One crucial question is whether moral judgments arise from conscious reasoning and reflection,

or are triggered by unconscious and immediate impulses. In the 1970s and 1980s, research in
moral psychology was dominated by the work of Lawrence Kohlberg (1971), who advocated a
strongly rationalist conception of moral judgment. According to Kohlberg, mature moral
judgment demonstrates a concern with reasoning through highly abstract social rules. Whilst on
the other hand cognitive psychology was busy advocating its own analysis on individual growth
and one such proponent was Jerome Brunner. Bruner (1966) was concerned with how knowledge
is represented and organized through different modes of thinking or representation, thus in his
research on the cognitive development of children, Jerome Bruner proposed three modes of
representation: Enactive representation or action-based, Iconic representation or image-based and
the Symbolic representation or language-based.

Thus this work is aimed at comparing and contrasting the theories of Kohlberg and Brunner and
showing their educational implications to teaching and learning and in doing so the work will
beginning providing definitions for theory and education. The work will then go on to discuss
Kohlberg’s theory and Brunner’s theory before outlaying their education implication and
drawing a logical conclusion.

Theory is that which seeks to explain a reality, happening or phenomenon. A theory is proven

Education Education is the wealth of knowledge acquired by an individual after

particular subject matters or experiencing life lessons that provide an understanding of
something . Education requires instruction of composed literature .The most common forms
of education result from years of schooling that incorporates studies of variety of
subjects. Education can also be defined has the process of receiving and giving out knowledge
(Merriam and Brockett, 1997).

Lawrence Kohlberg virtually developed the fields of moral psychology and moral education
through his pioneering cognitive developmental theory and research. Kohlberg's work grew out
of a lifelong commitment to address injustice. So When Kohlberg began his graduate studies,
American psychologists, who were for the most part behaviorists, did not even use the word
moral. Kohlberg's broad intellectual pursuits, which embraced philosophy, sociology, and
psychology, led him to challenge mainstream thinking (Kohlberg, 1969).

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Kohlberg classified their moral reasoning into three levels, each of which contains two distinct
substages: Pre-conventional level (Obedience and self-interest), conventional Level (conformity
and law and order) and the Post-conventional Level (Social contract orientation and universal
human ethics).

The pre-conventional stage is associated with the first two Kohlberg’s stages of moral
development: Obedience and Self-interest. At this level, children are only interested in securing
their own benefits. This is their idea of morality. They begin by avoiding punishment, and
quickly learn that they may secure other benefits by pleasing others. No other ethical concepts
are available to children this young (Kohlberg et al, 1983)

According to Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development, the conventional level is associated

with Conformity and Law and Order. This is the stage at which children learn about rules and
authority. They learn that there are certain “conventions” that govern how they should and
should not behave, and learn to obey them. At this stage, no distinction is drawn between moral
principles and legal principles. What is right is what is handed down by authority, and
disobeying the rules is always by definition “bad.” (Kohlberg, 1969).

The post-conventional level is associated with these Kohlberg’s stages of moral development:
Social contract orientation and Universal human ethics. At this level, children have learned that
there is a difference between what is right and what is wrong from a moral perspective, and what
is right and what is wrong according to rules. Although they often overlap, there are still times
when breaking a rule is the right thing to do (Kohlberg et al 1983).

Bruner (1966) was concerned with how knowledge is represented and organized through
different modes of thinking or representation. In his research on the cognitive development of
children, Jerome Bruner proposed three modes of representation: Enactive representation
(action-based), Iconic representation (image-based) and symbolic representation (language-
based)

Bruner's constructivist theory suggests it is effective when faced with new material to follow a
progression from enactive to iconic to symbolic representation; this holds true even for adult
learners. Bruner's work also suggests that a learner even of a very young age is capable of

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learning any material so long as the instruction is organized appropriately, in sharp contrast to
the beliefs of Piaget and other stage theorists.

Modes of representation are the way in which information or knowledge are stored and encoded
in memory. Rather than neat age-related stages like Piaget, the modes of representation are
integrated and only loosely sequential as they "translate" into each other.

Enactive (0 - 1 years) is the first kind of memory. This mode is used within the first year of life
corresponding with Piaget’s sensorimotor stage. Thinking is based entirely on physical actions,
and infants learn by doing, rather than by internal representation (or thinking). It involves
encoding physical action based information and storing it in our memory. For example, in the
form of movement as a muscle memory, a baby might remember the action of shaking a rattle
(Bruner, 1966).

Iconic is from 1 - 6 years, Information is stored as sensory images (icons), usually visual ones,
like pictures in the mind. For some, this is conscious; others say they don’t experience it. This
may explain why, when we are learning a new subject, it is often helpful to have diagrams or
illustrations to accompany the verbal information. Thinking is also based on the use other mental
images (icons), such as hearing, smell or touch (Bruner, 1966).

Symbolic is 7 years onwards. This develops last. This is where information is stored in the form
of a code or symbol, such as language. This mode is acquired around six to seven years-old and
corresponding to Piaget’s concrete operational stage. In the symbolic stage, knowledge is stored
primarily as words, mathematical symbols, or in other symbol systems, such as music. Symbols
are flexible in that they can be manipulated, ordered, classified etc., so the user isn’t constrained
by actions or images which have a fixed relation to that which they represent (Bruner, 1960).

