Colegio de Calumpit Inc.

Iba O’ Este, Calumpit, Bulacan

Submitted to:

Ms. Jerahmel Anne Vicente

An Analysis of Student’s Motivations Following School Rules and Regulations Using

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development.

Researchers:

Catanghal, Jaycee

Domingo, Lenice T.

Garcia, Joey P.

Joaquin, Tritzy Joy E.

Navarro, Aaron P.

Roxas, Jerelyn A.

S.Y. 2019-2020
 CHAPTER 1

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Introduction

Rules can be described as the set of guidelines or instructions of doing something

correctly. Regulation refers to the directives or statute enforced by law in a particular place.

School rules and regulations are guidelines for actions and for the evaluation of actions in terms

of good and bad, right and wrong, and therefore a part of moral or values education in school.

These academic rules and regulations help to keep the school safe and welcoming for everyone.

School rules and regulations can include being careful, maintaining academic reputations or just

exercising basic respect for teachers and school’s staff. Whether you're in college, senior high

school, junior high school or elementary school, your school likely has a list of rules you are

expected to follow while in attendance. These rules and regulations are used for maintaining

behavior on school campus, policies on tardiness and individual appearance. When students are

at school premises, the rules and regulations need to be obeyed. Whether you like it or not, you

actually need to obey the rules. Some rules may have long-term or serious ramifications. More

serious consequences can include demerits, suspensions, and even expulsion. (Jones, 2018)

Rules are intended to protect the students. Sometimes, rules are a burden to obey. Rules

may occasionally seem unimportant or useless, but it's important to obey the rules even if you

feel they're unnecessary. Even if you think no one notices or appreciates your good behavior, rest

assured your instructors do notice when you follow the rules and they appreciate it. Obedience to

the rules at school improves your relationships with your teachers and demonstrates that you care
about your education. Obedience to school rules also shows your teachers and principal you trust

their decisions even if you don't understand the purpose behind a specific rule. (Jones, 2018)

According to (Thornberg, 2008), school and teacher should be more conscious and

reflective concerning variation and differences among all these rules in school, and what

students’ reasons are about them. If students do not see the point of a rule, they probably have a

negative attitude towards it. Moreover, if they do not believe in the point (the rule explanation),

they also probably have a negative attitude towards the rule. Furthermore, in the view of moral

education and the concept of hidden curriculum, school and teachers have to consider the

learning effects of school rules on students.

Lawrence Kohlberg was a professor at Harvard University for many years. He became

famous because of his work there beginning in the early 1970s. He started as a developmental

psychologist and then moved to the field of moral education. He was well-known for his theory

of moral development which he popularized through research studies conducted at Harvard's

Center for Moral Education.

According to (Robert, 2000), Kohlberg believed and was able to demonstrate through

studies that people progressed in their moral reasoning through a series of stages. He believed

that there were six identifiable stages which could be more generally classified into three levels.

Kohlberg's classification can be outlined in the following manner:

LEVEL STAGE SOCIAL INTERACTION

Pre-conventional 1 Obedience and Punishment

 Individualism, Instrumentalism, and
2
Exchange

Conventional 3 "Good boy/girl"

4 Law and Order

Post-conventional 5 Social Contract

6 Principled Conscience

The researchers chose to deal with this study to know the motivation of some students of

11 ABM in obeying the school rules and regulations and where it will be classified on Lawrence

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development.

Statement of the Problem

The general problem of the study was: analyzing the student’s motivations following

school rules and regulations using Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. How may the personal profile of student respondents be described in terms of:

1.1 age

1.2 gender

2. What is the reason why some students chose to obey the school rules and regulations?
 3. What is the reason why some students chose to disobey the school rules and regulation?

4. What are the effective solutions so as the students must follow the school rules and

regulations?

Significance of the Study

The result of the study would be beneficial to the following:

Students. The aim of this study was to assess the student’s motivation following the

school rules and regulations. This research will help the students to voice out their opinion about

it and be heard.

Teacher. This will help the teacher to understand more what is behind the student’s

motivation in following the rules and regulations. Also, they will no longer have to deal with

student's violation because they will be given a solution to fix it

School. This research will help the school to be more organized than before. And it will

help the school to understand why some students chose to obey and disobey the school rules and

regulations.

