Virtue ethics underpins our approach and
we take the view that moral education of the
young is a critical task for society that is best
achieved by developing virtues. Teaching
is an inherently moral endeavour and so all
concerned ought to attend carefully to that
process rather than leaving it to chance.
Based on the philosophy of Aristotle, virtues
such as honesty or generosity for example
are believed conducive to a good and
flourishing life if they can be incorporated
into a person’s character from a young age.
The development of virtue involves not only
cognitive processes, but also emotional and
behavioural ones too. Rather than focussing
too much on specific behaviour as ‘right’ or
‘wrong’, a virtue ethics approach advocates
early development of ‘practical wisdom’
such that a person can become habitually
skilled at weighing-up both complicated
and mundane situations in line with many
different virtues before reaching reasoned
and right judgements and action. An
important feature of this perspective is the
assertion that certain virtues (e.g. honesty,
courage and self-discipline) apply equally
to all children, irrespective of nationality or
religion and are thus relevant to pluralistic
societies.
Defining Character Education
Character education is no novelty. If we look
at the history of schooling from ancient
times to the 20th century, the cultivation
of character was typically given pride of
place, with the exception of a few decades
towards the end of the 20th century when,
for a variety of different reasons, this aim
disappeared from the curricula from many
western democracies. Contemporary
character education, however, is better
grounded academically than some of its
predecessors, with firm support both from
the currently popular virtue ethics in moral
philosophy and recent trends in social
science, such as positive psychology, that
have revived the concepts of character and
virtue.
Character education is an umbrella term for
all explicit and implicit educational activities
that help young people develop positive
personal strengths called virtues. Character
education is more than just a subject. It
has a place in the culture and functions
of families, classrooms, schools and other
institutions. Character education is about
helping students grasp what is ethically
important in situations and to act for the
right reasons, such that they become more
autonomous and reflective. Students need
to decide wisely the kind of person they wish
to become and to learn to choose between
already existing alternatives or to find new
ones.
ethos magazine
Virtue Ethics
What Character Education is Not
Character education is not about
indoctrination and mindless conditioning.
The ultimate goal of all proper character
education is to equip students with the
intellectual tools to make wise choices
of their own within the framework of a
democratic society. Critical thinking is thus
a vital facet of a well-rounded character.
Character and virtue are not exclusively
religious notions although they do clearly
have a place in religious systems. Almost
all current theories of virtue and character
education happen to be formulated in a post
religious language. Character and virtue
are not paternalistic notions. Importantly,
the character of children cannot simply be
put on hold at school until they reach the
age where they have become wise enough
to decide for themselves. Some form of
character education will always be taking
place in school. The ultimate aim of character
education is not only to make individuals
better persons but to create the social
and institutional conditions within which
all human beings can flourish. Character
education is not about promoting the moral
ideals of a particular moral system. Rather,
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