Character Education: The Cultivation of Virtue

Thomas Lickona

Goals and preconditions. The primary goals of this theory are to develop good people, good schools, and a good society, where "good" is construed as having virtues like honesty, justice, empathy, caring, perseverance, self-discipline, humility, and others. It was developed for K-12 schools.

Values. Some of the values upon which this theory is based include:

1. the reality of objective moral truth-that virtues are objectively good human qualities,
2. the acquisition of objectively worthwhile virtues as an important educational goal,
3. context as influencing the choice of which virtues to teach,
4. behavior as the ultimate measure of character,
5. knowing the good (the cognitive side), desiring the good (the emotional side), and doing the good (the behavior side) as important to character development,
6. being comprehensive and objective in teaching virtues,
7. a whole-school effort to create a community of virtue for fostering character development,
8. students' active participation and responsibility for constructing their own characters, but also adults' exercise of moral authority and leadership,
9. transmitting a moral heritage of tested virtues, but also equipping students to think critically about how to apply the virtues in cases of value conflicts.

Methods. Here are the major methods this theory offers as a comprehensive approach to character development:

Classroom strategies
1. Teachers should respect and care about their students, set a good example, and provide directive moral guidance.
2. Create a caring classroom community by helping students to know each other as persons; respect, care about, and affirm each other; and feel a valued member of the group.
3. Help students develop moral reasoning, self-discipline, and respect for others.
4. Involve students, through regular class meetings, in shared decision-making.
5. Teach virtues through the curriculum by "mining" it for its moral potential.
6. Use cooperative learning to give students regular practice on important social and moral competencies while learning academic material and to contribute to the development of a cohesive and caring classroom community. Students should regularly reflect on how well they cooperated, and should develop guidelines.
7. Help students develop the "conscience of craft" (desire to do a good job), including self-discipline, persistence, dependability, diligence, and responsibility, by setting a good example, combining high expectations and high support, engaging all learners, and assigning regular and meaningful homework.
8. Teach students what the virtues are, how their habitual practice will lead to a more fulfilling life, and how each of us must take responsibility for developing our own character.
9. Teach students how to resolve conflicts.

Schoolwide Strategies

1. Develop students' caring beyond the classroom through exposure to altruistic role models and continuing opportunities for service (in face-to-face relationships) in their schools and communities.
2. Create a positive moral culture in the school by defining, modeling, teaching, and upholding the school's character expectations in all areas of school life. Participatory school democracy is a powerful tool for mobilizing the peer culture on the side of virtue.
3. Recruit parents and the community as partners in character education.

Major contributions. The understanding that there are some objectively worthwhile virtues that should be a central part of the K-12 curriculum. The importance of a whole-school effort. The use of both directive and constructivist goals and methods.