Possibilities of survey methods and projective techniques. Dilemmas L
“Twin Method” - There are two types of twins: fraternal and identical. Research result. A comparison of some signs of OB and RB gives the following results. Twins. What are the reasons for the occurrence of two types of twins? OBs are always of the same sex and show striking similarities. Feature matching analysis.
“Moral duty” - IV. Announcement of the topic. (write in notebook). Key Terms and Concepts: What will you teach family members about moral duty and moral responsibilities? Listening to and discussing students' stories about responsible human behavior (from literature). Take care of the dress again, help out your comrade. Goal: developing an idea of moral duty.
“Educational project method” - Offered by students based on the children’s own interests. "Educational project method". 7. Work in groups. Selecting a project topic. Show me and I will remember. 8. Graphic design. Involve me and I will learn. (Chinese proverb). From history.. Classification of projects by duration... Result.
“Numerical methods” - * in accordance with GOST 12997-84. Stages of solving differential equations using approximate methods: 1) finding the interval of the approximate value of the root; 2) refinement of the function value to a given accuracy value. Numerical methods for searching for extrema of a function. Let us be given an algebraic equation of the form:
“Methods of genetics” - Cytogenetic method. Questions. Monozygotic (identical) twins. Biochemical method (example). Identical twins are genetically identical. Cytological method (example). The figures in the pedigree are arranged by generation. Proband is a person about whom information is collected in a pedigree. Let's repeat the terms necessary for successfully mastering the topic of the lesson.
“Teaching methods” - What new did Vasya learn about his father? What impression does the story about the overcoat make? Of the retellings, Baltalon preferred free, rather than “close to learning by heart.” How should you look at a fantasy ending? The existing classifications of methods and techniques for teaching literature have an interesting history.
Introduction
1. Chapter 1. Theoretical foundations of the problem moral development personality and understanding of the situation of moral choice in domestic and foreign psychology
1.1The problem of moral development of the individual in modern stage
1.2 Moral consciousness of the individual and its structure
1.3 The influence of moral development of the individual on the situation of moral choice
2 Chapter 2. Experimental research and analysis of the results obtained
2.1 Purpose, objectives, hypothesis and research methods
2.2 Research
Conclusion
List of used literature
Applications
Introduction
Relevance of the research topic:
No matter how diverse the components of our ideas about ourselves are, they are usually, one way or another, grouped along the “good - bad” axis, behind which there is a moral alternative of good and evil. How does the system of moral self-regulation of an individual, its moral “I”, develop and function?
This question, equally important for psychologists and ethicists, breaks down into three problems: what are the main stages of the formation and development of the moral “I”? How are knowledge, feelings and behavior related in it? Is moral consciousness substantially unified or partial, depending on the characteristics of the situation of action and its interpretation by the subject?
The relevance of the chosen topic: “Moral development of the individual and understanding of situations of moral choice” is due to the role that plays a significant role at this stage of transformation of modern Russian society.
Difficult socio-economic conditions for the restructuring of social consciousness influence the formation of moral orientation in the development of the individual, and thereby aggravate the already difficult situation of choice for any individual.
Coverage of this problem will make it possible to reveal the main provisions of the situation of moral choice and moral development of the individual.
These circumstances determined the choice of the research topic and the main directions of its development.
Development of the problem:
Conditions, factors, patterns of moral development of the individual were studied in the works of J. Piaget, L. Kohlberg, P. Eisenberg, D. Rest, K. Gilligan, D. Krebs, E. Higgins, E. Turiel, K. Hslkam, L. I. Bozhovich, S. G. Yakobson, B. S. Bratusya, S. N. Karpova, A. I. Podolsky, E. V. Subbotsky and others.
In the psychology of moral development, there are traditionally two main principles underlying the justification of moral choice: the principle
justice, focused on the cognitive components of moral consciousness, and the principle of care, based on sympathy and empathy for another person. The normative cognitive-structuralist approach proclaimed the principle of justice as the leading principle of moral behavior and focused attention on the study of the cognitive component of moral consciousness - J. Piaget, L. Kohlberg.
An alternative to the normative cognitive approach has become the empathic approach of K. Gilligan, where the principle of care, an empathic focus on the needs and requirements, feelings and experiences of another person is fundamental. J. Rst's concept is aimed at integrating advances in the field of research on moral development (Minnesota approach). The structure of moral behavior, according to J. Rest, includes four components: moral sensitivity, moral thinking and moral judgment, moral motivation and moral character. Empathy as the ability of emotional empathy for another person is considered the main regulator of moral judgments and human behavior in research: K. Gilligan, P. Eisenberg, D. Krebs, M. Hoffman. The novelty of the approach of Eisenberg P., who proposed a periodization of the development of prosocial and moral behavior, is that the cognitive and emotional components are considered as interacting components of any act of prosocial behavior. Most empirical studies confirm that with age and with the development of abilities to overcome egocentrism, the level of connection between empathy and altruistic behavior increases. However, the relationship between empathy and preference for justice or caring orientations has not yet been studied.
Purpose and objectives of the study:
1. analyze the problem of moral development at the present stage, using the scientific literature of foreign and domestic researchers on this problem;
2. determine the structure of the moral consciousness of the individual;
3. determine the influence of the moral development of the individual on the situation of moral choice.
Research hypothesis: In my research, I put forward a hypothesis that the level of awareness of moral choice depends on the moral development of the individual.
Object of study: situation of moral choice.
Subject of research:
Research methods:
Methodology for assessing the level of development of moral consciousness - L. Kohlberg's Dilemmas;
And methods of mathematical statistics.
The study involved 20 students from the 8th, 9th and 11th grades of secondary school No. 43. Between the ages of 15 and 18.
Chapter 1. Theoretical foundations of the problem of moral development of the individual and understanding the situation of moral choice in domestic and foreign psychology
1.1 The problem of moral development of personality at the present stage
The most important area of the relationship between man and society is morality, morality as a special way of a person’s practical and spiritual mastery of reality. Throughout history, people have dreamed of a decent and happy life, based on the ideals of goodness and justice, honesty and loyalty, humanity and comradely mutual assistance. The formation of a morally active personality is the main task of training and education.
Russian society at this time is experiencing a deep moral crisis: people are moving away from awareness of the spiritual foundations of life, losing the foundations of their own existence. Modern man increasingly focused on material success and external achievements. The realities of modern Russian society are market relations, orientation towards instrumental values, Americanization of life, destruction of national identity, the foundations of the people’s existence.
Today's conditions, when life imposes stereotypes of antisocial behavior on people, it is difficult for a person to determine his personal position, to make right choice. A truly active person can freely, i.e. consciously choose your line of behavior. Therefore, the main task of training and education must be considered the education of a person who is capable of self-determination in the modern world. This means that students need to develop such qualities as a high level of self-awareness, self-esteem, self-respect, independence, independence of judgment, the ability to navigate the world of spiritual values and in situations in the surrounding life, the ability to make decisions and take responsibility for their actions and make a choice of the content of one’s life activity, line of behavior, methods of one’s development.
The issue of developing and nurturing the ability to solve moral and ethical problems has so far been poorly covered in the psychological and pedagogical literature, although a number of authors of works on developmental psychology and educational psychology: I.S. Kon, L. Kolberg, L.I. Ruvinsky and others indicate on the importance of developing this skill in adolescence. Particularly acute moral and ethical problems arise before a person in adolescence. As with previous generations of high school students, modern high school students are characterized by thinking about the world and their place in it, because it was at this stage that the world and “I” were clearly differentiated and discrepancies between book and real truths were revealed. This period is a period of rapid “infection” with new ideas, a period of changes in feelings, moods, thoughts, hobbies, faith in one’s ideals and in one’s own strength, interest in one’s own personality, the problems of time, the search for an ideal, a goal in life, dissatisfaction with oneself. All this serves as a powerful engine of moral development.
Research on the psychology of adolescence by I.S. Kohn and the American psychologist L. Kohlberg shows that the transition from conventional to autonomous morality occurs during adolescence. The development of autonomous morality, associated with a critical understanding of the norms of public morality, an explanation of moral conflicts, and the search and approval of one’s own moral principles, is especially stimulated by creative acts of moral choice. Therefore, modeling and application in teaching and upbringing situations of moral choice turns out to be a necessary condition moral activity of schoolchildren.
The problem of moral choice has been studied abroad for a long time and actively: J.-P. Sartre, Z. Freud, E. Fromm, K. G. Jung, etc.
In Russian science, the issue of moral choice is one of the least studied. The first systematic works devoted to this problem appeared in the 70s of the twentieth century. But even today there are few works of a generalizing nature. Moral choice is studied mainly by ethical scientists: Bakshtanovsky V.I., Titarenko A.I., Guseinov A.A. etc.; psychologists: Ilyushin V.I., Nikolaichev B.O. etc. There are works devoted to pedagogical development this problem: Grishin D.M., Zaitsev V.V., Egereva S.F., Sirotkin L.Yu.
In philosophical and psychological literature, it has long been generally accepted to distinguish three main levels of development of an individual’s moral consciousness:
¾ pre-moral level when a child is guided by his selfish motives; the level of conventional morality, which is characterized by an orientation toward externally specified norms and requirements;
¾ finally level of autonomous morality, which is characterized by an orientation towards a stable internal system of principles. In general, these levels of moral consciousness coincide with the cultural typology of fear, shame and conscience. At the “pre-moral” level, “correct” behavior is ensured by the fear of possible punishment and the expectation of reward.
¾ on level of "conventional morality"- the need for approval from significant others and shame before their condemnation, “autonomous morality” is ensured by conscience and a sense of guilt.
Although the general line of a person’s mastery of moral norms and their transformation into “one’s own” has been traced in some detail in Russian psychology? works of L. I. Bozhovich, E. I. Kulchipka, V. S. Mukhina, E. V. Subbotsky, S. G. Yakobson and others, the correlation of behavioral, emotional and cognitive aspects of this process, and even more so the correlation of the stages of moral development with remains problematic at certain ages.
