Morality in context: A sociocultural approach to enhancing young children's moral development

Abstract

This paper addresses how Vygotskian views on children's transition from other-regulation to self-regulation might be used to illustrate how children internalize moral norms and then use the norms in guiding their own behavior. First, Martin Hoffman's research on induction, Diana Baumrind's work on parenting styles, and Lawrence Walker's studies of the role of family interaction in the development of moral reasoning will be examined with the focus on the processes these researchers consider fundamental to children's internalization ofmoral norms. Next, comparisons will be drawn between these processes and those of Vygotsky's sociocultural view as outlined by Diaz, Neal, & Amaya-Williams (1990). Finally, it will be proposed that incorporating Vygotsky's sociocultural theory with Bakhtin's concept of dialogicality extends our understanding of the process through which children internalize interpersonal dialogue and transform it into an internal dialogue which they use as part of a self-regulatory function in guiding their behavior.