The Future Researchers. This study can serve as guide for conducting same study in the

future

Scope and Delimitations

This research was focused on the 11 ABM student’s motivation following the school

rules and regulations using Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development.

 The respondents of the study were selected using random sampling method consisted

over thirty-six (36) 11 ABM students. This research will talk about the respondent’s personal

profile such as age and gender that needed for gathering and constructing data.

The researcher will conduct the study inside Colegio de Calumpit Inc. S.Y. 2019-2020.

The study started on 1st week of February and will end on first week of March. This research

will not include Grade 12 abm students and those students from different school and school year.
 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Related Theories

Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory has the biggest role in this study. According to (Lumen

Education, Society and the K-12 Learner) this theory stated that as people grow older their moral

thinking and behavior also progress. This theory supports this study because of the stages and

levels involve. This can be used to identify each student’s reason for obeying and disobeying the

school rules and regulation.

Social Cognitive Theory describes the influence of individual experiences, the actions of

others, and environmental factors on individual health behaviors. This theory provides

opportunities for social support through instilling expectations, self-efficacy, and using

observational learning and other reinforcements to achieve behavior change. These are some

components of this theory that affect the changes of individual behavior:

Self-efficacy: The belief that an individual has control over and is able to execute a

behavior.

Behavioral capability: Understanding and having the skill to perform a behavior.

Expectations: Determining the outcomes of behavior change.

Expectancies: Assigning a value to the outcomes of behavior change.

Self-control: Regulating and monitoring individual behavior.

 Observational learning: Watching and observing outcomes of others performing or

modeling the desired behavior.

Reinforcements: Promoting incentives and rewards that encourage behavior change.

(Social Cognitive Theory)

The Social Cognitive Theory affects this study in a way that it tells how people social life

can affect their behavior and how it can change the way they behave. In school, students are

exposed to different kinds of students. Some students are not aware that the way they socialize or

who they are socializing with can cause the changes of their moral thinking.

Choice Theory This theory states that student's behavior is based on what can satisfy

them. To get what they want and need, students like to take control of themselves, therefore, as a

teacher it is your duty to guide and teach your students a positive and responsible behavior. If

students are treated fairly and be able to speak for themselves, they feel more motivated to

follow the rules. (Choice Theory)

This theory speaks that some students who cannot make a proper decision making

sometimes failed to make a decision that will benefit them, and the authority. Students will just

do whatever they want as long as they feel satisfied. And sometimes, students do careless things

just to say that it satisfies them. This theory supports that the teachers should be a good role

model for the students. Treat them fairly so they will feel motivated to follow the school rules

and regulation.
Related Literature

Why do students break school rules? Social-wise and even biblical, humans tend to break

rules. Socially, human beings are boundless. They despise limitations. Human beings like those

any others who belong in any political or social form, struggle to come out of any fences built to

limit them in any way. Even science is unstable and cannot settle because of unending human

discoveries. Unsatisfied with earth’s blessings, they even set-foot on the moon. Even the most

precious God’s creation (Adam and Eve), as the bible would tell its tale, succumbed to human

nature when they ate that apple when that is the only rule being set for them. Why disobedience?

Was that only coincidence? Or is it the nature of man to be limitless, boundless, put it otherwise,

free. This fact of life need not be legitimized or even proven to be true. No amount of human

intellect needs to be utilized for one to understand that life isn’t life without rules or norms as

well as men who establishes or breaks the same.

School rules and regulations are made not to be broken. Rules are made for the safety and

better welfare of the students in school. Another is to promote good behavior among students and

to maintain the good image of the school. Parents send their children to school in order for them

to learn not only academic values, but also moral values. Implementing school rules will help the

students mold their character and values expected from them by other people. There are certain

factors why nowadays, students tend not to follow rules disseminated by the school despite of the

punishments they will have to face for doing such actions. Some of the reasons are as follows:

peer pressure, drugs, poverty, homelessness, low self-esteem, lack of love, boredom, bad

instructions, unclear rules, unclear expectations, psychological problems, lack of parental

supervision and guidance, and media influences.

 Let us try to consider the saying, “MASARAP GAWIN ANG BAWAL” According to some

students, breaking rules is a part of every teenager’s life especially in high school. Because this is

the period where you will find your true peers and get to know more about life. They say that it

is not bad to break rules when you don’t get caught doing it because it is part of one’s challenge.