The most general theory of moral development of an individual, covering his entire life course and subject to extensive experimental testing in many countries, belongs to the American psychologist L. Kohlberg. Developing the proposal put forward by J. Piaget and supported by L. S. Vygotsky's idea that the evolution of a child’s moral consciousness runs parallel to his mental development, Kohlberg identifies several phases in this process, each of which corresponds to a certain level of moral consciousness.
The “pre-moral level” corresponds to the following stages:
1. when the child obeys to avoid punishment, and
2. when a child is guided by selfish considerations of mutual benefit (obedience in exchange for receiving some specific benefits and rewards). "Conventional morality" corresponds to the stage:
3. when the child is driven by a desire for approval from “significant others” and shame in front of their condemnation and
4. - maintenance setting a certain order and fixed rules (what is good is what complies with the rules).
“Autonomous morality” brings the moral decision within the individual. It opens at the stage when the teenager realizes the relativity and conditionality of moral rules and demands their logical justification, seeing it in the principle of utility. At the stage, relativism is replaced by recognition of the existence of some higher law corresponding to the interests of the majority. Only after this (stage 6) are stable moral principles, compliance with which is ensured by one’s own conscience, regardless of external circumstances and rational considerations. IN latest works Kohlberg raises the question of the existence of an even higher stage - 7, when moral values are derived from more general philosophical postulates. However, he believes that few people reach this stage. Achievement by an individual of a certain level intellectual development Kohlberg considers the sequence of all phases of development to be a necessary, but not sufficient prerequisite for an appropriate level of moral consciousness.
An empirical test of Kohlberg's theory consisted of presenting subjects of different ages with a series of hypothetical moral situations of varying degrees of complexity. For example, this one. "A woman is dying of cancer. There is a new drug that can save her life, but the pharmacist demands 2 thousand dollars for it - 10 times more than it costs. The patient's husband tries to borrow money from friends, but he can only collect half of the required amount He again asks the pharmacist to reduce the price or sell the medicine on credit. Then the husband, in desperation, breaks into the pharmacy and steals the medicine. Why? The answers were assessed not so much by how the subject resolved the proposed dilemma, but by the nature of his arguments, the versatility of his reasoning, etc. Methods of solution were compared with the age and intelligence of the subjects. In addition to a series of comparative age studies, a 15-year longitudinal study was also conducted, tracing the moral development of 50 American boys from 10-15 to 25-30 years old, and a more limited, 6-year longitudinal study in Turkey.
The results of this work, in general, confirm the existence of a stable, natural connection between the level of an individual’s moral consciousness, on the one hand, and his age and intelligence, on the other. The number of children at the “immoral” level decreases sharply with age. For adolescence, a typical orientation is toward the opinions of significant others or the observance of formal rules (“conventional morality”). In youth, a gradual transition to “autonomous morality” begins, but it lags far behind the development of abstract thinking: over 60% of young men over 16 years old examined by Kohlberg have already mastered the logic of formal operations, but only 10% of them have achieved an understanding of morality as a system of interdependent rules or have the established system of moral principles.
The presence of a connection between the level of moral consciousness and intelligence is also confirmed by domestic research. For example, a comparison of the motivational sphere of juvenile delinquents and their peers who are not characterized by deviant behavior showed that delinquents have significantly lower moral development. “Shame for many delinquents is This is either a “fusion” of the experience of fear of punishment with negative emotions caused by the condemnation of others, or it is a shame that can be called “shame of punishment”, but not “shame of crime.” Such shame does not cause remorse in the proper meaning of the word, but only regret associated with the result of the crime - regret about failure." In other words, their motivation expresses fear of punishment and shame in front of others, but the feeling of guilt is not developed. This is partly due to their general intellectual lag: according to psychologist G. G. Bochkareva, the level of interests of 16-17 year old delinquents does not even reach the level of interests of schoolchildren in grades IV-V. But how is the development of a person’s moral consciousness related to his behavior at the mental level with indicators of moral development? The personality is determined by the degree of awareness and generalization of its judgments; on the behavioral level - real actions, consistency of behavior, the ability to resist temptations, not succumb to situational influences, etc.
Experimental studies have established that the degree of maturity of a child’s moral judgments correlates with his behavior in a number of hypothetical conflict situations, when he must decide whether he will deceive, hurt another, defend his rights, etc. People with a higher level of moral consciousness are less likely than others to behave in a conformist manner. At higher stages of development of moral consciousness, its connection with personal behavior is closer than at lower stages, and preliminary discussion of a moral problem has a positive effect on the choice of action. The direct connection between the maturity of moral judgments expressed when discussing any problem and the actual behavior of young people is confirmed by Soviet research into moral education and self-education. Youthful disputes and debates on moral issues not only precede, but in many ways predetermine the way to resolve real life problems. Hence the enormous importance of moral education and promotion of ethical knowledge among young people. But the cognitive prerequisites for moral development cannot be considered in isolation from the general process of formation of the individual and his life world. Therefore, when assessing experimental data on the relationship between the moral and intellectual development of an individual, one cannot but take into account, first of all, the specific social conditions in which this development takes place, as well as the characteristics of the situation, how clear the moral dilemma that has arisen is to the subject and what personal meaning it has for him intended choice; finally, his personal characteristics and previous moral experience. In light of this, the methodological limitations of Kohlberg's cognitive genetic model are obvious. To apply some rule even in purely cognitive processes, you need not only to master the corresponding mental operations, but also to be able to correctly assess the problem to be solved, to define it as a task specifically for this rule.
Different levels of moral consciousness can express not only stages of development, but also different personality types. For example, ethical formalism, an attitude towards separating moral norms from the specific conditions of their implementation and towards unconditional observance of the rules, whatever the consequences of this, is not only a certain stage of moral development, but also a specific type of life orientation associated with a certain style of thinking and social behavior.
The solution to a moral dilemma is always associated with some kind of life situation. The same person can solve the same moral dilemma differently, depending on how closely it affects him. Canadian psychologist C. Levine suggested that a group of students solve the already mentioned Kohlberg dilemma, formulating it in three versions. In the first case, a stranger to the subject decided to steal the medicine (as was the case in Kohlberg’s experiments), in the second, his closest friend, and in the third, his mother. This did not change the level of mental and moral development of the subject, but the method of solution varied quite significantly. When it came to close people, the number of responses in the spirit of being oriented towards the opinions of close People increased (stage 3) and the proportion of responses in the spirit of being oriented towards maintaining order and following formal rules decreased (stage 4). Meanwhile, according to Kohlberg, orientation to formal rules arises later than orientation to the opinions of significant others.
The moral judgments of a developing personality, until they have turned into personal beliefs, may not intersect with his actions; he judges himself and others according to different laws. But the formation of moral consciousness, nevertheless, cannot be considered in isolation from social behavior, real activity, during which not only moral concepts are formed, but also feelings, habits and other unconscious components of the moral character of an individual. Personal behavior depends not only on how she understands the problem facing her, but also on her psychological readiness for this or that action and on the value orientations of this person.
The integrative role of value orientations is noted by such researchers as A.G. Zdravomyslov and V.A. Yadov, who believe that value orientations are “that component of the structure of a person’s consciousness, which represents a certain axis of consciousness around which a person’s thoughts and feelings revolve and from the point of view from which many life issues are resolved.” A.I. identifies values and value orientations as the central element of moral consciousness. Titarenko, who believes that they most adequately reflect the essence of this phenomenon, and gives them the following definition: “Value orientations are stable, invariant, in a certain way coordinated formations ("units") of moral consciousness - its main ideas, concepts, "value blocks" expressing the essence of the moral meaning of human existence, and indirectly - the most general cultural and historical conditions and prospects."
The legitimacy of identifying values and value orientations as basic elements of moral consciousness is explained, in our opinion, by the fact that, firstly, through them the general evaluative and imperative aspiration of people’s consciousness to achieve certain goals is expressed. As T.I. rightly notes. Porokhovskaya, “value orientations are elements of the structure of a person’s consciousness that characterize the content side of its orientation. In the form of value orientations, as a result of the assimilation of value values in the process of socialization, the essential, the most important for a person is fixed.”
Secondly, values and value orientations absorb the system of personal meanings of the world reflected by the subject, as evidenced by the concept of “value-semantic sphere of personality” used in psychology, as well as the results of psychological research and development in the field of semantics. Values represent all the meanings that are significant for a person, but the most global of them is the meaning of life, the essence of which lies in the individual’s attitude towards himself and society, towards understanding his place in society and understanding the social significance of his activities. This or that understanding of the meaning of life determines the entire line of human behavior and is the moral core on which his moral attitudes are “attached”. The “meaning of life” is usually understood as people’s awareness of the basic content of all activities (past, present, future), which determines their place and significance in the life of society. A person needs to be sure that individual life is necessary for himself, for people, and for society. A person’s correct understanding of the meaning of life gives him such moral strength that helps in overcoming life’s difficulties. For a person, it is not only the result of his activity that is of interest, but also the activity itself and the need for it.
The question of the meaning of life does not immediately arise before a person. The formation of this concept is the process of moral development of the individual. As a person develops and improves, he reconsiders the meaning of life and his idea of human values. The decisive factor influencing such rethinking is life, a person’s experience and the examples of other people. Many people today see the meaning of life in interesting work, in raising children, in well-being, in humanization public relations, in building a truly democratic state, whose activities would be aimed at creating conditions for the harmonious development of man, as evidenced by sociological research data. Thus, sharing the position of D.A. Leontyev, it can be argued that the life of any person objectively has meaning, since it is directed toward something, although this is not always realized by the person.
