Feild Response Journal part 1

Question 4:
I noticed Kohlberg’s theory when I am teaching dance. I feel that most of the students in the classes that I teach were functioning at a level that was consistent with Kohlberg’s interpersonal conformity stage. However, some of the students were very much still in the obedience and punishment stage. I first noticed that a student was in the interpersonal conformity stage when I ask the students to be quiet while I am teaching movement, and when I asked a student to stop talking another student. The student replied with an explanation that she was simply explaining the movement to the other student who was having trouble understanding the movement that I was teaching. Even though the student was talking out of turn she was only doing what she felt was expected of her as a member of the class. This Student had taken upon herself a responsibility that was not vocally assigned to her, and even though she was “breaking a rule” all of the other students seemed to understand and accept that what she was doing was right. Some students however, as previously stated would not have talked under any circumstance for fear of being called out in front of the class and being scolded or punished. These students obeyed the class rule only because they were scared of what punishment might befall them. I believe that the best way in which a teacher can help students attain higher levels is to allow the class to create their own rules to live by. In this way they are creating their own moral code which will clearly dictate what is and isn’t acceptable in the society which they create. It would also be effective for a teacher to allow a student to talk quietly on occasion to another student who may be struggling even if it is a class rule to not talk. This would allow the students to see that there is not always a clear and definitive moral right and wrong when it comes to following pre-set rules. Kohlberg’s law and order stage is not always the most effective in the classroom in regards to working with a community of learners. Sometimes I have to watch how I approach the students so I don’t hurt their feelings; so that they are not getting embarrassed in front of the other students.