And there goes your second attempt of doing it again. Use of illegal drugs another factor why a

student gets away with the rules. Any person under the influence of drugs sees no reasons at all.

They become more aggressive in anything, uncontrollable, think unreasonably and act strange.

An individual that has no enough funds to sustain himself or his family is capable of doing what

is wrong. Because he lacks something, he becomes desperate and, in that way, he thinks and acts

differently. (Amy, 2019)

Children use their behavior to show or express how they feel and what they’re thinking.

Sometimes, they communicate through their behavior that they can’t say verbally. Here are some

reasons why children misbehave:

 They want attention. When kids feel that they are being left out, they will throw

tantrum. It is a great way to attract attention. Even if it’s negative attention, kids

still crave it.

 They are copying others. Kids learn how to behave by watching others. Whether

they see a peer at school misbehave or they’re copying something they have seen

on TV.

 They are testing limits. When you make rules and tell kids what they are not

allowed to do, they often want to see if you are serious. They test limits just to

find out what the consequences will be when they break the rules.
  They want independency. Teens are also known for their attempts to be

independent. They may become more argumentative and may behave

disrespectfully at times. Teens may become rebellious in an attempt to show

adults that they can think and decide for themselves. They may break the rules on

purpose and try to show adults that they can’t be forced to do things they don’t

want to do.

 They can’t control their emotions. Sometimes kids have no idea what to do about

their feelings. They may become easily overwhelmed when they feel angry, and

as a result, they may become aggressive. They may even act out when they feel

excited, stressed, or bored.

Reasons why your child might be acting out

 They have unmet needs

 They want power and control

 Misbehavior is effective

 Underlying mental health issues that can contribute to behavior problems

(Why do students break school rules?, 2016)

According to (Who Do students Misbehave?) the video explains what are the reasons

why students misbehave? The first one is to gain attention, some of the students seeks attention

that is why they misbehave so that they attract teachers or the authority. Second is group

behavior, students are sometimes very friendly to the point that they forgot to be picky when

choosing their friends. They don’t care if their peer is not smart or not a good influence as long

as he or she is cool. Third is unclear limits, they don’t know the rules to begin with. Fourth,
control, you will find that every classroom there is a student that constantly challenges your

authority. Six, outside in school premises, sometimes students have a problem outside the school

usually problems about their parents. Then that problem will affect the behavior of the child.

Seven, boredom, a lot of students won’t get excited going to school, so, they explore and do

things that excites themselves. And lastly, their disability, some students have behavioral

disabilities or chronic attention.

Related Studies

Henry S. Tenedero (2009) stated that children who misbehave are discouraged, and

experience low self-esteem. An important strategy for addressing their behavior is to approach

the situation softly, with a happy and caring attitude. Generally, children misbehave to achieve

one of these following factors:

 To gain attention

 To achieve power

 To seek revenge

 To assume and attitude inadequacy

According to Cura and Parreno (2009) related the factors of the children’s

family/personal background, peer pressure and media influence, along with their lack of

awareness and passive attitude, the abuse of power relations, and the inadequate school. Policies

and mechanisms to be major factors that contributes to the infliction of violence of students

towards other students in school. It can also be closely connected to factors affecting why

students commit other school violations. (Mangawang, 2014)

 This study shows that student’s awareness of school rules and regulations and their

perception toward promoting good behavior are statistically associated. This means that a better

understanding of the school rules would increase the effectiveness of rules in promoting good

behavior of students. The findings of this study show that around 33.1% of the students have a

negative perception of school rules and regulations. This indicates that they do not adequately

perceive school rules and regulations toward promoting good behavior. The improvement in

students’ awareness of school rules and regulations would enhance their perception toward

promoting good behavior because when students have enough understanding of school rules and

regulations, they can behave well, and this offers a good learning environment. Parents’

educational level has a significant effect on students’ perception toward promoting good

behavior. More educated parents play a better role in enhancing and implementing school rules

and regulations for promoting good behavior. (Amesalu, 2019)

This study is a part of a larger ethnographic study on values education in the everyday

life of school. Here the focus is on school rules and students’ reasoning about these rules. Five

categories of school rules have been constructed during the analysis:

 relational rules

 structuring rules

 protecting rules

 personal rules; and

 etiquette rules

The findings show that the students’ reasoning about rules varies across the rule

categories. The perception of reasonable meaning behind a rule seems to be – not surprisingly –
significant to students’ acceptance of the rule. According to the students, relational rules are the

most important in school. Students also value protecting and structuring rules as important

because of the meaning given to them. Etiquette rules are valued as the least important or even

unnecessary by the students. (Thornbeg, 2008)