Thirdly, values and value orientations are the connecting link of a person’s moral consciousness and behavior. According to A.I. Titarenko, value orientations are elements of moral consciousness that are actually reproduced and objectified in actions and relationships. They are closely connected with the needs and interests of the individual, with the emotional-volitional mechanisms of his psyche. This feature of value orientations is noted by such researchers as D.N. Uznadze, S.L. Rubinstein, V.N. Myasishchev, G.Kh. Shingarov, who were among the first to study this phenomenon, which is described in psychology through the concepts of “attitude,” “social orientation,” and “attitude.” So, in the theory of attitude D.N. Uznadze, although he does not use the concept of “value orientation,” the content of this concept can be explained in terms of this theory as an integral dynamic state, a certain psychological readiness of the individual to evaluate objects and phenomena of reality, which lead the individual to the active mastery of these phenomena in the process of socially valuable activity.
Speaking about the psychological aspect of values and value orientations, it should be noted that these structural elements of moral consciousness are organically included in the motives and incentives of all types and forms of activity of subjects, determining its direction. We should agree with V.A. Yadov is that the inclusion of value orientations in the structure of moral consciousness “makes it possible to grasp the most general social determinants of behavioral motivation, the origins of which should be sought in the socio-economic nature of society and the environment in which the personality was formed and where the daily life of a person takes place.” By assimilating the values of his environment and turning them into value orientations and motivational forces of his behavior, a person becomes an active subject of social activity.
In interesting experiments, E.V. Subbotsky compared two styles of raising 4-7 year old children: permissive - altruistic, stimulating a selfless attitude towards comrades, and pragmatic, based on the principle of mutual exchange. It turned out that in the first case, the child develops internal moral motivators (conscience) more intensively, while in the second, moral actions are often performed only in the presence of direct encouragement or in the presence of so-called “socializers” - adults or older children.
In other words, the formation of the moral “I” occurs according to the same laws as the formation of other aspects of the personality as a subject of activity: a certain degree of independence, being a necessary prerequisite for a personal attitude to actions and phenomena, is also the most important condition for the formation of moral consciousness and self-awareness.
An individual acquires a stable moral “I” only after he is firmly established in his worldview position, which not only does not fluctuate from changing situations, but does not even depend on his own will. However, the stabilization of moral authorities and the merging of one’s own “I” with conscience does not eliminate the problem of specific moral choices. Even a court verdict is not reduced to mechanically bringing an action under the appropriate article of the criminal code. Moreover, there cannot be such automatism in a moral decision. The formation of a “way of conscience” in a developing person begins with the polarization of good and evil. But the human life world is not black and white. The contrast of good and bad is intertwined in it with many others: real and unreal, reasonable and unreasonable, practical and theoretical, obligatory and optional. And although moral decisions are always made on the basis of some general principles, their immediate object is specific actions in certain situations. The choice of oneself as an individual is carried out through a repeated choice of actions, each of which individually may seem insignificant.
1.2 Moral consciousness of the individual and its structure
Moral consciousness, like consciousness in general, is a complex multi-level and polystructural system. From our point of view, two levels can be distinguished in the structure of moral consciousness: everyday and theoretical, which are wrong to be opposed, since rising to the level of theoretical consciousness, a person does not leave his feelings at its threshold, they also rise to a new level, transforming in this movement . The significance of ordinary moral consciousness in people’s lives is also confirmed by the fact that throughout history the overwhelming number of people have been limited in their moral life to the level of ordinary consciousness.
However, being interconnected, the social and theoretical levels of moral consciousness also have their differences, one of which lies in the depth of reflection of moral phenomena. At the ordinary level, people operate mainly with empirically perceived data and find themselves unable to comprehend the depth and essence of certain phenomena of social life. The ordinary level of moral consciousness can be defined as represented in the form moral standards, assessments, customs, a way of mastering the world, reflecting everyday, day-to-day repeated relationships between people. Theoretical - as a way of mastering the world, presented in the form of moral concepts, reflecting global moral problems.
An analysis of modern scientific literature shows that today there is no consensus regarding the structure of moral consciousness. Firstly, the existing works on this issue study only its individual elements; secondly, there is no scientific rigor in attributing these elements to the everyday or theoretical level of moral consciousness; thirdly, there is often an identification of individual elements in the structure of moral consciousness. All this does not give a sufficiently complete picture of both moral consciousness in general and its structure, which, when studied by A.I. Titarenko quite accurately noted: “The structure of moral consciousness is not only a system of levels, but it is an integrity where everything is interconnected and where each element receives meaning only in a special connection with other elements.”
Following this provision, and also based on a specifically historical approach to the study of moral consciousness, the analysis of this complex phenomenon should begin from the everyday level.
The everyday level of moral consciousness can be represented by such structural components as customs, traditions, norms and assessments:
- Custom is a stable element of everyday moral consciousness, reflecting reality in the form of a system of repeated actions, regulating social relations from the standpoint of good and evil in the non-productive sphere, relying on force public opinion, closely associated with the ritual.
- Tradition- this is a historically established strong and durable element of everyday moral consciousness, actively reflecting social life in its various areas, directing human behavior towards the development and strengthening of humane moral relations between people, closely connected with the emotional side of his activities.
- Moral norm- this is a structural element of moral consciousness, which is a kind of measure of acceptable and obligatory options for human behavior, on the basis of which the regulation of the activities and relationships of individuals is carried out from the position of good and evil.
- Moral assessment- this is a structural element of moral consciousness, with the help of which the conformity or non-compliance of a person’s behavior with moral norms is established.
All of the above structural elements are closely related to each other, but the basis of this level is formed by moral norms, since with their help it becomes possible to coordinate the interests of people, organize the communication process, preserve and reproduce that minimum of humanity in relationships, without which the interaction of subjects of communication is generally unthinkable.
A higher degree of abstraction is inherent in theoretical moral consciousness, which is defined by G.G. Akmambetov as “a system about what should be, about the ideal, about the meaning of life.” In our opinion, this definition is incomplete, since the author, having outlined in this definition the structural composition of theoretical moral consciousness, did not identify in it the basic, in our opinion, components - values and value orientations, which are the cementing principle that unites other elements of moral consciousness in a single whole, expressing its essence, ensuring the imperative unity of the entire structure of moral consciousness.
Expressing the purposefulness of moral consciousness, its system of meanings, values and value orientations, being closely related to motives and needs, contribute to the manifestation of human consciousness in activity, behavior and relationships with other people. Values and value orientations are inextricably linked, which is confirmed, for example, by the characterization of value orientations as “an individual’s focus on certain values” given by B.G. Ananyev. This definition emphasizes two very important properties of value orientations: first, their connection with the world of human values; secondly, they belong not just to consciousness, but also to the behavior of the individual, in other words, their practically effective nature.
Let's turn to the concept of "value". Value is usually understood as an object, a phenomenon of the material or spiritual culture of mankind, which has acquired for an individual stable meaning, since it serves or could serve as a means of satisfying its needs and achieving its main goals. A short but very succinct definition of this phenomenon is given by J. Gudecek: “Values are a part of an individual’s consciousness, and that part of it without which there is no personality.”
We have given definitions of the concept “value”, but in the context of our research we are interested in “moral value”, which exists and is interpreted in two forms. Firstly, these are objectively existing moral norms, principles, ideals, concepts of good and evil, justice, happiness, formed by the concrete historical and social experience of mankind. Secondly, moral value can act as a personal phenomenon, as a person’s personalized attitude towards social moral values, their acceptance, non-acceptance, etc. . Among other values, many researchers (V.A. Blyumkin, D.A. Leontyev, T.I. Porokhovskaya, A.I. Titarenko, etc.) put moral values in the highest category.
So what is “moral value”? By this phenomenon we understand the integral formation of moral consciousness, which includes moral norms, assessments, concepts, principles, ideals, closely related to the motives and needs of the individual, ensuring the focus of his consciousness on achieving higher moral goals, performing the functions of assessing, regulating human behavior on the basis of good and evil.
The structural elements of moral values constitute a certain hierarchy. Historically and ontologically, man’s ascent to the pinnacle of his moral development occurred gradually:
1. from introducing the individual to the moral norms of society, forming value judgments on their basis;
2. then more complex semantic formations (moral concepts, principles);
3. before the development of a moral ideal as the most generalized ideological concept, which has absorbed all the best that has been developed by morality at a given stage of its development and represented in one person.
It should be noted that the selected structural elements are mobile; developing or regressing, they can change their position in the system.
Let us now turn to the analysis of the presented structural elements.
The value-based nature of moral norms is clearly visible in their definition: “Moral norms are a stable arrangement of key moral values, established in the public consciousness...”. In moral standards, according to the fair remark of V.A. Vasilenko, “the value structure of a certain type of actions and relationships is modeled.”
The value basis of moral norms is that they contain information about right and wrong, good and evil, guided by which a person chooses the optimal option for moral behavior. By setting a certain measure, a framework for individual behavior, norms contribute to the ordering of human relations. Universal moral norms are characterized by a special depth of value content: do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, do not envy, help the weak, defenseless, etc. Being an integral part of moral values, moral norms are distinguished by the fact that the obligation that forms their basis contains the prerequisites for voluntary recognition of their personality, the possibility of freedom to choose the necessary line of behavior.
The next element in the hierarchy of values is moral assessment, which can be objective or subjective. The objective side of assessment is determined by social practice and abstract meanings, the subjective side is determined by the needs and interests of the subject of assessment, which are of a very different nature. In this regard, one or another value can be reflected in the assessment with one or another degree of adequacy. In the process of assessment, the meaning of values can be very significantly transformed and distorted. As T.I. rightly notes. Porokhovskaya, “the assessment process consists of correlating two types of information: knowledge about the subject of assessment and knowledge about the subject of assessment, its needs and interests. On the one hand, the subject itself can be reflected with a greater or lesser degree of completeness, on the other, needs and interests can be also reflected inadequately, subjectively, and biasedly."
Thus, the discrepancy between assessments and values is expressed in the incompleteness and inadequacy of the reflection of either the object of assessment, or needs and interests, or both at the same time. However, this is not the specificity of assessments: with the same degree of completeness of reflection, assessments of different people can be different and even mutually exclusive. It depends on the individuality of the subject of assessment, his life experience, his needs and interests.
