This type of character educations seeks to build
character through the integration of school curriculum, either as a part of the
existing curriculum, by incorporating special character education curriculum,
or finding appropriate methods to recognize positive student character traits.
In teaching character education from within existing curriculum, teachers and
students can draw out character lessons from the issues that are contained
within the curriculum. This approach assumes that all curricula has moral
content and that that content can help students achieve a knowledge of what is
moral and good (Lickona, 2003).
Another form
of character education program uses either special curriculum of
school/district curriculum that are often found in health or life skills
classes or a common period devoted to character education/community building
(Lickona, 2003) These programs can be focused around one of the following
constructs: Wisdom programs such as Sean Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (1998) or Hal Urban’s Life’s
Greatest Lessons: 20 Things that Matter Most. (2002). Both
these works seek to improve the individual student’s character through applying
life principles and building positive habits in the student. One problem facing
both parents and educators of teens is an adolescents’ propensity for
destructive behavior. Behavior that is destructive not only
to their health (drug experimentation, sexual experimentation rejection of
appropriate authority), but also to others (school violence, gangs, bullying).
Added into this equation are the pressures that accompany their social life
(family problems, peer pressure, media influence, and greater personal freedom
than ever before). Because one aspect of character education is respect and the
idea that in order to respect others one must respect one’s self (Lickona,
1991, p.43), some character education programs seek to focus in on diminishing
destructive behaviors or lessening school violence.
A second model of special character education looks
at the study of heroes and other moral examples. This approach would look at
various biographies of great men and women and apply what made them successful
to the individual student’s life.
A third form of the special character education model
would focus on curricula and courses in ethical reasoning. An example of such a
program would be the “tough choices” curriculum put forth by the Institute for
Global Ethics. A curriculum that encourages young people to have moral courage-
“the quality of mind and spirit that enables one to face up to ethical dilemmas
and moral wrongdoings firmly and confidently, without flinching or retreating.”
(Kidder, 2001. p.10). In many respects, this program
mimics that of the now discredited “Values Clarification” movement (Kirschenbaum, 1974 Kirschenbaum,
2000) in that it offers the student difficult moral decisions, but instead of
leading them to a value neutral conclusion, the program directs the student to
the choice that shows “Moral Courage.”
What opportunities does the curriculum hold for
Character Education? One specific area in which one could incorporate character
education into the curriculum is through the use of literature. Historically,
character education has been taught through literature since the inception of
education (Edgington, 2002, p. 113). Books such as Pilgrim’s Progress or various
“biographies” written by Parson Weems have taught
generations of schoolchildren about the positive character traits. In the
modern era of character education, books such as Books that Build Character (Kilpatrick) and The Book of Virtues (Bennett)
have sought to give educators and parents alike the opportunity to build
character in young people through the use of moral stories. In addition, many
educational researchers emphasize that values are present in all genres of
literature (Edgington, Brabham,
and Frost 1999).
How does literature build character in students? It
is built through the character building techniques of values inculcation,
values clarification, value analysis and moral reasoning. (Edgington, 2002, p. 114-115). Values inculcation is
the transmission of predetermined set of values (Kristjansson,
2002, p. 144) and can be integrated into the curriculum through literature by
choosing stories and novels in which characters possess positive character
traits such as courage or honesty that the educator wants to reinforce in the
student. In addition, the teacher could choose negative character traits as
well to reinforce the consequences of negative decisions (Edgington,
2002, p.
114).
One example of how a teacher can use a novel that has
character’s that possess negative character traits is William Golding’s Lord of the
Flies. Golding’s novel confronts the reality of
evil in our lives and its source. The Lord of the Flies suggests that what
we call civilization is a very thin veneer covering over man’s passions and
emotions that could, if left unchecked, rip it apart. A plane crash on a
deserted island leaves a group of British schoolboys stranded and unsupervised
by adults. A power struggle between Ralph, a decent if far from perfect boy,
and Jack, a bully, leads to death and betrayal. The fat, shortsighted piggy is
the one who most consistently speaks the truth but no one will listen to him.
Without the protection and supervision of adults, the older children find
themselves replicating the sins of their fathers. Golding’s theme is
that the defects in human society are located, not in our institutions, but in
our own human nature. An educator could use this novel to inculcate the virtues
of courage and honesty while also being able to discuss the vices and flaws of
human nature. Ultimately, students could discuss and apply values from the
novel and discuss their importance in their own lives (Edgington,
2002, p. 114).
The study of heroes and heroic lives could be another
method for values inculcation (Gibbon, 2002). Social studies educators could
integrate into their curriculum a long list of individuals who have made
contributions to our world. Why heroes? Primarily because
they instruct us in greatness. “When Nelson Mandela leaves his South
African cell without rancor and invites his guards to his inauguration, we are
instructed in magnanimity. When Mother Teresa leaves her comfortable convent
school and moves to