The germane biographical background of the two subjects interviewed for this case study is as follows. Jerry is a 14-year-old male student who attends Kesling Middle School in La Porte, Indiana. Here, it will be especially noted that Jerry has Asperger’s. Consequently, certain personality traits that accompany the presentation of Asperger’s, undoubtedly, will affect the subject’s placement and possible moral development as defined by Kohlberg. The other subject, Sandra, is a 16-year-old female sophomore who attends Merrillville High School in Merrillville, Indiana. Subsequently, Sandra has no outlying issues of which the author is aware. Based upon age as well as informal assessment, both interviewees appear to be in the formal operational
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Being in the concrete operational phase, he can reflect and interact with the material in a more abstract way. However, Jerry does not reflect on ideas further than his own interest in them or their usefulness to himself (CQ 18). Thus, the pedagogical question for Jerry would be how to instigate his thinking to expand beyond himself. Piaget argues that creating disequilibrium in a student would force them into adapting to new schemas. However, this would present a problem in the case of Jerry because of the way in which he learns for he appears highly rigid in his approach to learning; the steps and the way information is given to him is important. Thus, for a pedagogical strategy for Jerry a history class, Jerry would be an engaged student if the course content would, firstly, be presented with clear relevance to himself as an appeal of understanding the world around him; whether it be specific or a more generalized interest. This could be accomplished in a variety of ways. However, the material should be presented to Jerry in a familiar way in which he could draw clear parallels between historical progress and the state of the present. Assignments would include the development of historiographical knowledge or allow him to develop his own historiography under …show more content…
If Sandra works with a group, she may be prone to not think more critically about ideas and what she values as an individual and acquiesce to other’s ideas. Consequently, individual assignments would be better for her. These may include journaling about ideas or ‘bell-ringers’ that ask her to explore moral dilemmas, such as the question ‘are we justified to call Thomas Jefferson the architect of American Liberty when he was one of the largest slave owners in Virginia’.
Further, after Sandra is challenged through journaling and ‘bell-ringers’, the teacher may facilitate a debate/discourse of ideas covering a collection of questions of the bell-ringers. During the debate/discourse, all students would be allowed to express opinions and dissents and, consequently, having their views challenged by others. This process would force Sandra, as well as other students, to take a stand on their opinion, which hopefully would result in a clearer understanding of what each students’ morality as
Being in the concrete operational phase, he can reflect and interact with the material in a more abstract way. However, Jerry does not reflect on ideas further than his own interest in them or their usefulness to himself (CQ 18). Thus, the pedagogical question for Jerry would be how to instigate his thinking to expand beyond himself. Piaget argues that creating disequilibrium in a student would force them into adapting to new schemas. However, this would present a problem in the case of Jerry because of the way in which he learns for he appears highly rigid in his approach to learning; the steps and the way information is given to him is important. Thus, for a pedagogical strategy for Jerry a history class, Jerry would be an engaged student if the course content would, firstly, be presented with clear relevance to himself as an appeal of understanding the world around him; whether it be specific or a more generalized interest. This could be accomplished in a variety of ways. However, the material should be presented to Jerry in a familiar way in which he could draw clear parallels between historical progress and the state of the present. Assignments would include the development of historiographical knowledge or allow him to develop his own historiography under …show more content…
If Sandra works with a group, she may be prone to not think more critically about ideas and what she values as an individual and acquiesce to other’s ideas. Consequently, individual assignments would be better for her. These may include journaling about ideas or ‘bell-ringers’ that ask her to explore moral dilemmas, such as the question ‘are we justified to call Thomas Jefferson the architect of American Liberty when he was one of the largest slave owners in Virginia’.
Further, after Sandra is challenged through journaling and ‘bell-ringers’, the teacher may facilitate a debate/discourse of ideas covering a collection of questions of the bell-ringers. During the debate/discourse, all students would be allowed to express opinions and dissents and, consequently, having their views challenged by others. This process would force Sandra, as well as other students, to take a stand on their opinion, which hopefully would result in a clearer understanding of what each students’ morality as