The core of the system of moral values, according to the absolutely accurate remark of T.I. Porokhovskaya, constitute moral principles through which the essence of the moral system of society, its socio-historical meaning is revealed. They arise when there is a need for more flexible and universal guidance for a person, which has both ideological and everyday regulatory significance, moreover, in the most ordinary situation. Moral principles are broadly formed normative instructions, fundamental “beginnings,” essential laws. In them, on the one hand, the essence, “purpose” of a person is fixed, the meaning and common goal of its diverse actions, and on the other hand, they are guidelines for developing specific decisions for every day.
In principles, unlike norms, no ready-made models and patterns of behavior are specified, but only a general direction of behavior is given. A person, guided by moral principles, firstly, independently decides what to do in a particular situation; secondly, he thinks about the need to follow moral norms, that is, he treats them reflexively and critically (decides how legitimate the norms existing in society are). In moral principles, therefore, an increased degree of independence and moral freedom of the individual is recorded. They also contain elements of universal humanity and consolidate the experience of many generations.
"Moral principle, as L.V. rightly notes. Skvortsov, is not this or that random thought that came to the mind of an individual, but a recognized form of affirmation of a given social structure, given social orders as necessary, as those in which the individual’s own life and positive activity are possible. This is their value essence."
The highest level in the value hierarchy is occupied by the moral ideal as a particularly significant value for a person. The moral ideal embodies a person’s desire for perfection, stimulating his will, abilities, strength and directing him to practical actions in the name of its realization. In moral consciousness, the ideal is formed as an expression of the desire for change for the better, hope for it (interest in a more just structure of society, in the triumph of good over evil).
Under moral ideal understand “ideas of moral perfection, most often expressed in the image of a person who has embodied such moral qualities that can serve as the highest moral example.” In the human mind, a moral ideal performs two very important functions. First, it allows the individual to evaluate the behavior of other people; secondly, it plays the role of a guideline in the moral self-improvement of the individual. The presence of a formed ideal in a person speaks volumes: that the individual consciously regards himself as a moral person, his determination, and moral maturity. The absence of an ideal usually characterizes people who do not think about their moral improvement. However, it is important not only that a person has a moral ideal, but also its content. There are many examples in life when another “ideal” does not contribute to the development and elevation of a person in moral terms, but to its impoverishment, and sometimes degradation. Such an ideal cannot be moral in the full meaning of the word. By the content of ideals one can judge not only an individual person, but also society as a whole. If a society creates conditions for the formation of attractive ideals, then we can say that it is developing in a progressive direction, and vice versa, if a society instead of an ideal offers some pathetic ersatz, then we can say about such a society that it is losing its moral authority.
So, the values-norms, values-evaluations, values-concepts, values-principles, values-ideals presented in the value hierarchy have a number of distinctive features: firstly, they play the role of motivation to achieve a goal; secondly, they contain universal human principles; thirdly, they give meaning to human behavior and actions, while regulating them.
Consideration of moral values allows us to move on to revealing the content of value orientations, which can be presented as a unity of emotional, cognitive and behavioral elements. In the process of developing value orientations, what occurs, first of all, is an emotional experience, a person’s emotional assessment of value.
This is the first most direct and intuitive connection of the individual with a new phenomenon of reality, and in the process of establishing this connection, the attitudes, needs, and motives of the individual are updated.
Value orientations as elements of moral consciousness perform a number of functions. Researcher E.V. Sokolov, whose opinion we share, identifies the following most important functions of value orientations:
1. expressive, promoting self-affirmation and self-expression of the individual. A person strives to transfer accepted values to others, to achieve recognition and success;
2. adaptive, expressing the ability of an individual to satisfy his basic needs in those ways and through the values that a given society has;
3. protection personalities - value orientations act as a kind of “filters” that allow through only that information that does not require a significant restructuring of the entire personality system;
4. educational, aimed at objects and the search for information necessary to maintain the internal integrity of the individual;
5. coordination inner mental life, harmonization mental processes, their coordination in time and in relation to the conditions of activity.
Thus, in the value-semantic formations of moral consciousness we see, on the one hand, those forms in which the moral significance of social phenomena is systematized and encoded, and on the other, those guidelines of behavior that determine its direction and act as the final foundations of moral assessments.
Awareness of the need to implement a certain system of values in one’s behavior and thereby awareness of oneself as a subject of the historical process, the creator of “proper” moral relations becomes a source of self-respect, dignity and social activity personality. On the basis of established value orientations, self-regulation of activity is carried out, which consists in a person’s ability to consciously solve the problems facing him, make a free choice of decisions, and affirm through his activities certain social and moral values. The realization of values in this case is perceived by the individual as moral, civic, professional, etc. a duty, evasion of which is prevented, first of all, by the mechanism of internal self-control, conscience. Changes in the value structure of moral consciousness are, first of all, a change in the leading, basic value orientation, which sets normative certainty for such value and worldview concepts as the meaning of life, the purpose of man, the moral ideal, etc., playing the role of an “axiological spring” that transmits its activity to all other parts of the system.
The social need for a new type of moral consciousness appears when the previous supreme value orientation does not meet the requirements of the changed historical reality, turns out to be unable to fulfill its inherent functions, values do not become people’s beliefs, the latter appeal to them less and less in their moral choice, that is, alienation of individuals occurs from these moral values, a situation of value vacuum arises, giving rise to spiritual cynicism, undermining mutual understanding and integration of people. A new leading value orientation, acting as an alternative to the previous one, is capable of not only rebuilding the system of moral values, but also changing the strength of their motivational impact. As noted domestic psychologists D.N. Uznadze, F.V. Bassin, A.E. Sheroziya and others, the restructuring of the system of value orientations, the change in the subordination between values indicate deep transformations in the semantic picture of the surrounding world, changes in the semantic characteristics of its various elements.
So, value orientation– this is a basic element of moral consciousness, providing the general direction of individual behavior, their socially significant choice of goals, values, methods of regulating behavior, its forms and style. Values and value orientations, being the core of public moral consciousness, around which both elements of the theoretical and everyday levels are united, play an integrative role in the organization of the entire system. Moral consciousness is represented by two levels: everyday and theoretical, the boundaries between which are flexible, so that individual structural elements (norms, assessments, concepts) can function at both levels. The more stable structural elements of ordinary moral consciousness are customs and traditions, and the theoretical ones are ideals. The integrative principle that unites all elements together is values and value orientations. So, the analysis of the structure of moral consciousness allows us to conclude that this complex systemic formation is represented by many elements, most of which are quite mobile, so that their attribution to the ordinary or theoretical levels is quite conditional. The presented structural elements, being closely related to each other, at the same time have their own distinctive features, which, however, does not exclude the fulfillment by each of them, to one degree or another, of the main function of moral consciousness - the regulation of people's behavior in society.
1.3 The influence of personal moral development on the situation of moral choice
The moral choice of an individual is a key act of all human moral activity. An action-operation is possible when there are options for choice; when there are none, talking about virtue is completely pointless, since a person does not make a choice between good and evil, -Aristotle.
A situation of moral choice is created only when we are talking about options for an action. These options provide a person with objective circumstances. The object of moral choice can be:
¾ individual;
¾ a collective of people that forms the norms of relationships between its members;
¾ social group;
¾ could be a class.
In order for the choice to take place, it is necessary to comply with the conditions of moral choice:
1. The first part of the conditions: the range of objective possibilities of action, on the other hand – the subjective opportunity to choose.
If there is no way to compare the consequences of certain behavioral options, to consciously determine a position and put it into action, then there is no need to talk about freedom of choice. A person must be aware of all possible options. However, the range of choices is not unlimited; it may be limited, for example, by a person’s physical capabilities, the level of previous education received, etc.
2. The social conditioning of moral choice is expressed in the ability to act one way or another. Ultimately, a person always chooses between the things included in the circle of his life. The formal set of choices is limited by social circumstances and a person’s place in the system of social relations. Such circumstances may include lack of awareness of choice options, level of material security, physical health, belonging to certain social groups etc. As humanity developed, the range of choices continuously expanded, in addition, modern level development of society, the increased intellectual level of people has increased the share of rational, logical choices. The social conditionality of the circumstances that arise in a situation of moral choice is inextricably linked with the moral and ideological certainty of a person. No matter how diverse the choices are, they always reflect a person’s value orientations.
3. Moral choice cannot be made outside the boundaries of good and evil. Taking into account the moral admissibility of choice determines a person’s choice no less than awareness of objectively impossible choices. The conditioning of moral choice only by external circumstances is called moral fatalism - act this way and not otherwise, because the circumstances have developed this way. If it is believed that the choice is determined only by the will of a person, this point of view is called moral voluntarism. Both points of view take the moral choice of an individual beyond the boundaries of good and evil. In fact, in a situation of moral choice, objective circumstances and personal decision are interdependent, and are a system of objective and subjective aspects of freedom. The requirement to follow moral necessity in one’s decision is expressed not only in an individual act; a single choice reveals orientations in previous choices and largely determines subsequent moral activity. Therefore, a situation often occurs when there will be only one choice, determined by previous actions and circumstances. The decision “I can’t do otherwise” does not allow for other, formally possible, options.
4. Knowledge of moral necessity is not a call to follow existing circumstances. The presence of an objective possibility of choosing to act one way or another (the ability to choose), subjective knowledge of alternatives to action and the ability to follow a moral ideal is the ability to choose.
In a situation of moral choice, the problem of the subject’s activity arises, which would correspond to certain circumstances - this is the task of searching for an action that would correspond to these circumstances.
Very often a person discovers that carrying out an action according to the laws of good, following one value, leads to the fact that this action contradicts the understanding of good in another value. A situation in which there cannot be direct good as a result of choice, and the choice is made between greater and lesser evil, leads to a moral conflict of the individual. Choice in a situation of moral conflict in the most to a greater extent depends on the system of moral values of the person who makes the choice and on the degree of maturity of the individual himself. Sometimes the structure of a person’s values is so rigidly fixed that the choice in situations of moral conflict becomes the same, and the person becomes predictable. In such situations, one form of behavior in a situation of choice is fixed and a line of behavior of the individual is formed.
