Bring Character Education into Classroom

Year 2012, Volume: 1 Issue: 2, 163 - 170, 15.04.2012

Alex Agboola Kaun Chen Tsai

https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.1.2.163

Abstract

Character education is a growing discipline with the deliberate attempt to optimize students’ ethical behav- ior. The outcome of character education has always been encouraging, solidly, and continually preparing the leaders of tomorrow. The promotion of character education should not just a leap service but has an action plan for practice. In order words, education policy should take the lead to actualize moral education. Taken together, parents, teachers, and administrators as stakeholders, should join this camp to encourage students to manifest those good values in their lives. The outline of this paper is that first the definition of character education is provided. Then, the historical perspective of character education is reviewed. Third, the issue of context in character education is disclosed. The challenge and controversy of implementation of character education is also presented. Finally, the implication and further research are discussed.

Keywords

Character education, characters, virtues, moral education

References

• Anderson, D. R. (2000). Character education: Who is responsible? Journal of Instructional Psychology, 27(3), 139.
• Althof, W., & Berkowitz, M. W. (2006). Moral education and character education: Their relationship and roles in citizenship education. Journal of Moral Education, 35(4), 495-518. doi:10.1080/0305724060101220
• Bergmark, U. (2008). 'I want people to believe in me, listen when I say something and remember me' - how students wish to be treated. Pastoral Care in Education, 26(4), 267-279. doi:10.1080/02643940802472205
• Berkowitz, M., & Oser, F. (eds.) (1985). Moral education: Theory and application. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Berkowitz, M. W., & Hoppe, M. (2009). Character education and gifted children. High Ability Studies, 20(2), 131-142. doi:10.1080/13598130903358493
• Berkowitz, M. W., & Fekula, M. J. (1999). Educating for character. About Campus, 4(5), 17-22.
• Chazan, B. (1985). Contemporary approaches to moral education: Analyzing alternative theories. New York: Teachers College Press. Cooley, A. (2008). Legislating character: moral education in North Carolina’s public schools. Educational Studies, 43(3), 188-205. doi:10.1080/00131940802117563
• Eberly, D. (ed.) (1995). America's character: Recovering civic virtue. Lanham, MD: Madison.
• Edgington, W. D., (2002). To promote character education, use literature for children and adolescents. Journal of social studies, 93(3), 113-116.
• Fathurahman, P. (2012). Model of the character education in developing countries. Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 8(3), 1813-1816.
• Gallien, L. B., & Jackson, L. (2006). Character development from African-American perspectives: toward a counternarrative approach. Journal of Education & Christian Belief, 10(2), 129-142.
• Hogan, P. (2006). Education as a discipline of thought and action: A memorial to John Wilson. Oxford Review of Education, 32(2), 253-264. doi:10.1080/03054980600645420
• Hoge, J. (2002). Character education, citizenship education, and the social studies. Social Studies, 93(3), 103-109.
• Katilmis, A., Eksi, H., & Öztürk, C. (2011). Efficiency of social studies integrated character education program. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 11(2), 854-859.
• Lickona, T. (1991). Educating for character: How our schools can teach respect and responsibility. New York: Bantam. Marshall, J. C., Caldwell, S. D., & Foster, J. (2011). Moral education the character plus way. Journal of Moral Education, 40(1), 51-72. doi:10.1080/03057240.2011.541770
• Milliren, A., & Messer, M. H. (2009). Invitations to character. Journal of Invitational Theory & Practice, 15, 19-31.
• Morris, P., & Scott, I. (2003). Educational reform and policy implementation in Hong Knog. Journal of Education Policy, 18(1), 1-15.
• Nucci, L. (ed.) (1989). Moral development and character education: A dialogue. Berkeley, CA: McCutchan. O'Sullivan, S. (2004). Books to live by: Using children's literature for character education. Reading Teacher, 57(7), 640-645.
• Pamental, M. P. (2010). Dewey, situationism, and moral education. Educational Theory, 60(2), 147-166. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.2010.00351.
• Parker, D. C., Nelson, J. S., & Burns, M. K. (2010). Comparison of correlates of classroom behavior problems in schools with and without a school-wide character education program. Psychology in the Schools, 47(8), 817-827.
• Pike, M. A. (2010). Christianity and character education: faith in core values? Journal of Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion & Educati, 31(3), 311-312.
• Pritchard, I. (1998). Good education: The virtues of learning. Norwalk, CT: Judd. Revell, L., & Arthur, J. (2007). Character education in schools and the education of teachers. Journal of Moral Education, 36(1), 79-92. doi:10.1080/03057240701194738
• Romanowski, M. H. (2005). Through the eyes of teachers: High school teachers' experiences with character education. American Secondary Education, 34(1), 6-23.
• Ryan, K., & Bohlin, K. (1999). Building character in schools: Practical ways to bring moral instruction to life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Sanchez, T. R., & Stewart, V. (2006). The remarkable Abigail: story-telling for character education. High School Journal, 89(4), 14-21.
• Setran, D. P. (2003). From morality to character: conservative progressivism and the search for civic virtue, 1910-1930. Paedagogica Historica, 39(4), 435-456.
• Skaggs, G., & Bodenhorn, N. (2006). Relationships between implementing character education, student behavior, and student achievement. Journal of Advanced Academics, 18(1), 82-114.
• Stiff-Williams, H. R. (2010). Widening the lens to teach character education alongside standards curriculum. Clearing House, 83(4), 115-120. doi:10.1080/00098651003653030
• Tirri, K. (2009). Character education and giftedness. High Ability Studies, 20(2), 117-119. doi:10.1080/13598130903358469
• U.S. Department of Education (2005). Character education . . . our shared responsibility [Brochure]. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/character/brochure.pdf
• Williams, D. D., Yanchar, S. C., Jensen, L. C., & Lewis, C. (2003). Character education in a public high school: A multi-year inquiry into Unified Studies. Journal of Moral Education, 32(1), 3-33.