Answer to Question 1
Carol Gilligan argued that because Kohlberg's research on stages of moral development was based on male subjects, his theory has a clear male bias that is not necessarily consistent with the moral development of females. Females, Gilligan argues, place a higher priority on the conventional stage values of helping and cooperating with others than the higher postconventional stage values of justice and individual's rights.
Nel Noddings' work focuses on the development of a caring attitude and the formation of caring relationships as prerequisites for moral behavior. The difference between a caring attitude and a caring relationship is like the difference between thought and action. Once can have great empathy for students and work hard to provide them with high quality instruction, but in the absence of overt comments and actions from the teacher, students may believe that teachers don't care about them and thus be less motivated to learn.
Answer to Question 2
Individuals who consistently adjust their behavior to meet the demands of different situations are exhibiting self-regulation. A student who has learned the benefit of concentrating on an in-class assignment and ignoring distractions and who does the same at home while doing homework is an example of self-regulation.
The basic premise of social cognitive theory is that people and not environmental forces are the primary cause of their own behavior. This notion is referred to as personal agency. Self-regulation processes provide the basis for personal agency.