Week Four-Curtis-Morality: Is there a Mars/Venus Divide?

    The readings for this week included two chapters from the Lifesmart textbook.  Chapters 6 and 7 dealt with childhood development during the Early and Middle Childhood years.  These periods, lasting roughly from ages 2-6 and 5-12, see children undergoing dramatic changes, both physical and mental.  One area of particular importance is moral development of children.  During the Middle Childhood years, children begin to develop their own moral views as well as their understanding of why they should not harm others.  Although Piaget felt this development was due to the cognitive development of the children, he observed how children responded to rules.  His view were later expanded and developed into two varying theories.
   The first theory was developed by Lawrence Kohlberg, who felt that children must overcome their ego centrism before they could begin to make moral judgments.  Carol Gilligan, on the other hand, felt that this theory focused too extensively on male children for evidence.  She, then, developed a theory which focused more on girls and women, called the Ethics of Care.  In this view, morality is developed as a result of relationships with others, and morality is determined by how we affect others through our actions.
    This justice vs. care dichotomy of morality is drawn along lines of sex, it seems, which may explain how children develop their moral views, but it doesn't take up the question of moral judgments.  I believe that understanding this difference in development, however, is a useful tool for teaching young children, as it can give teachers an understanding of what strategies will work best in teaching students right from wrong.  It can also be useful for developing classroom rules which can be understood and appreciated by both boys and girls.