Character Education, Citizenship Education, and the Social Studies

Overview & Synopsis

The past decade has witnessed the development of character education efforts in many schools across America. Professional journals and the popular press abound with character education articles that explain the need, articulate the principles of practice, or recount details of schools' programs. The prominence of character education and its potential relationship to citizenship led the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) to an official position paper endorsement of character education. The position statement argued, among other things, that social studies teachers have a responsibility and a duty to refocus their classrooms on the teaching of character and civic virtue. However, the position statement fails to address adequately the relationships that exist between character education and citizenship education and social studies taught for the purpose of improving modern liberal democracy. In this article, the author explores the relationships that exist among character education, citizenship education, and the social studies. To address those relationships, he provides a brief overview of character and citizenship education. He concludes with consideration of some implications for the social studies. (Contains 2 tables.)