Teaching Kohlberg’s Levels of Moral Development: Using Jojo Rabbit to Highlight the Journey

Film, ethics, Kohlberg

This is a classroom exercise that uses the movie Jojo Rabbit to introduce and apply Kohlberg’s three levels of moral development – preconventional, conventional, and principled. The movie follows a 10year-old boy in Nazi Germany who processes the war with the aid of his imaginary friend Adolph Hitler. The boy develops his own understanding of Nazi Germany based on his own experiences and principles and leaves society’s norms and laws behind. The movie is charming and uplifting and is appropriate for for classroom use. The exercise is interesting and student feedback is positive.