Conceptual Framework

OUTPUT
Analysis of student's motivation
following the school rules and
PROCESS regulations using Kohlberg's
suvrey through Theory of Moral Development
essay-type
questionnaire
INPUT
Demographic Profile
1.1 age
1.2 gender
studies, literatures,
theories

In this study, the researchers used input-process-output scheme type of conceptual

framework. The conceptual framework has an input where the researchers will gather the

respondents demographic profile such as their age and gender that will be used to identify who is

more motivated in following the school rules and regulation. It also contains the sources of

information which are the studies, literatures, and theories. The process that the researcher will
use to gather the data needed in the study is survey through distribution of questioners. And the

output that states the desired outcome of the study which is the analysis of student's motivation

following the school rules and regulations that will be classified using Lawrence Kohlberg's

Theory of Moral Development.

Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Post-Conventional (adulthood)

principle conscience

social contract

Conventional (8-13 age)

law and order

good boy/girl

Pre-Conventional (3-7 age)

individualism,
instrumentalism, and
exchange

obedience and punishment

The researchers also used the Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development as

basis where the student's motivation will be classified. Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development
has three levels and each level has two distinct stages.

The first level is the Pre-conventional level. According to Lawrence Kohlberg, people

younger than six years old mostly belong in this level where they accept and believe the rules of

authority figures such as parents and teachers. The first and second stage was placed under pre-

conventional level.

The first stage, 'Obedience and Punishment' shows when a child does an action it is not

because of their conscious decision about it, but simply to avoid any kind of punishment for not

doing the right things. (Lumen Education, Society and the K-12 Learner)

After your child completes the phase of believing all authority is correct, they'll enter the

second stage referred to as 'Individualism, Instrumentalism and Exchange' or naive hedonism,

conforms to get rewards and to have favors returned. This stage allows a child to better

understand the concept that everyone has a different perspective on specific rules. Each child

now feels free to pursue their own interests and they now see punishment as a risk that must be

avoided. Although a child now has different views on issues they still have some sense of right

action. Your child believes that before you do whatever is wrong you must try to make a fair deal

first. (White Olivia, Donahue Katie, Butler Emily, Joyce Kurt, 2012)

Next to Pre-conventional level is Conventional, where the moral reasoning is based on

external ethics. Children continue to accept the rules of authority figures, but this is now because

they believe that it is necessary to ensure positive relationship. According to Kohlberg, seven to

eleven years old belong in this level. Under the second level is the 'Good boy/girl' and 'Law and

Order' stage.
 The Good boy/girl or the third stage balances concern for self, others and the common

good. Making decisions on the basis of what will please others and concerning about maintaining

interpersonal relations. (Lumen Education, Society and the K-12 Learner)

The fourth level of Kohlberg's Theory of Moral development is the Law and Oder,

according to (McLeod, 2013) maintaining the social order is having a system of laws and basic

rights for all people. Maintaining a social order has a good impact on the students because it

manages them and keeps them in order. This is one of the main purposes of a school and it must

be used in it. This stage is where children say that stealing is wrong, and against the law, but go

no further than saying that it will land the person a nice spot in jail. Students in stage four can

conceptualize the laws of society much further than children, understanding the situation in a

great deal more.

Last level is the Post-conventional level, where a child’s moral reasoning is based on

personal ethics. In this level, people now believe that some laws are unjust and should be

changed or eliminated. Lawrence placed in this level those who is eleven years and on.

The fifth stage of the theory is ‘Social Contract’ where a child/individual becomes aware

that while rules might exist for the good, there are times when they will work against the interest

of particular individuals. Changing a rule or eliminating a rule is achieve through majority

decision and inevitably compromise. (Lumen Education, Society and the K-12 Learner)

The last stage of Moral Development Theory ‘Principle Conscience’ shows that people at

this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines which may or may not fit in the law.

People choose the ethical principles because they want to follow, and if they violate those rules
they will feel guilty. In this way, the individual acts because it is morally right to do so and not

because he or she wants to avoid punishment.