A major role in a situation of moral choice is played by moral concepts, which represent the highest level of generalization, which include good and evil, justice, happiness, the meaning of life, etc. The concepts under consideration have been developed over centuries in the life of people together as a manifestation of certain aspects of moral relations, therefore they are common and widespread. One of the first formed theoretical concepts of public moral consciousness were good and evil. These value concepts of moral consciousness are a form of reflection of the interaction and relationships between people and are historically changeable in nature. Through the concept of “good” the value of an action can be revealed; “good” can be considered as the moral goal of behavior and in this case it acts as the motive for the action; finally, “good” (virtue) can also be a moral quality of an individual.
Good and evil are closely related to other moral concepts - happiness, conscience, duty cannot be adequately understood and, even more so, cannot become relevant principles of behavior if the individual does not have a correct understanding of good and evil. Despite the historically changeable nature of the concepts of good, and evil, their essence lies in the fact that “good” in any time and era was understood as something that is considered moral, worthy of imitation, and “evil” has the opposite meaning: immoral, worthy of condemnation. People's actions are assessed as good if they are in accordance with the moral norms of society, and as evil if they contradict these norms.
Another value concept of a general nature is justice. IN this concept, according to the very accurate remark of M.N. Rutkevich, “a moral idea is fixed about what corresponds and what does not correspond to the prevailing morality in society, what deserves moral recognition and what does not.” Interesting, in our opinion, is the definition of the concept of “justice” given by Z.A. Berbeshkina: “This is the concept of moral consciousness, characterizing the measure of influence and demand for the rights and benefits of an individual or social community, the measure of demands on an individual, society, the legitimacy of assessing economic, political, moral phenomena of reality and the actions of people from the position of a certain class or society.” In this definition, the author highlights the imperative orientation of the concept of “justice,” which is generally characteristic of moral consciousness. Through this concept, people determine the value of certain phenomena of social life, decisions made that affect their fundamental interests. Facts of social injustice, if they are repeated frequently, lead to disappointment and loss of faith in the reasonableness of existing reality. People associate with the concept of “justice” such a structure of society, where the equality of nations, the equality of citizens before the law is affirmed, conditions are created for the harmonious development of the individual, and broad social guarantees are provided to him. As we see, this concept contains a pronounced value aspect, and great value for the process of moral choice as such.
The development of a person’s moral activity is formed over a long period of time and in stages:
In preschool and primary school age, the foundation of morality is laid and the universal minimum of moral standards is learned. This is also a sensitive period for the formation of moral feelings. And it is the strength and depth of these feelings, their influence on the child’s behavior, on his attitude towards people, towards nature, towards the results of human labor that determine the measure of moral activity.
Adolescents are already rising to the level of awareness of moral requirements, the formation of ideas about moral values, and the development of the ability to make moral assessments. Intensive communication serves as the basis for “training” moral behavior.
In early youth, a person develops moral ideas at the ideological level: about the meaning of life, about happiness, about man as the highest value, the individual becomes able to independently make moral choices.
We believe that moral activity can be considered as one of the leading criteria for the level of development of an individual’s moral consciousness. Moral activity can be defined, in our opinion, as such an active moral attitude of a person to the world, to other people, in which the subject acts as an active bearer and “conductor” of moral values (norms, principles, ideals), capable of sustainable moral behavior and self-improvement, responsibly suitable for making moral decisions, uncompromisingly related to immoral manifestations, openly expressing his moral position.
In a situation of moral choice, an individual needs to perform the following important evaluative actions, such as:
a) explain the moral situation;
b) give a critical assessment of the behavior of other people;
c) make a choice of your behavior;
d) give a critical assessment of your decision made in a situation of moral choice.
Only those with a high level of moral and ethical thinking can correctly analyze the situation, explain certain actions of its participants, draw conclusions and motivate their behavior. A high level of ethical thinking is characterized by a clear understanding of moral standards and the stability of their implementation in moral actions. The average level of moral and ethical thinking is characterized by knowledge of moral norms, but this knowledge did not become the motives for the individual’s behavior. People with a low level of ethical thinking are focused on external forms behavior. Distinctive feature low level is conformism, reference to others.
So, consideration of moral activity allows us to most fully reveal the behavioral element in the structure of moral choice and the influence of personality development on the moral choice itself. The moral development of an individual determines its direction, content, forms of expression, goals and means in the situation of choosing a decision for the individual.
The peculiarity of moral consciousness is that it reflects not only the current state of society, but also the past and the desired future of its state. Target values and ideals are projected onto this hierarchy, resulting in its adjustment. Under the influence of specific historical conditions, the system and hierarchy of values are rebuilt and determine the degree of choice.
Chapter 2. Experimental research and analysis of the results obtained
2.1 Purpose, objectives, hypothesis and research methods
Theoretical and methodological basis of the study:
Social structure is inextricably linked with the social values and norms accepted in society. Changes in social structures coincide with changes in morality. The absence of a system of norms and values accepted by society destabilizes society and poses a number of problems for the process of socialization in general and the socialization of the younger generation in particular. The stability of our society depends on how the problem of socialization of modern teenagers is solved, what norms and values they learn.
Our work is based on the general theory of moral development of the individual, proposed by the American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. Developing the idea put forward by J. Piaget and supported by L. S. Vygotsky that the evolution of a child’s moral consciousness goes in parallel with his mental development, L. Kohlberg identifies several phases in this process, each of which corresponds to a certain level of development of moral consciousness. The “Method for assessing the level of development of moral consciousness” developed by L. Kohlberg remains one of the most common methods for studying the cognitive component of moral consciousness.
In Kohlberg's studies, subjects were given situations to evaluate that were difficult in terms of moral choice (whether it is possible to steal in order to save a person's life). At the same time, a number of levels and stages of moral development were identified.
1. The preconventional level (hedonic) includes the following steps:
¾ Moral evaluation lies in the individual himself (what gives me something is good).
¾ Fines and punishments. Value human life changes depending on the value of things and status or other characteristics of a person. At this stage, the basis for the decision are specific instructions and prohibitions, which are not of a general nature, but are situational and are not intended for everyone.
¾ Instrumental goals. Human life is important because it is a factor in meeting the needs of other people.
2. The conventional level (pragmatic, role conformity) includes the following steps:
¾ Interpersonal relationships. The value of a person's life is determined by the feelings of the people associated with him. Actions are judged according to whether someone likes them and helps them.
¾ Law and order. Human life is inviolable by religious and moral laws. The most important thing is to be in agreement with authority. Everyone's duty is to maintain general order, not to satisfy their own needs.
3. Post-conventional level (self-sufficiency, moral autonomy)
¾ Social contract. The value of human life is determined by a person's contribution to the overall progress of humanity. Particular importance is attached social events, called upon to develop correct laws (constitution, elections, etc.).
¾ General ethical principles. Life is a special value that determines the movement of humanity forward.
¾ Human life is an element of the Cosmos. The main problem is not following the instructions, but finding the meaning of life.
This technique is used to diagnose the level of development of moral consciousness of children and adolescents from 10 to 18 years old, for children younger age from 4 to 10 years, a modification of L. Kohlberg’s technique proposed by V. A. Oseeva is used.
It seems to us that this technique corresponds to the goals of our research.
So, this study solves the problems of determining the level of moral development of an individual, on the one hand, and the characteristics of the moral development of an individual in a situation of moral choice. These different approaches to revealing the essence of moral development do not contradict each other, but only reveal its complexity and ambiguity as psychological phenomenon, its involvement in the development and functioning of various mental manifestations of personality, its degree of awareness.
Purpose and objectives of the study: target this study consists in determining the moral development of the individual and understanding the situation of moral choice. Based on this goal, we solve the following tasks:
4. use of scientific concepts of foreign and domestic researchers as a basis for own research;
5. determine the level of development of moral development using a methodology for assessing the level of development of moral consciousness - L. Kohlberg's Dilemma;
6. identify the relationship between the moral development of the individual and the understanding of moral choice;
7. analyze the results of the study.
The following was put forward hypothesis: that the level of awareness of moral choice depends on the moral development of the individual.
Object of study: situation of moral choice.
Subject of research: moral development of the individual and understanding of the situation of moral choice.
The course work uses psychological testing of each of the subjects individually, using methods that determine their level of moral consciousness, in order to find out how the degree of moral awareness is formed during the period of personality formation, what features and characteristics the situation of moral choice has in adolescence.
Sample characteristics: The study was conducted at secondary school No. 43. In total, 20 students from 8th, 9th and 11th grades, aged 15 to 18 years, took part in the study.
Research methods:
- methodology for assessing the level of development of moral consciousness - L. Kohlberg's Dilemmas. The technique is intended to assess the level of development of moral consciousness. For this L.Kolberg formulated nine dilemmas, in the assessment of which norms of law and morality, as well as values of different levels (which were described just above) collide.
L. Kohlberg identified three main levels of development of moral judgments:
¾ pre-conventional,
¾ conventional
¾ and post-conventional.
In each of the mentioned levels of development, L. Kohlberg identified several stages that correspond to a specific personality development, characterized by the age of development.
| Stages | Age | Grounds for moral choice | |
| Pre | |||
| 0 | 0-2 | I do what makes me happy | |
| 1 | 2-3 | ||
| 2 | 4-7 | ||
| Conventional level of development | |||
| 3 | 7-10 | ||
| 4 | 10-12 | ||
| 5 | After 13 | ||
| 6 | After 18 | ||
Based on all of the above, we will begin to present the analysis of the research data obtained and its processing.
