Character and Moral Education: A Reader

Overview & Synopsis

Against a formidable national discourse that emphasizes academic standardization, accountability, and high-stakes testing in educational policy, "Character and Moral Education: A Reader" seeks to re-introduce and revive the moral mission of education in public conversation and practices in America's schools. With contributions from a prominent array of scholars and practitioners, the book critically analyzes moral education, broadly defined as both an academic field that attempts to develop moral human beings, and as a principled discourse aimed at creating ethical educational policies and practices. With theoretical rigor and practical wisdom, this volume offers diverse and cutting-edge scholarship on character and moral education in 21st-century schools. This timely and important book will appeal to all those concerned with both the ethical well-being of today's students, and the school's responsibility to prepare individuals to lead moral lives in the future. This book contains: (1) Introduction (Joseph L. DeVitis and Tianlong Yu); (2) Moral Education in the Schools (William J. Bennett and Edwin J. Delattre); (3) The Great Tradition in Education: Transmitting Moral Values (Edward A. Wynne); (4) Character Education: Seven Crucial Issues (Thomas Lickona); (5) Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education (Thomas Lickona, Eric Schaps, and Catherine Lewis); (6) Character and Academics: What Good Schools Do (Jacques S. Benninga, Marvin W. Berkowitz, Phyllis Kuehn, and Karen Smith); (7) The Politics of Character Education (David E. Purpel); (8) The "Moral Poverty" of Character Education (Joseph L. DeVitis and Tianlong Yu); (9) Legislating Character: Moral Education in North Carolina's Public Schools (Aaron Cooley); (10) Character Education in Contemporary America: McMorals? (Suzanne S. Hudd); (11) Would You Like Values with That? Chick-fil-A and Character Education (Deron Boyles); (12) Does Character Education "Really" Support Citizenship Education? Examining the Claims of an Ontario Policy (Sue Winton); (13) Michael H. Romanowski Through the Eyes of Students: High School Students' Perspectives on Character Education (Michael H. Romanowski); (14) How Not to Teach Values: A Critical Look at Character Education (Alfie Kohn); (15) Character Education from the Left Field (Dwight Boyd); (16) Morality, Virtue, and Democratic Life (John F. Covaleskie); (17) Liberal Education and Moral Education (Daniel R. DeNicola); (18) Democracy in a Cosmopolitan Age: Moral Education for the Global Citizen (Scott Fletcher and Peter J. Nelsen); (19) Neo-Deweyan Moral Education (Douglas J. Simpson); (20) Critical Pedagogy and Moral Education (Ronald David Glass); (21) Feminist Theory and Moral Education (Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon); (22) A Warrior for Justice: Jonathan Kozol's Moral Vision of America's Schools and Society (Richard Ognibene); (23) Framing Adolescents, Their School, and Cultures: Contested Worldviews (Linda Irwin-DeVitis); (24) Fear of Uncertainty, Control, and the Criminalizing of Youth (Lynda Stone); (25) Navigating Inequities: A Morally Rooted Pedagogy of Intentional Mentoring With Black Children and Other Youth of Color (Janie Victoria Ward); (26) Cultural and Subjective Operations of Ignorance and Resistance in Sexuality-Related Curricula (Jennifer Logue); (27) Feelings of Worth and the Moral Made Visible (Barbara Stengel); (28) Teaching Themes of Care (Nel Noddings); (29) Surveying the Soil: Building a Culture of Connectedness in School (Marcia Peck); (30) "Doubt" and the Framing of Virtue Through Film (Susan Verducci and Michael Katz); (31) On the Relationship of Peace Education to Moral Education (Cris Toffolo and Ian Harris); (32) Earth's Role in Ethical Discourse and Functional Scientific Literacy (Michael P. Mueller, Dana L. Zeidler, and Lynda L. Jenkins); (33) Understanding Unbelief as Part of Religious Education (Nel Noddings); and (34) Moral Education for the 21st Century: A Buddhist View (Daniel Vokey).