Browsing by Subject "Character education"

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    Current Practices in Stimulating the Moral Imagination through the Teaching of Literature
    (2013) Sutton, Wade R; Rauschenfels, Diane
    The purpose of this study was to examine the current practices of moral inquiry in high school literature classrooms. While we have measured moral judgement (Kohlberg, 1984), moral behavior (CEP, 2009) and moral imagination (Yurtsever, 2006), we have not targeted these or developed practical ways for educators to measure development of the moral imagination in high school students. “One measure of the impoverishment of the moral imagination in the rising generation” according to Vigen Guroian (1996) at the University of Virginia “is their inability to recognize, make, or to use metaphors.” However, because the public school system has been defined by assessments and data-driven instruction, the value of the moral narrative remained under-developed. Even though it has been accepted that literature effects character development (Cain, 2005), the informed use of literature in developing moral judgment was problematic (Edgington, 2002; Narvaez, 2002; Glanzer, 2008) because there have been “no ‘Moral Aptitude Tests’” (Ryan, 1986). This study examined the practical methods and assessments that educators used overtly or covertly to strengthen the moral imagination in their students. Results indicated a lack of preparation in the educational programs for educators, resulting in a systematic lack of trust in our educators and revealing similarities in underdeveloped methods and assessments. A high value was found to be placed on the teaching of the moral imagination, while little or no effort could be dedicated to it.
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    The structure of virtue: An empirical investigation.
    (2009-09) Shryack, Jessica
    This project is guided by the need for a common model of virtuous personality that can integrate theory and research on positive personality traits across the fields of positive psychology, personality, moral development and character education. A particular concern is that character education programs lack an empirically-based structural model of virtue - which could be provided by mainstream psychological research - even while initiatives to strengthen character in America's schools have been popular and wellfunded in the past few decades. The current project was designed to do two things: 1) examine the structural validity of a rationally-derived model of virtue in two separate factor analytic studies, and 2) relate the resulting major virtue dimensions to dimensions of normal personality and to virtue-relevant criterion variables. Specifically, in Study 1, an exploratory scale factor analysis of a popular virtues assessment (the VIA-IS) was conducted to determine the fit of different models using multiple retention criteria. In Study 2, an exploratory item factor analysis was conducted using items from the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) to represent the VIA-IS item content domain and factors were related to measures of normal personality, altruism, academic experiences and relevant demographic variables. Evidence for a three- and five-factor structure was found, with certain factors (e.g. Temperance) replicating across Studies 1 and 2. In addition, virtues predicted variance in altruism scores over and above that provided by a measure of normal personality.