2.2 Research
The study began with a survey of schoolchildren, the subjects were offered a method for assessing the level of development of moral consciousness - L. Kohlberg's Dilemmas. Subjects were presented with nine dilemmas. The main idea of processing Kohlberg's technique is to assess the level of development of responses in accordance with specified criteria. Essentially, it is necessary to conduct some kind of content analysis of the test subjects' responses. Understanding this problem, we tried to carry out as much quality and quantitative analysis data.
During this process we obtained the following results:
differences were established in the assessment of moral choice at different age periods. So, at the age of 15 to 16 years, in a number of subjects there is a tendency to choose a strategy among the subjects based on the principle of fairness, with statements of the 2nd stage (the principle “you to me, I to you”) to a greater extent turned out to be 59% of subjects from total quantity.
Statements of stage 3 (conventional level), consisting in the fact that “law and order” is accepted, turned out to be closer to the subjects at the age of 17 years, and all five subjects from the group at this age chose this position, which amounted to 20% of the subjects.
Statements of stage 4 (social contract based on individual rights), statements postulating the existence of moral universal values that must be observed regardless of culture, time and circumstances - caused maximum agreement among 12% of subjects in various age period(from 15 to 17 years old).
In the periodization of moral development according to the principle of “caring,” the statements of the 1st stage (orientation to oneself and one’s interests) turned out to be as close as possible to 4% of the subjects. Stages 5 and 6 (characterizing the highest levels of moral development) were found to be most consonant with 4% of subjects aged 16 to 18 years.
Thus, a fairly wide range of degrees of maturity of moral judgments was revealed among the subjects studied. Based on the data obtained, we built the following diagram, which is presented below.
General conclusions from the study:
During this study, the following tasks were solved:
1) use of scientific concepts of foreign and domestic researchers as a basis for own research;
2) determine the level of development of moral development using a methodology for assessing the level of development of moral consciousness - L. Kohlberg's Dilemma;
3) identify the relationship between the moral development of the individual and the understanding of moral choice;
4) analyze the results of the study.
After solving these problems, we came to the following conclusions:
that the level of awareness of moral choice depends on the age of the subjects and on the value orientation of the individual. We believe that this research needs to be continued using a diagnostic apparatus to determine value orientations.
Conclusion
The relevance of the issue considered in this course work is quite complex and so great that the solution to this problem - the moral development of the individual and understanding the situation of moral choice, this research will not lose its relevance in the future.
In writing this work, I had certain goals and objectives, the content of which is described in the introductory section. Therefore, the first chapter generally covers theoretical foundations problems of moral development of personality at the present stage. Here the works of J. Piaget, L. Kohlberg, P. Eisenberg, D. Resta, K. Gilligan, D. Krebs, E. Higgins, E. Turiel, K. Hslkam, L.I. Bozhovich, S.G. were analyzed. Jacobson, B.S. Bratusya, S.N. Karpova, A.I. Podolsky, E.V. Subbotsky, etc. Also in the theoretical part, we revealed the structure of moral development and the influence of personality development on the situation of moral choice.
Practical part course work contains two sections, the first of which is completely devoted to a description of the main goals and objectives of the study, the research hypothesis, and the same section covers the main methods of this study. The following section describes the results obtained during the experiment. An analysis of quantitative indicators obtained using primary statistical processing of the methods used is also provided here.
According to our research, we have established that the level of awareness of moral choice depends on the age of the subjects and on the value orientation of the individual.
Thus, the research hypothesis that the level of awareness of moral choice depends on the moral development of the individual was confirmed.
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Methodology for assessing the level of development of moral consciousness
– Dilemmas of L. Kohlberg
The technique is intended to assess the level of development of moral consciousness. For this L.Kolberg formulated nine dilemmas, in the assessment of which norms of law and morality, as well as values of different levels, collide.
Test material
Nine hypothetical dilemmas
Form A
Dilemma S. In Europe, a woman was dying from a special form of cancer. There was only one medicine that doctors thought could save her. It was a form of radium recently discovered by a pharmacist in the same city. Making the medicine was expensive. But the pharmacist set a price of 10 times more. He paid 400 dollars for radium, but set a price 4000 dollars for a small dose of radium. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow money and used every legal means, but could only raise about 2000 dollars. He told the pharmacist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or accept payment later. But the pharmacist said: “No, I discovered a medicine and I’m going to make good money on it, using all the real means.” And Heinz decided to break into the pharmacy and steal the medicine.
1. Should Heinz steal the medicine?
A. Why yes or no?
2. (The question is posed in order to identify the subject’s moral type and should be considered optional). Is it good or bad for him to steal the medicine?
A. (The question is posed in order to identify the subject's moral type and should be considered optional.) Why is this right or wrong?
3. Does Heinz have a duty or obligation to steal the medicine?
A. Why yes or no?
4. If Heinz didn't love his wife, should he have stolen the medicine for her? (If the subject does not approve of stealing, ask: will there be a difference in his action if he loves or does not love his wife?)
A. Why yes or no?
5. Suppose that it is not his wife who dies, but a stranger. Should Heinz steal someone else's medicine?
A. Why yes or no?
6. (If the subject approves of stealing medicine for someone else.) Suppose it is a pet that he loves. Should Heinz steal to save his beloved animal?
A. Why yes or no?
7. Is it important for people to do everything they can to save the life of another?
A. Why yes or no?
8. Stealing is against the law. Is this morally bad?
A. Why yes or no?
9. In general, should people try to do everything they can to obey the law?
A. Why yes or no?
10. (This question is included to elicit the subject's orientation and should not be considered mandatory.) Thinking about the dilemma again, what would you say is the most important thing for Heinz to do in this situation?
A. Why?
(Questions 1 and 2 of Dilemma III 1 are optional. If you do not want to use them, read Dilemma III 1 and its continuation and start with question 3.)
Dilemma Ш 1. Heinz went into the pharmacy. He stole the medicine and gave it to his wife. The next day, a report of the robbery appeared in the newspapers. Police officer Mr. Brown, who knew Heinz, read the message. He remembered seeing Heinz running from the pharmacy and realized that Heinz had done it. The policeman hesitated whether he should report this.
1. Should Officer Brown report that Heinz committed the theft?
A. Why la or not?
2. Let's assume that Officer Brown is a close friend of Heinz. Should he then file a report on him?
A. Why yes or no?
Continuation: Officer Brown reported Heinz. Heinz was arrested and brought to trial. The jury was selected. The jury's job is to determine whether a person is guilty or not of a crime. The jury finds Heinz guilty. The judge's job is to pronounce a sentence.
3. Should the judge give Heinz a specific sentence or release him?
A. Why is this the best?
4. From the perspective of society, should people who break the law be punished?
a. Why yes or no?
b. How does this apply to what the judge has to decide?
5. Heinz did what his conscience told him to do when he stole the medicine. Should a lawbreaker be punished if he acted dishonestly?
A. Why yes or no?
6. (This question is intended to elicit the subject's orientation and may be considered optional.) Think through the dilemma: What do you think is the most important thing a judge should do?
A. Why?
(Questions 7-12 included to identify the subject's ethical belief system and should not be considered mandatory.)
7. Does the father have the right to persuade Joe to give him money?
A. Why yes or no?
8. Does giving money mean that the son is good?
A. Why?
9. Is it important in this situation that Joe made the money himself?
A. Why?
10. Father promised Joe that he could go to the camp if he earned money himself. Is the father's promise the most important thing in this situation?
A. Why?
11. In general, why should a promise be kept?
12. Is it important to keep a promise to someone you don't know well and probably won't see again?
A. Why?
13. What is the most important thing a father should take care of in his relationship with his son?
A. Why is this the most important?
A. Why?
15. What is the most important thing a son should care about in his relationship with his father?
16. (The following question is intended to elicit the subject's orientation and should be considered optional.) What do you think is the most important thing for Joe to do in this situation?
A. Why? Form B
Dilemma IV. One woman had a very severe form of cancer for which there was no cure. Dr. Jefferson knew she had six months to live. She was in terrible pain, but was so weak that a sufficient dose of morphine would have allowed her to die sooner. She even became delirious, but during calm periods she asked the doctor to give her enough morphine to kill her. Although Dr. Jefferson knows that mercy killing is against the law, he considers complying with her request.
1. Should Dr. Jefferson give her a drug that would kill her?
A. Why?
2. (This question is aimed at identifying the moral type of the subject and is not mandatory). Is it right or wrong for him to give a woman a medicine that would allow her to die?
A. Why is this right or wrong?
3. Should a woman have the right to make the final decision?
A. Why yes or no?
4. The woman is married. Should her husband interfere in the decision?
A. Why?
5. (The next question is optional). What should a good husband do in this situation?
A. Why?
6. Does a person have a duty or obligation to live when he does not want to, but wants to, commit suicide?
7. (The next question is optional). Does Dr. Jefferson have a duty or obligation to make the drug available to the woman?
A. Why?
8. When a pet is seriously injured and dies, it is killed to relieve the pain. Does the same thing apply here?
A. Why?
9. It is illegal for a doctor to give medicine to a woman. Is it also morally wrong?
A. Why?
10. In general, should people do everything they can to obey the law?
a. Why?
b. How does this apply to what Dr. Jefferson should have done?
11. (The next question is about moral orientation, it is optional.) As you consider the dilemma, what would you say is the most important thing Dr. Jefferson would do?
A. Why? (Question 1 of Dilemma IV 1 is optional)
Dilemma IV 1. Dr. Jefferson committed merciful murder. At this time, Dr. Rogers passed by. He knew the situation and tried to stop Dr. Jefferson, but the cure had already been given. Dr. Rogers hesitated whether he should report Dr. Jefferson.
1. Should Dr. Rogers have reported Dr. Jefferson?
A. Why?
Continuation: Dr. Rogers reported on Dr. Jefferson. Dr. Jefferson is put on trial. The jury has been selected. The jury's job is to determine whether a person is guilty or innocent of a crime. The jury finds Dr. Jefferson guilty. The judge must pronounce a sentence.
