Value/Character Education:Traditional or

Liberational

Which and whose values should public schools teach, and why?

History of Character Education

• Colonial Period• New England Primer- schoolbook used to teach basic skills

with incorporating moral virtues

• Nineteenth Century• Horace Mann was a strong advocate of character education• McGuffy’s Readers-textbooks that taught literacy skills along

with moral lessons

• Mid-Twentieth Century• Strict interpretation of church and state• Majority of moral education was taught by family and church• Values clarification- self discovery of values

• Today there is a push for character education curriculum

Question

Have you seen a push for character education in your school? If so, what types of programs/activities are being implemented?

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Position 1: Teach Traditional Values

• Schools are subject to moral relativism • All values are relative• There are no enduring sets of ethical standards• Personal character is a matter of individual choice

– All views are equally valid in the classroom– Destroys traditional values and is harmful to students as they never develop a

strong set of values

• Liberalism encourages students to decide basic values without guidance from educators and religious leaders. This damages American society.

• Schools have lost moral focus. Traditional family life is censored from many school materials. – “Radical feminism is not the only culprit in the theft of morality from schools;

it is just one of the several modern amoral attitudes.”

Position 1

• There is currently no specific curriculum stressing traditional values.

• Teachers are presenting differing views leading students to believe there are no universal values, only personal ones.

Position 1

What should schools do?• Schools should provide an education of ethical principals.

• Schools should incorporate a character education curriculum.– In elementary school, reading materials, signs and symbols should be used

to to reinforce American values. Students should study various religions and give them time to reflect on personal religious beliefs. Direct instruction should be used and students should be rewarded for good citizenship.

– At the secondary level, use literature showing rewards of moral behavior and negative consequences of immorality. Science should show stories of how basic values and religious views have guided scientists. Religious and nonreligious art and music should be part of the curriculum.

• Teachers need to demonstrate a strong commitment to traditional values.– States should require high moral standards and require an essay discussing

their values.

Position 2: Liberation Through Active Value Inquiry

• Students come to school with a core set of values.

• Education’s primary purpose is liberation– Freedom to examine issues/morality from all side and form an opinion

– Encourages critical thinking

– Leads to a stronger democratic society

• Traditional teaching of values teach conformity to authority without thinking.– Passive citizens

• Does not support an anything goes approach to value education.

– As children mature, they need to question, challenge, and examine moral issues to determine right and wrong. They must be ready to take responsibility for their actions. (Good Choice/Bad Choice)

Position 2

What Should Schools Do?– Liberation education and critical pedagogy should be

incorporated into the curriculum.• Critical Pedagogy- a teaching approach that helps students

question and challenge beliefs and practices that dominate.

• “Liberation education requires teachers and students to engage in a dynamic form of dialect reasoning to uncover ideological roots of significant values.”

Essential Questions

• What is a reasonable way to determine what kind of values education we should teach in U.S. schools?

• What possible social consequences can you foresee for the various forms of values education?

• Who should decide on which values should be taught?