Psychology 4430: Domain Theory

The Film "Thirteen" & Affective Education

Thirteen is a 2003 film that is based on the co-author, Nikki Reed's rebellious behavior that occurred between the impressionable ages of 12-13. Written in just six days, the film takes an unapologetic look at the controversial topics of underage sex, drugs, alcohol, peer-pressure, and self-mutilation.

Please share your thoughts on why you believe the film highlights the developmental patterns of thinking found within the personal domain. Where do you see the main character, Tracy make attempts to fight for her autonomy while also trying to make sense of her concept of "self." Why do you assume the process was such a struggle for her? As a counselor, what would you have done to help her get back on track. Note: This question will act as an "exit ticket" for week's 3 and 4.

Final Exit Ticket

Congratulations! You have completed your course on Affective Education. How quickly the time has passed. Each week there was something new to read, process, analyze and evaluate. Believe it or not, I was learning right along with you. How could I not? Considering that many of you provided such rich professional insight. I am a firm believer that it is always good to look at material, theories, and educational frameworks from different perspectives. For that, I thank you. Nonetheless, every course has its highlights; those moments whereby things simply stand-out and make a lot of sense, which leads to our final exit ticket. Please answer the following questions, what was the “ah ha moment for you”? And as a result, what new knowledge have you constructed through our eight week dialogue on Affective Education that strengthened your confidence about teaching moral education?

The Stages of Moral Development

It has been noted that the Domain Theory was established in an attempt to "categorize behaviors into either a moral or social domain"(Freday, 2009), however prior classification systems, such as Kohlberg's theory of moral development, placed morality and social convention in the same developmental domain. Domain theory separates the two and goes on to highlight the differences in a child's development of each (Freday, 2009, para. 2). Do you agree or disagree? Post your views.

With that noted, click on the You Tube link provided. View the Kohlberg video that explores the stages of moral development and post your views and reations to the video in no less than a 100 words. You may use the book or any other reading from class to support your views. Just be inclined to cite your sources. I look forward to reading your post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY4etXWYS84

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Domain Theory

After thinking about this for a long while, probably too long, I have to agree with Julie in her line of thinking that behaviors are classified into either moral or social domains. Therefore I agree with the Domain Theory in the classification of two seperate differences in a child's development. I took kind of a different view at this and since this is of personal opinion I'll tell you why. I looked at this in the form of these two questions: Was I born as a blank piece of paper and only learn from social experiences? Or was I born with morals and able to distinguish between right and wrong, therefore learning social conventions? In my view, and for unexplainable reasons, I believe that I was born with morals, it's just a gut feeling. As I think about it in that light, that's the defining point that seperates the two. Because we are certainly not born with a social domain. In defending this, morality is structured by concepts of harm, welfare, and fairness (Turiel, 1971). At least two of these three I believe are induced upon arrival to this world. Social conventions provide a way for members of the group to coordinate their social exchanges through a set of agee-upon and predictable modes of conduct (Turiel, 1971). Social conventions are those traits in which we learn through different domains such as church, family, community and school. These are concepts are structured by the child's understandings of social organizations. So, with that, I can't help but to think there are two seperate entities to the social domain. Because of course we are born with morals..right?

2 comments:

JulieNovember 11, 2009 at 9:20 AM
I would think, Smitty, that our blank 'piece of paper' we're born with came with a 'built in' set of moral code from our Creator. Along with that came our God-given right of free will. Personally, I think that's where we can navigate with our moral compass do make decisions during our social exchanges in life. I believe that our moral compass ages, like a fine wine, as we mature and learn from our past experiences as we set sail on our next adventure towards self-actualization.
Hey-how did you like that one, Smitty?!?
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MariselaDecember 14, 2009 at 8:33 PM
Smitty, I agree with you and I too believe that we are born with morals. I believe that everyone has a good heart and human nature is inherently good, we only become corrupt because of social experiences and the decisions that we make or the choices that we follow.
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Psychology 4430