Moral and Social Development

What?
After studying the mental development of our students, it is interesting to compare the those stages of development with the social and moral development stages that we learned this week. it is just as crucial to know the moral and social needs of our students to help them succeed. We discussed in class kohlberg's stages of moral development. I found it interesting the different stages that the students go through. I also find it interesting how the students in the same class can be on those different levels. I also found it interesting how we talked about the characteristics of social and moral development that could possible hinder a student from learning. We also talked about Erikson's model of psychosocial development. And how at each stage a student will be presented with a developmental task, and how teh student addresses it will influence the overall development.
So what?
As I think back to my high school years and remember the different cliques and groups that students hung out in. I can see how this might have been detrimental to their learning. A student needs to have a good self esteem and be self confident to have a great success in high school. It might be true that some student just go through the motions of high school getting passing grades. But this does nothing to prepare them for life after high school.
Now what?
Students need to feel socially accepted in our classrooms. I think that one of the biggest barriers in our classrooms are the lines that exist between cliques. So to encourage students to cross these lines I will make sure that everyone has time to present their ideas and belief. Promote activities that allow students to express themselves. Classroom debates are a good way to make the students think and observe moral dilemmas. Give the students activities that explore their moral reasoning. It will also help them develop social skills. This would be a great way to develop morally and socially.