The examination of primary school students 'judgements on justice, honesty, responsibility and humanitarianism values according to Kohlberg's moral development theory

Value is a fact that shows what people are righteous, good or beautiful, how they will achieve them, in other words, how people should live. Morality is the ability to decide whether to choose right or wrong through values. The aim of this study is to determine whether the attitudes of primary school students towards dilemmas differ according to gender, grade level and school variables. This study was carried out with 166 students attending primary school that are first grade students and third grade students in Ferizli and Serdivan districts of Sakarya. In the studies carried out with the students, the interview technique was preferred as one of the qualitative data collection methods in order to reach realistic and functional data. During these interviews, ''Stories of values with dilemmas'' an written by the researcher and arranged in accordance with expert opinions were used. These stories are designed as an event and then the dilemmas that should be preferred. The reasons for presenting students' moral dilemmas in the stories are categorized and their moral development levels are determined on the basis of Kohlberg's Moral Development Theory, and quantitative data are obtained by giving corresponding scores to these levels. These data were analyzed using Mann Whitneyy-U and Chi-Square analyzes and the content analysis method to determine whether the variables of class level, gender and school affect the moral development levels of students towards responsibility, fairness, honesty and helpfulness values. As a result of the analysis of the obtained quantitative data, it was found that the difference in total scores of responsibility, fairness and value was significant in favor of Primary School B, and the difference in honesty value in favor of third grade was significant. In addition, according to the results of the research, there were no students in Level 2-2nd Stage, Level 3-1st Stage, Level 3 - 2nd Stage. It is thought that people need more cognitive development and more life to get to these stages. Children's honesty, responsibility and helpfulness values were mostly in Level 1- 1st Stage, then Level 2 - 1st Stage and at least Level 1- 2nd Stage. For fair value, it is mostly in Level 1 and then Level1. Level 1 and at least Level 2. According to the results of this study, fairness, honesty, responsibility and helpfulness of the socio-cultural differences of the schools affect the students' moral development level and value judgments. Because different family attitudes may lead to the development of personality traits in the students such as dependency, weak sense of responsibility, insecurity, non-socialization, stubborn, overly authoritarian and infringing the rights of others. Although the values within the scope of the research are included in the primary education program and it is tried to be gained through lessons in all schools, the differences in some values on the basis of school suggest that the social environment in which the school is located and the socio-emotional development in which the family is influential. In line with these findings, values indicate that life is gained through the influence of parents, friends, important people in their lives and events, experiences, laws, traditions and customs, religion, education and media. In other words, value education can be realized through life. Key Words: Kohlberg's Moral Development Theory, Moral Development, Values, Values Education