2. Should the judge punish Dr. Jefferson or release him?
A. Why do you think this is the best answer?
3. Think in terms of society, should people who break the law be punished?
a. Why yes or no?
b. How does this apply to the judge's decision?
4. The jury finds that Dr. Jefferson is legally guilty of murder. Is it fair or not for the judge to sentence him to death (a possible punishment under the law)? Why?
5. Is it always right to impose the death penalty? Why yes or no? Under what conditions do you think the death sentence should be imposed? Why are these conditions important?
6. Dr. Jefferson did what his conscience told him to do when he gave the woman the medicine. Should a lawbreaker be punished if he does not act according to his conscience?
A. Why yes or no?
7. (The next question may be optional). Thinking about the dilemma again, what would you identify as the most important thing for a judge to do?
A. Why?
(Questions 8-13 reveal the subject’s system of ethical views and are not mandatory.)
8. What does the word conscience mean to you? If you were Dr. Jefferson, what would your conscience tell you when making a decision?
9. Dr. Jefferson must make a moral decision. Should it be based on feeling or only on reasoning about what is right and wrong?
A. In general, what makes an issue moral or what does the word “morality” mean to you?
10. If Dr. Jefferson is pondering what is truly right, there must be some right answer. Is there really some the right decision for moral problems like those of Dr. Jefferson, or when everyone's opinion is equally correct? Why?
11. How can you know when you have reached a just moral decision? Is there a way of thinking or a method by which a good or adequate solution can be reached?
12. Most people believe that thinking and reasoning in science can lead to the correct answer. Is the same true for moral decisions or is there a difference?
Dilemma II. Judy is a 12-year-old girl... Her mother promised her that she could go to a special rock concert in their city if she saved up money for a ticket by working as a babysitter and saving a little on breakfast. She saved up $15 for the ticket, plus an extra $5. But her mother changed her mind and told Judy that she should spend the money on new clothes for school. Judy was disappointed and decided to go to the concert any way she could. She bought a ticket and told her mother that she only earned $5. On Wednesday she went to the show and told her mother that she had spent the day with a friend. A week later Judy told her older sister, Louise, that she went to the play and lied to her mother. Louise was wondering whether to tell her mother about what Judy had done.
1. Should Louise tell her mother that Judy lied about the money, or should she remain silent?
A. Why?
2. Hesitating whether to tell or not, Louise thinks that Judy is her sister. Should this influence Judy's decision?
A. Why yes or no?
3. (This moral type question is optional.) Does this story relate to the position of a good daughter?
A. Why?
4. Is it important in this situation that Judy earned the money herself?
A. Why?
5. Mother promised Judy that she could go to the concert if she earned money herself. Is the mother's promise the most important in this situation?
A. Why yes or no?
6. Why should a promise be kept at all?
7. Is it important to keep a promise to someone you don't know well and probably won't see again?
A. Why?
8. What is the most important thing a mother should care about in her relationship with her daughter?
A. Why is this the most important thing?
A. Why?
10. What is the most important thing you think a daughter should care about in relation to her mother?
A. Why is this thing important?
(The next question is optional.)
11. Thinking through the dilemma again, what would you say is the most important thing for Louise to do in this situation?
A. Why? Form C
Dilemma V. In Korea, the crew of sailors retreated when faced with superior enemy forces. The crew crossed the bridge over the river, but the enemy was still mainly on the other side. If someone went to the bridge and blew it up, the rest of the team, with the advantage of time, could probably escape. But the person who stayed behind to blow up the bridge would not be able to escape alive. The captain himself is the man who best knows how to conduct a retreat. He called for volunteers, but there were none. If he goes on his own, the people will probably not return safely; he is the only one who knows how to lead a retreat.
1. Should the captain have ordered the man to go on the mission or should he have gone himself?
A. Why?
2. Should a captain send a man (or even use a loss) when it means sending him to his death?
A. Why?
3. Should the captain have gone himself when it meant the men would probably not get back safely?
A. Why?
4. Does the captain have the right to order a man if he thinks it is the best move?
A. Why?
5. Does the person who received the order have a duty or obligation to go?
A. Why?
6. What causes the need to save or protect human life?
a. Why is this important?
b. How does this apply to what a captain should do?
7. (The next question is optional.) Thinking through the dilemma again, what would you say is the most important thing for a captain to do?
A. Why?
The USH dilemma. In one country in Europe, a poor man named Valjean could not find work; neither his sister nor brother could. Having no money, he stole bread and the medicine they needed. He was captured and sentenced to six years in prison. Two years later he ran away and began to live in a new place under a different name. He saved his money and gradually built a large factory, paid his workers the highest wages and donated most of his profits to a hospital for people who could not get good medical care. Twenty years passed, and one sailor recognized the factory owner Valjean as an escaped convict whom the police were looking for in his hometown.
1. Should the sailor have reported Valjean to the police?
A. Why?
2. Does a citizen have a duty or obligation to report a fugitive to the authorities?
A. Why?
3. Suppose Valjean were a close friend of the sailor? Should he then report Valjean?
4. If Valjean was reported and brought to trial, should the judge send him back to hard labor or release him?
A. Why?
5. Think, from the point of view of society, should people who break the law be punished?
a. Why?
b. How does this apply to what a judge should do?
6. Valjean did what his conscience told him to do when he stole the bread and medicine. Should a lawbreaker be punished if he does not act according to his conscience?
A. Why?
7. (This question is optional.) Revisiting the dilemma, what would you say is the most important thing a sailor needs to do?
A. Why?
(Questions 8-12 concern the subject's ethical belief system; they are not necessary to determine the moral stage.)
8. What does the word conscience mean to you? If you were Valjean, how would your conscience be involved in the decision?
9. Valjean must make a moral decision. Should a moral decision be based on a feeling or inference about right and wrong?
10. Is Valjean's problem a moral problem? Why?
A. In general, what makes a problem moral and what does the word moral mean to you?
11. If Valjean is going to decide what needs to be done by thinking about what is actually just, there must be some answer, a right decision. Is there really some right solution to moral problems like Valjean's dilemma, or when people disagree, is everyone's opinion equally valid? Why?
12. How do you know when you have reached a good moral decision? Is there a way of thinking or a method by which a person can arrive at a good or adequate solution?
13. Most people believe that inference or reasoning in science can lead to the correct answer. Is this true for moral decisions or are they different?
Dilemma VII. Two young men, brothers, found themselves in a difficult situation. They secretly left the city and needed money. Carl, the eldest, broke into the store and stole a thousand dollars. Bob, the youngest, went to see an old retired man - he was known to help people in the city. He told this man that he was very sick and needed a thousand dollars to pay for the operation. Bob asked the man to give him money and promised that he would give it back when he got better. In reality, Bob was not sick at all and had no intention of returning the money. Although the old man did not know Bob well, he gave him money. So Bob and Carl skipped town, each with a thousand dollars.
1. What's worse: stealing like Carl or cheating like Bob?
A. Why is this worse?
2. What do you think is the worst thing about deceiving an old person?
A. Why is this the worst?
3. In general, why should a promise be kept?
4. Is it important to keep a promise to someone you don't know well or will never see again?
A. Why yes or no?
5. Why shouldn't you steal from a store?
6. What is the value or importance of property rights?
7. Should people do everything they can to obey the law?
A. Why yes or no?
8. (The following question is intended to elicit the subject's orientation and should not be considered mandatory.) Was the old man irresponsible in lending Bob money?
A. Why yes or no?
Theoretical basis for interpreting test results
L. Kohlberg identifies three main levels of development of moral judgments:
¾ pre-conventional,
¾ conventional
¾ and post-conventional.
The preconventional level is characterized by egocentric moral judgments. Actions are assessed mainly on the basis of benefit and their physical consequences. What is good is what gives pleasure (for example, approval); something that causes displeasure (for example, punishment) is bad.
The conventional level of development of moral judgments is achieved when the child accepts the assessments of his reference group: family, class, religious community... The moral norms of this group are assimilated and observed uncritically, as the ultimate truth. By acting in accordance with the rules accepted by the group, you become “good.” These rules can also be universal, such as the biblical commandments. But they are not developed by the person himself as a result of his free choice, but are accepted as external restrictions or as the norm of the community with which the person identifies himself.
The postconventional level of development of moral judgments is rare even in adults. As already mentioned, its achievement is possible from the moment of the appearance of hypothetico-deductive thinking (the highest stage of development of intelligence, according to J. Piaget). This is the level of personal development moral principles, which may differ from the norms of the reference group, but at the same time have universal breadth and universality. At this stage we are talking about the search for universal foundations of morality.
In each of these levels of development, L. Kohlberg identified several stages. Achieving each of them is possible, according to the author, only in a given sequence. But L. Kohlberg does not strictly link the stages to age.
Stages of development of moral judgments according to L. Kohlberg:
| Stages | Age | Grounds for moral choice | Attitude to the self-worth of human existence |
| 0 | 0-2 | I do what makes me happy | |
| 1 | 2-3 | Focus on possible punishment. I obey the rules to avoid punishment | The value of a person's life is confused with the value of the objects that person owns |
| 2 | 4-7 | Naive consumer hedonism. I do what I am praised for; I do good deeds according to the principle: “you - for me, I - for you” | The value of a human life is measured by the pleasure that person gives to a child |
| Conventional level of development | |||
| 3 | 7-10 | Good boy morals. I act in such a way as to avoid disapproval and hostility from my neighbors, I strive to be (be known as) a “good boy”, “good girl” | The value of a human life is measured by how much that person sympathizes with the child |
| 4 | 10-12 | Authority-oriented. I act this way to avoid disapproval of authorities and | Life is assessed as sacred, inviolable in moral categories |
| Post-conventional level of development | |||
| 5 | After 13 | A morality based on the recognition of human rights and democratic adopted law. I act according to my own principles, respect the principles of other people, try to avoid self-condemnation |
Life is valued both from the point of view of its benefits to humanity and from the point of view of the right of every person to life |
| 6 | After 18 | Individual principles developed independently. I act in accordance with universal human moral principles |
Life is viewed as sacred from a position of respect for the unique capabilities of each person |
Culture
You are a very experienced doctor, and you have five dying patients on your hands, each of whom needs different organ transplants in order to survive. Unfortunately, at the moment there is not a single organ available for transplantation. It so happens that there is another 6 person who is dying from a fatal disease, and if he is not treated, he will die much earlier than the others. If the sixth patient dies, you can use his organs to save five others. However, you have a medicine at your disposal that can save the life of the sixth patient. You:
Wait until the sixth patient dies and then use his organs for transplantation;
You will save the life of the sixth patient, while others will not receive the organs they need.
