Educating for Character: How Our Schools Can Teach Respect and Responsibility.Thomas Lickona sends educators a profound reminder from history: schooling was designed to produce students who are both "smart" and "good." The emphasis placed on intellectual prowess over the last few decades has overshadowed the moral aspects of education. In fact, educators often assume that society's prevailing individualism individualism Political and social philosophy that emphasizes individual freedom. Modern individualism emerged in Britain with the ideas of Adam Smith and Jeremy Bentham, and the concept was described by Alexis de Tocqueville as fundamental to the American temper. requires schools to treat moral questions as if they only involve personal clarification of values. Schools do not give direct attention to shared expectations about the moral conduct necessary for the health of a pluralistic plu·ral·is·tic adj. 1. Of or relating to social or philosophical pluralism. 2. Having multiple aspects or parts: "the idea that intelligence is a pluralistic quality that ... democracy. The relation of moral decision-making to shared expectations about moral conduct forms the core of Lickona's message. The author underscores many connections between the intellectual and moral aspects of schooling, arguing that infusing the academic curriculum with moral issues will result in schools that effectively produce students who are both "smart" and "good." This volume is a must for all reformers who want schools to give students the knowledge, skills, values and work ethic work ethic n. A set of values based on the moral virtues of hard work and diligence. work ethic Noun a belief in the moral value of work necessary for a democracy's health. Lickona, current chair of Teachers for the 21st Century Project and past president of the Association for Moral Education, presents powerful insights about moral education in a format that connects theory and practice. The volume has three sections: 1) an overview of research on values and character education, 2) classroom strategies and 3) schoolwide strategies for teaching respect and responsibility. The author's investigations of schools and research projects in Canada and the United States The United States and Canada share a unique legal relationship. U.S. law looks northward with a mixture of optimism and cooperation, viewing Canada as an integral part of U.S. economic and environmental policy. uncovered a most useful collection of specific strategies for reform-minded teachers and administrators of elementary, middle and high schools. His treatment of cooperative learning cooperative learning Education theory A student-centered teaching strategy in which heterogeneous groups of students work to achieve a common academic goal–eg, completing a case study or a evaluating a QC problem. See Problem-based learning, Socratic method. and suggestions for infusing value issues into existing curricula are especially noteworthy. Lickona does not shrink from Verb 1. shrink from - avoid (one's assigned duties); "The derelict soldier shirked his duties" fiddle, shirk, goldbrick avoid - refrain from doing something; "She refrains from calling her therapist too often"; "He should avoid publishing his wife's the difficult topics of sexually active adolescents, abortion, AIDS and drug abuse. His work amounts to nothing less than a contemporary re-discovery and re-analysis of the founding ideals of public schooling. He offers alternative ways to develop a positive school ethos e·thos n. The disposition, character, or fundamental values peculiar to a specific person, people, culture, or movement: "They cultivated a subversive alternative ethos" Anthony Burgess. . This volume is a most refreshing and timely offering for anyone who has struggled with the question of what moral principles to teach in a pluralistic society. Reviewed by Lloyd Duck, Associate Professor of Education, George Mason University Named after American revolutionary, patriot and founding father George Mason, the university was founded as a branch of the University of Virginia in 1957 and became an independent institution in 1972. Graduate School of Education, Fairfax, VA |
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