In Comparing and contrasting the two psychologist theory, it should be realize that both theories
are influenced by the works of Piaget another renowned psychologist, and that both theories are
developmental theories which seek to explain cognitive development. The main contrast is that
Kohlberg’s theory comprises of 6 stages were as Brunner has 3 stages and Kolberg’s theory
used the moral approach to cognitive development.

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The educational implications of Brunner’s and Kohlberg’s theory still leave impacts on the
education system to today. The education implications with reference to Brunner were that the
aim of education should be to create autonomous learners for example learning to learn. For
Bruner (1961), the purpose of education is not to impart knowledge, but instead to facilitate a
child's thinking and problem-solving skills which can then be transferred to a range of situations.
Specifically, education should also develop symbolic thinking in children.

In 1960 Bruner's text, The Process of Education was published. The main premise of Bruner's
text was that students are active learners who construct their own knowledge. Bruner (1960)
opposed Piaget's notion of readiness. He argued that schools waste time trying to match the
complexity of subject material to a child's cognitive stage of development. This means students
are held back by teachers as certain topics are deemed too difficult to understand and must be
taught when the teacher believes the child has reached the appropriate state of cognitive
maturity.

The Spiral Curriculum, here Bruner (1960) adopted a different view and believes a child of any
age is capable of understanding complex information: Brunner, (1960: 30) stated 'We begin with
the hypothesis that any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to
any child at any stage of development.' Bruner explained how this was possible through the
concept of the spiral curriculum. This involved information being structured so that complex
ideas can be taught at a simplified level first, and then re-visited at more complex levels later on,
an implication which is seen evening in the educational teaching and learning today. Therefore,
subjects would be taught at levels of gradually increasing difficultly (hence the spiral analogy).
Ideally, teaching this way should lead to children being able to solve problems by themselves.

Discovery Learning was another educational implication that can be picked and Bruner (1961)
proposes that learners’ construct their own knowledge and do this by organizing and categorizing
information using a coding system. Bruner believed that the most effective way to develop a
coding system is to discover it rather than being told it by the teacher. The concept of discovery
learning implies that students construct their own knowledge for themselves also known as a
constructivist approach)

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The role of the teacher should not be to teach information by rote learning, but instead to
facilitate the learning process. This means that a good teacher will design lessons that help
students discover the relationship between bits of information. To do this a teacher must give
students the information they need, but without organizing for them, and the use of the spiral
curriculum can aid the process of discovery learning (Brunner, 1978).

The implication of Kohlberg theory on educational teaching and learning are that Lawrence
Kohlberg's theory on moral development can be applied to the classroom where rules, standards,
and consequences are concerned. The theory tracks an individual's level of moral reasoning by
assigning him to one of six stages, where the first stage is a basic submission to authority and the
last is universal ethics for all. As an educator, consider where your students' personal
development lies in terms of Kohlberg's six stages. Then work toward achieving optimal moral
character along the lines of Kohlberg's level six "Universal Principals" for a positive and
constructive learning environment (Ethridge, 2018).

Students at stage one behave appropriately to avoid punishment. At stage two, students behave to
earn rewards. By stage three, students start thinking about other people and caring about their
expectations. Give students the opportunity to help create a classroom code of conduct. In this
way, they will become responsible for the rules that they set and follow them accordingly, rather
than blindly agreeing to standards set by school administrators or other authorities.

Further, allowing for a written self-evaluation as part of any disciplinary consequence. It does
not have to be lengthy, but it should provide the student with adequate time to review their own
reasoning for misbehavior and to come up with a solution for the future. This type of action
relates to Kohlberg's fourth stage of morality, in which individuals do their part to maintain order
by reflecting on the impact of their words and actions ((Ethridge, 2018).

Planning group projects where students work together toward the understanding of curriculum
instead of sitting back and listening to the teacher talk at them. Group activities encourage
engagement. Responsibility for learning is placed squarely onto the students, facilitating
adherence to the classroom goal of educational enrichment. Collaborate learning supports
Kohlberg's fifth morality stage, which relates to upholding a social contract (Woods, et al, 1976).

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 REFERENCE

American College of Pediatrics. Kohlberg Theory of Moral development

Bruner, J. S. (1957). Going beyond the information given. New York: Norton.

Bruner, J. S. (1960). The Process of education. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1961). The act of discovery. Harvard Educational Review, 31, 21-32.

Bruner, J. S. (1966). Toward a theory of instruction, Cambridge, Mass.: Belkapp Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1973). The relevance of education. New York: Norton.

Bruner, J. S. (1978). The role of dialogue in language acquisition. In A. Sinclair, R., J. Jarvelle,
and W. J.M. Levelt (eds.) The Child's Concept of Language. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Ethridge, P. (2018). How to Apply Kohlberg’s Theory in the Classroom

Kohlberg, L. (1969), "Stage and sequence," Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research,
McGraw Hill: New York.

Kohlberg, L., Charles L., & Alexandra H. (1983). Moral stages : a current formulation and a
response to critics. Basel, NY: Karger.

Piaget, Jean (1932). The Moral Judgment of the Child. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner
and Co.

Wood, D. J., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of
Child Psychiatry and Psychology, 17(2), 89-100

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