Several recent approaches to character education emphasize the process by which the self identifies with moral commitments and the idea that character education is best understood through an exploration of how the psychology of character develops. In addition, service learning and service learning style programs are becom- ing increasingly common.
Study of moral exemplars indicate that while such models may exhibit some stable aspects of personality, they are also shaped by personal and contextual factors such as families and neighborhoods, some of which are under the control of the person and some of which are beyond the control of the person. For instance, the concept of “moral luck” indicates the notion that chance events, such as becom- ing disabled or winning the lottery, may impact development in significant ways.
Aside from luck, however, scholars note the potential to create environments that facilitate the development of moral identities. The mechanism of social influence, voluntary organizations, school attachment, and service learning may all help in
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fostering the development of a sense of self in youth that is closely allied with a sense of moral identity.
Some scholars note that the literature in cognitive psychology on expertise is relevant to character education. As with scholarly investigations of chess experts and child music and language prodigies, it may be possible that highly practiced regions of experience may lead to the development of chronically accessible schemas of reasoning and behavior. A moral person thus may have developed scripts, schemas, prototypes, and problem-solving and decision-making frame- works that facilitate expertise in moral domains. As with other areas of expertise, after considerable time in practice and training, work in the domain of expert- ise seems to require less cognitive effort, and actions in the domain appear to simply “come naturally” without conscious effort.
A current emphasis in character education approaches is the call to imple- ment and investigate a developmental systems approach that takes into account embedded and overlapping realms of influence, from biology and genetics, to the family, neighborhood, community, schools, media, religious organizations, legal and medical environment, and more. While such an approach may focus on strengths or weaknesses or both, in the past the typical emphasis has been on youth prob- lems rather than on youth virtues. Recently, however, positive psychologists and scholars whose work has relevance for positive psychology have begun to examine concepts related to positive youth development including prevention, resiliency, thriving, and flourishing. One approach that counters the deficits model aims to help children develop competence, confidence, character, caring, and compassion.
Another approach has identified several dozen “developmental assets,” some of which are internal and some of which are external to the individual youth. Internal assets include caring, integrity, honesty, responsibility, cultural competence, resist- ance skills, conflict resolution, self-esteem, and more. External assets include family support, caring schools and neighborhoods, parental support, high expectations, youth programs, religious participation, positive peer influence, and adult role models. The developmental assets approach fits clearly with an ecological bio- psycho-social-spiritual model that emphasizes the multiple dimensions of influ- ence on developing youth. Such an integrative systems view seems to be likely to influence research and program development for some years.
Service learning, a type of learning that aims to promote community service and civic engagement, has become increasingly common in schools, colleges, and universities. The idea is that through offering opportunities for actual moral action, as opposed to conducting hypothetical intellectual conversations on moral dilemmas, desired outcomes may result, such as increased civic participa- tion, increased conflict resolution skills, and cooperation. An important concept in service learning is that in addition to the community service it involves, students are to incorporate clearly defined academic learning objectives as part of their self-reflection process. Such academic work may involve process papers, reflection papers, and term papers that utilize academic research to inform the service learning placement work. Research on service learning indicates that it
Character Education 133 often increases students’ sense of responsibility, happiness, awareness of moral and political issues, and even academic grades. Some research indicates that students who complete service learning placements are less likely to stereotype disadvantaged community members. While some scholars may be careful to distinguish character education from service learning, since service learning may not necessarily involve direct instruction from teacher to student of moral virtues, it is clear that some of the outcomes from service learning programs match those outcomes desired by proponents of conventional character educa- tion programs.
Recently, more work has been directed at evaluation of organized youth activities, in addition to the work on service learning. Compared to informal socializing with peers and to formal academic classes, evidence demonstrates that organized youth activities may be the preferred context for exploring identity, learning anger and stress management skills, and learning teamwork and leader- ship skills.
Methods
A number of methodological issues surround character education. One major issue is whether operational definitions and research concepts should be grounded in psychological research, educational research, or perhaps in research from other relevant fields such as philosophy, theology, and political science. The relevant psychological research is most closely related to cognitive and developmental psychology, but can also be found in motivation, personality, and social cognition.
The relevant educational research is often located in the research on teaching and learning, particularly curriculum development. In philosophy, clearly an under- standing of ethics is relevant. In political science, work on factors regarding civic engagement may inform character education. Understanding the values and aims of various faith traditions is a strength of the theological approach.
Each discipline brings its own history, methods, and controversies. To develop and to implement a successful character education program requires some know- ledge of each of these fields. Too often, turf wars, often over definitions of terms, lead to rival factions working at cross-purposes rather than uniting towards a com- mon superordinate goal of a character education that promotes positive youth development. Scholars who choose not to learn the terms and concepts of related fields run the risk of being misunderstood, being simply wrong, and perhaps expending wasted energy reinventing concepts and approaches that have previ- ously been developed under other names in related fields. At times, it seems that controversies align with politics more than with data, and that political rivalries are delineated by the use of terms that may mark one as liberal or conservative, religious or agnostic.
Debates over methods concern the value and appropriateness of quantitative versus qualitative methods and the type and design of program evaluations.
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Another methodological debate concerns the nature of the relationship between moral reasoning and moral behavior. Particularly with Kohlbergian and neo- Kohlbergian approaches, such as those that rely on moral dilemmas, indirect educa- tion, and values clarification, a controversy exists as to whether such approaches can or should be evaluated with measures of behavior in real-world settings. Self- reports on questionnaires are often subject to wishful thinking, social desirability bias, and intentional deception, especially when the subject matter under inves- tigation is controversial. The extent to which research on various character education programs is influenced by such methodological challenges is a matter of considerable importance.
Future Directions
Future directions for research in character education are likely to include less of a focus on individual-level character and more of a focus on characteristics of families, schools, and communities that foster positive development, such as clearly articulating a school’s mission statement and encouraging civic literacy through student-led discussion and community activities. Noting the frequent ineffectiveness of historical attempts to promote character through techniques including passive memorizing of moral codes, such as the Ten Commandments or the Pledge of Allegiance, positive psychologist Christopher Peterson reflects on his own education, remarking, “After all, I stared for years at the periodic table of elements in front of a classroom, and I certainly did not become a chemist”
(2006, p. 284). While certain elements of the path to the good person, school, family, community, and society remain to be clarified, it seems clear that a hall- mark of the positive psychology approach promises to be active student engage- ment both in the classroom and in the community.
Future researchers will probably desire to investigate more carefully the trajectory of character education across the lifespan. While most research and interventions have focused on youth for a number of reasons, including the con- venience with which research participants may be recruited, what programs may be effective for children, adults, and the elderly? Are programs that are effective for youth effective for children, adults, and the elderly? Why or why not? Would it be a better investment to devote more resources to character education of younger children or to focus more on young, “emerging” adults? Future researchers might examine the impact of individual differences on change and personal transforma- tion and the role that goodness of fit may play in establishing an effective char- acter education program in one setting versus another setting. As much research on other educational programs suggests, a one-size-fits-all approach to character education programs may be problematic. Program development would appear to require knowledge of both psychology and of education. An ideal program in one school district may be a failure in another. Researchers will want to clarify and specify the factors associated with such differential outcomes.