child has internalized the reasons for the rules of the game, he follows the rules without adult pressure. With the effect of assimilation, the rules are no longer rigid and immutable; on the contrary; Since the rules belong to the children, they can be changed if they wish. Since this age group has ceased to be self-centered, it is important to see the truth of others. He knows that rules can only be changed if everyone in the addressing group accepts them. Unlike in the preoperational period (ages 2-7), this group now cares about intention. He can evaluate the situation not only according to the material consequences, but also according to both the criminal's intention and the concrete results. For example; The concept of lying is no longer bad because it breaks adult rules, but because it destroys mutual trust and social relationships. Again, while young children associate punishment with pain, this group evaluates the functionality of punishment. “The purpose of punishment is to remind the criminal of the nature of his crime and to correct him” (Wright, D. Croxen, M.). In this context, many punishment methods have been determined, from removing the child from the group, to depriving the child, to criticizing the child for his bad behavior. However, from the early times, Piaget emphasized that parents should apply democratic principles and He also suggests that they should ensure authoritarian control. In fact, this is compatible with giving choices to children of all ages within certain limits.
In another context; Kohlberg re-examined Piaget's theory. He argues that cognitive structures are established to determine behavior and emotions as well as thought, and are not just about intelligence. Although Kohlberg's study is a developmental approach, 3 results were found with the study:
1) We cannot know whether a person who acts honestly in one situation will act honestly in the same situation or in other situations.
< br /> 2) We cannot expect children to become more honest or self-sacrificing as they grow behaviorally.
3)There is no relationship between parental discipline and the child's subsequent behavior, what is important is the child's understanding and interpretation of this discipline.
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As a result; Kohlberg argues that an individual's morality develops spontaneously through the interaction of the individual's intelligence and experiences with other individuals. In this context, while the individual obeys the rules in order to avoid punishment in the early stages, he progresses towards avoiding self-blame as he develops. As the value of human life stages are completed, the individual, who has a universal value, begins to be evaluated as sacred.
-Children should be educated according to their developmental characteristics: While each age period has different age characteristics, it also has different moral development characteristics. Parents should know these characteristics so that the moral characteristics they expect from the child are meaningful. For example; 3-year-old A should not be expected to wash his hands before eating. They should be taught to wash their hands before eating. Another example is; 10-year-old B should be taught that he is now expected to behave cooperatively. Instead of saying 'You shouldn't steal', the reasons why one shouldn't steal and the importance of intention should be taught.
-Moral development begins from birth: Meeting the baby's needs from the moment it is born and establishing a secure bond with its mother is the beginning of moral development. A bond is a deep and permanent relationship between two people across time and process (Ainsworth, 1973; Bowlby, 1969). This view is Erik Er It is also compatible with Ikson's stages of psychosocial development. The child needs the permanence and consistency of the caregiver during these years. This is the first stage of moral development. Therefore, reliability starting from birth is meaningful.
-Families should first be a good model for the child: Children are very good observers. If you aim to provide moral education about moral values according to age and developmental characteristics, first make sure that you are a model for the value you want to teach. As I mentioned above;
children assimilate with concrete examples. It is a good modeling for them to see what their parent is doing rather than listening to what is said.
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