In the video; the two theorists that stood out the most are Albert Bandura and Elliot Turiel. I feel that both of these theorists did a good job of looking at the child more holistically than Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. Both Bandura and Turiel believe that moral development starts at a young age. According to Turiel, children as young as 3 can determine that hurting someone is wrong even if there is not a rule stating that it is wrong (Ryan, 2011). They also agree that moral development is dependent on children’s interactions with those around them. However, they differ because Bandura believes that solely social interaction determines moral development. His theory states that when children observe adult behaviors whether positive or negative, they internalize those behaviors, experiment with them, and in turn use them to aid in creating their own moral self (Ryan, 2011).
Whereas Turiel believes that it is a combination of moral, social, and psychological domains that help children define their moral selves. Both these theorists align with a biblical worldview. As Christians we have a duty to share our faith with others. Turiel and Bandura’s theories allow for adults to share their faith with children through modeling and creating societal norms. If we as Christians are sharing our faith and show modeling what it is like to walk with God and Turiel and Bandura’s theories are true we will be creating young Christians who are unafraid to boldly walk with God. As a teacher I must model the behavior in my classroom and I also must teach as Jesus did. I must be a storyteller, an artist, a facilitator, a steward and a craftsperson (Van Brummelen, 2009, p. 35-38).
None of these traits are more important than the other but I feel that being a craftsperson as a teacher is something that every educator should strive for. In all of my teacher evaluations one of the criteria is that “teacher is a reflective practitioner.” When I started teaching this was something I struggled with. In my ignorance and in my youth I did not understand why I had to reflect after what was done was done. Now I understand that reflecting is helping me to master my craft. You cannot expect to get better or be an effective teacher if you do not strive every day to be better for your students. I must model that so that when my students see that even at my age I do not have it all figured out so it is acceptable if they do not either. I feel like through reflection we can better understand why things are right and wrong.
