I need help with a Writing question. All explanations and answers will be used to help me learn.
The Prompt:
Respond to the following prompt(s) for your discussion forum post:
- Describe moral development in young children.
- Explain how young children learn right from wrong.
- Identify and describe the methods to support children’s moral development.
First peer to respond to:Number of replies: 3
By Alexus Hands
1. Describe moral development in young children.
Morality can help individuals distinguish right from wrong and act accordingly (Miller, 2016). It is a concept that helps children learn to use critical thinking skills to reflect better on their choices. Teaching young children about how they must make decisions that appear to align with their beliefs and feelings may take some time to understand. As they get older, children will learn even more about the cause-and-effect relationships between certain behaviors and actions. The best way for children to learn the concept of morality is to imitate the behaviors of adults that set great examples of societal expectations. “Moral behavior requires critical thinking, developing a sensitivity to others, and making appropriate judgment calls (Miller, 2016, p. 228).” Morality involves thinking and caring for others while also allowing children to have compassion regarding their relationships with others.
Moral development is how people learn to monitor their actions and decide whether a tempting behavior is a right or wrong thing (Miller, 2016). Once children become familiar with the moral effect, they can experience the emotions of pride or guilt and shame. These feelings will regulate a child’s behavior and actions. Adults can help children by supporting them with positive words and having a gentle, nurturing approach to teaching them right from wrong. For example, through positive guidance, adults can guide children with value-oriented rules to increase moral intelligence. With these rules, children can understand why certain behaviors are preferable over others (Miller, 2016).
2. Explain how young children learn right from wrong.
Young children are not capable yet of understanding the severity of certain situations. They do not yet grasp the idea of fault or taking responsibility for one’s choices. According to research done by Jean Piaget, “the moral reasoning of young children tends to be limited and straightforward (Miller, 2016, p. 230).” Young children need adults to explain better ways to decide how to make “right” choices versus “wrong” choices. Actions need always to be monitored and redirected so that children can begin to make both conscious and unconscious decisions.
Kohlberg’s theory of moral development describes three levels of moral reasoning and the six stages that children experience throughout childhood. Young children are particularly in level one, referred to as pre-conventional morality, where children typically obey rules to avoid punishment and gain rewards. Bargaining is prevalent so that children can have their needs met; they will choose to do things that best suit their interests at the time. Positive social interactions with others will bring about favors. In the hopes of gaining some reward from a peer, children will suggest that someone do something for them first.
3. Identify and describe the methods to support children’s moral development.
Authoritative guidance is one of the many methods to support a child’s moral development. According to the textbook, authoritative child guidance “provides a perfect balance of nurturing and limit-setting, and it is both gentle and firm (Miller, 2016, p. 232).” The direction that provides support and gentle responses shows children that they hold value and are appreciated by adults. As a result, a child’s self-esteem will begin to increase, leading to treating others with kindness and respect. Other methods to support children include setting limits, modeling appropriate behavior, and relying on democratic processes.
One of the essential aspects of child guidance is demandingness. Effective demandingness requires setting realistic goals; both children and parents need expectations that make them feel adequate and capable of accomplishing goals. In addition to setting limits, adults should support, encourage, and monitor their progress when reaching goals. Lastly, there should be “high but reasonable standards that are consistently and caringly enforced (Miller, 2016, p. 233).”
References
Miller. (2016). Positive Child Guidance. Cengage Learning.
Second peer to respond to:by Elin ShearinNumber of replies: 1
According to our textbook, moral development is the process by which people learn to monitor their own actions and to decide whether a tempting behavior is a right or wrong thing to do. During a child’s moral development, they learn to stop themselves from doing things that they know are wrong. Moral development is made up of three components, empathy, conscience, and altruism. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Conscience is defined as an inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness and wrongness of one’s behavior. Altruism is the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.
Children learn morals and go through moral development by modeling the behavior of the adults around them. Children are always observing how adults handle situations, so it is important to model appropriate behavior. One of the ways that parents and education professionals can model good moral behavior is to have nurturing and affectionate guidance. The second way is having consistency in explaining reasons for rules and expectations. Essentially, we help children develop moral behavior by being loving and gentle.
There are four methods to support children’s moral development. The first method is to provide nurturing and support, which I feel is one of the most important methods. Children need to feel like they are loved and supported. The second is setting limits, which helps children learn how far they can go and the rules that they need to follow. Next, the adults around the child need to model appropriate behavior. Children model what they see and if you are not doing good things, then they will not do good things. Finally, adults need to teach democratic decision-making and discussion. Children need to learn that others have opinions and that they need to respect those.
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