If you chose the second option, then, knowing that the medicine would only slightly delay the date of his death, would you still do the same? Why?
8. Robber Robin Hood
You witnessed a man rob a bank, but then he did something unusual and unexpected with the money. He handed them over to orphanage, who lived very poorly, was shabby and was deprived of proper nutrition, adequate care, water and amenities. This money greatly benefited the orphanage, and it went from poor to prosperous. You:
Call the police, although they will probably take the money from the orphanage;
You won't do anything if you leave both the robber and the orphanage alone.
7. Friend's wedding
Your best friend or girlfriend is getting married. The ceremony will begin in one hour, however, on the eve of coming to the wedding, you found out that your friend’s chosen one (chosen one) had connections on the side. If your friend connects his life with this person, he is unlikely to be faithful, but on the other hand, if you tell him about this, you will upset the wedding. Can you tell your friend what you found out or not?
6. Plagiarism of the report
You are the head of the student council and are faced with making a difficult decision regarding one of the graduates. This girl has always been a worthy student. Throughout all her years of study, she received only high grades, she has many friends, and ideal behavior. However, towards the end of the school year, she fell ill and did not attend school for some time. She missed three weeks of school, and when she returned, she was informed that in one of her subjects she was not enough to graduate with flying colors. She was so desperate that, having found a report on the necessary topic on the Internet, she passed it off as her own. Her teacher caught her doing this and sent her to you. If you decide that it is plagiarism, then she will not receive a high grade, and therefore will not be able to qualify for budget education at the university of her dreams. What would you do?
5. Fountain of Youth
Your loved one is immortal because he and his family drank from the fountain of youth, unsuspectingly. You love him very much and know that this is your destiny. However, the only way to stay with him is to also drink from the fountain of youth. But if you do this, all your family and friends, as well as all your acquaintances, will grow old and eventually die. On the other hand, if you do not drink from the spring, you will grow old and eventually die, and the person you are with will never see you again and will be condemned to eternal loneliness. Which would you choose?
4. Concentration camp
You are a concentration camp prisoner. The sadistic guard is about to hang your son who tried to escape and tells you to push the stool out from under him. He tells you that if you don't do this, he will kill your other son, who is another innocent prisoner. You have no doubt that he will do exactly as he says. What will you do?
3. Son and granddaughter
Much to your horror, your son lies tied up on the tracks as the train approaches. It so happens that you have time to use the switch and direct the train in the other direction, thereby you can save your son. However, on the other side lies the bound granddaughter, the daughter of this particular son of yours. Your son begs you not to kill his daughter or touch the switch. What will you do?
2. Sacrifice of a son
A very evil, psychologically unstable man tried to kill your son when he was very young, but then, having killed the child's uncle and aunt who were looking after him, he never got to the baby. After the murder, you fled into hiding, but now you have discovered that the prophecy has come true, and that part of the killer's soul has moved into your child. In order to overcome this evil and defeat this man, your son must go to him and allow himself to be killed. Otherwise, after some time, your son, with part of the soul of a villain, may himself become one. The son courageously accepts his fate and decides to go to the villain in order to bring peace. You as a parent:
Hold him because you feel you have to protect him;
Accept his choice.
1. Friendship
Jim works for a large company and is responsible for hiring employees. His friend Paul has applied for a job, but there are several people who are more qualified than Paul and have a higher level of knowledge and skills. Jim wants to give this position to Paul, however, he feels guilty because he should be impartial. He tells himself that this is the essence of morality. However, he soon changed his mind and decided that friendship gave the moral right to be partial in some matters. So he gives the position to Paul. Was he right?
Every child should accumulate experience of socially useful behavior, experience of living in conditions that form highly moral attitudes, which later will not allow them to act immorally; this is a kind of “work of the soul,” an organization of work on oneself, as V.A. wrote. Sukhomlinsky. “The child not only feels some kind of emotional discomfort at the sight of a sick or unfairly offended person, does not simply strive to eliminate this “empathy” that is painful for him, but comes to the rescue and worries positive emotions, which bring success to actions aimed at alleviating the fate of another."
In a school setting, it is also useful to consider exercises to develop in children the ability to make judgments based on the principle of justice, and even better - to solve the so-called dilemmas of L. Kohlberg. To determine at what stage of moral development an individual is, L. Kohlberg tested his reactions to hypothetical moral dilemmas.
Moral dilemma (Greek: dilemma) is a situation of moral choice. “A dilemma is a combination of judgments, conclusions with two opposing positions that exclude the possibility of a third.” The principle of dilemma involves the inclusion of students in a situation of existential choice with variable solutions in order to create a value-semantic orientation.
A moral dilemma is a situation in which there are only two mutually exclusive solutions, both of which are not morally correct. In the process of solving it, consciously acquired moral principles, enriched by corresponding experiences, become the motives of student behavior.
For each dilemma, a person’s value orientations can be determined. Every teacher can create dilemmas, provided that each teacher must:
- relate to real life schoolchildren;
– be as simple as possible to understand;
– to be unfinished;
– include two or more questions filled with moral content.
Offer students a choice of answer options, focusing on the main question: “How should the central character behave?” Such dilemmas always give rise to a dispute in the team, where everyone provides their own evidence, and this makes it possible in the future to make the right choice in life situations.
When using a moral dilemma in a classroom, the following points must be considered:
1. Preparatory activities of the teacher.
The teacher decides to use a moral dilemma in a teaching session when discussing a certain topic in accordance with the learning objectives. The teacher identifies the main problem training session and selects a situation that will become a moral dilemma for students. Then alternative options for the development of a moral dilemma and a system of questions are drawn up that will help to better understand and explore the problem situation.
2. Moral dilemma in a training session.
The teacher introduces students to problematic situation and helps to understand what problem it is associated with. Using a system of questions and alternative options for a moral dilemma, if required, organizes a discussion of the problem and research of students' points of view on the problem. After the discussion, the teacher and students summarize the discussion.
The dilemma method involves students discussing moral dilemmas together. For each dilemma, questions are developed in accordance with which the discussion is structured. For each question, children give reasons for and against. It is useful to analyze the answers by the following signs: choice, value, social roles and justice.
References:
1. Ozhegov S.I. Shvedova N.Yu. Dictionary Russian language: 80,000 words and phraseological expressions / Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of Russian Language named after. V.V. Vinogradova. – 4th ed., supplemented. – M.: Azbukovnik, 1999. – 944 p.
2. Sukhomlinsky V.A. Selected pedagogical works: in 3 volumes - M., 1981. - T.Z.
Target: familiarizing students with situations of moral choice and the scheme of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment as a basis for the analysis of moral dilemmas; organizing a discussion to identify solutions and arguments from the participants in the discussion.
Age: 11 - 15 years old.
Academic disciplines: humanitarian disciplines (literature, history, social studies, etc.).
Task completion form: group work of students.
Materials: the text of the moral dilemma, a list of questions that set the outline of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment, for students and teachers.
Description of the task: The class is divided into groups of three, in which they are asked to discuss the hero’s behavior and give reasons for their assessment. Next, having united in two groups, the guys exchange opinions and discuss all the arguments for and against. Then two groups are again combined until the class is divided into two large groups. At this final stage (using the board), a presentation of the arguments is made and a summary is made - which arguments are more convincing and why.
Option: holding a discussion. Students in groups are asked in advance to take a position of supporting or condemning the hero of the situation and discuss their arguments.
To structure the position of students, a diagram of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment for analyzing the situation is proposed (A. I. Podolsky, O. A. Karabanova, 2000). The diagram presents questions, the answers to which will help analyze the proposed situation:
1. What is happening in this situation?
2. Who are the participants in the situation?
3. What are the interests and goals of the participants in the situation? Do the goals and interests of the participants in the situation coincide or contradict each other?
4. Do the participants' actions violate a moral norm(s)? If yes, then what standard? (Name the norm.)
5. Who can be harmed by a violation of the norm? (If different norms are violated, then who will suffer from violating one norm, and who will suffer from violating another?)
6. Who is the norm violator? (If several norms are violated, then who is the violator of each of them?)
7. What can participants do in this situation? (Please list several behaviors.)
8. What consequences can this or that action (behavior) have for the participants? 9. What feelings (guilt, shame, pride, compassion, resentment, etc.) do the characters experience? 10. What should each of its participants do in this situation? What would you do in their place?
Instructions: The lesson is devoted to situations of moral choice. Such situations are called moral dilemmas. Their peculiarity is that students need to make a choice in a situation where there is not one uniquely correct decision, but there are different decisions that take into account different interests. The teacher reads the text and asks students to answer questions.
The teacher, if the students’ answers are presented in writing, needs to pay attention to the reasoning behind the action (i.e., answer the question “why?”). The answer should indicate the principle underlying the decision. The teacher should provoke students to voice different points of view on the situation with the obligatory argumentation of their position, and also focus students’ attention on the ambiguity of a particular solution to the problem.
Evaluation criteria:
correspondence of answers to the levels of development of moral consciousness;
the ability to listen to the arguments of other participants in the discussion and take them into account in one’s position;
analysis of students’ arguments in accordance with the level of development of moral consciousness.
14 situations are presented - moral dilemmas, which are devoted to different contexts of interaction: 7 - situations of interaction "teenager - peer" and 6 - situations of interaction "teenager - adult".
Examples of tasks
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