Moral Development

I very much agree that this chapter ended with some concrete examples of how to facilitate the moral development of children. I also love that the foundation to moral development is “a warm, loving relationship.” The chapter presented multiple examples as to how the guidance a child receives from their parent, caretaker, or other adult forms their moral compass. I especially appreciated the section on “Autonomy, Discipline, and Internal Control.” The role of the adult is to ultimately guide a child to have the ability of internal control, not just obedience. I found that the statement,” there is an enormous difference between ‘good’ behavior autonomously chosen and ‘good’ behavior as a result of blind conformity,” set off a chorus of internal Amens! In the very first chapter, it is stated that moral development includes the “ability to understand the difference between right and wrong and moral action and the ability to do the right thing.” The end goal is not simply obedience, but for a child to be able to internally negotiate and choose to do the right thing, which will ultimately result in obedience. Piaget suggested that parents can hinder a child’s natural heteronomy when they use reward and punishment without explanations of “why.” I will digress on my personal soapbox of the use of rewards and punishments as a book by Dr. Marvin Marshall comes to mind that I have on my bookshelf, and this is an area that hits a soapbox nerve. ;-) I do believe that teaching a child “why” there are rules and “why” obedience is necessary is so very crucial. The thoughts that I am left to ponder deal with the implications the basis of moral development has on the role of the church. It was stated multiple times that “what we learn about morality we learn from the environment in which we spend our time” and that “the primary responsibility of parents and religious educators is to establish a warm, loving relationship with each child.” Given these findings, I would argue the importance of the church in helping parents and caretakers with the very issue of discipline. I believe that all parents, for the most part, want the absolute best for their child and do want them to grow up to be “morally competent” individuals, but I do not believe that all parents are aware of how to foster that. I think we have an obligation to not only provide an environment within children’s ministry that helps a child in their moral development, but I think it’s equally important to partner with parents and be able to have an open dialogue, and even Bible study classes, that help parents know how to “train up a child.” Response to "Preschooler Moral Development"