The contribution of developmental psychology to education ‐ ‐examples from moral education¹

Abstract

Abstract It is argued that much of the ineffectiveness of schools in producing change is due to the educational psychologists' moral relativity, identified with an "industrial psychologist"; model. Such relativity can result in defining educational aims in terms of "social adjustment,"; an approach that is said to have no empirical basis, or in terms of a "bag of virtues,"; an approach that is said to suffer from lack of agreement on what the virtues should be. A developmental‐philosophic strategy for defining aims of education is proposed as a solution. In this approach, the assumption is made that each later stage of moral development reflects a more adequate equilibration with the environment, and it therefore follows that what is at later stages is what ought to be. The universality of moral stages is documented and the stimulation of moral development in school and prison settings through a cognitive conflict procedure is illustrated.