As role models, mentors serve as moral exemplars to their proteges. Yet, since the mentoring literature gives scant attention to the mentor's role in protege moral education, mentors are largely unwitting participants in this process. Grounded in research from moral psychology and philosophy, this article provides guidance to mentors who want to…

Recognizing the groundlessness of Kohlberg's dismissal of the Aristotelian view that virtues are acquired individually by practice, that view can possibly work in tandem with Kohlberg's for a complete theory of moral development. (Author/SJL)

The contribution of various educators, including William Holmes McGuffey, in developing a character education-based curriculum in the United States is discussed. The role of teachers in moral education of students too is described.

This document explores the way in which courage, as a central virtue, and friendship, as a valued human state, have a significant place within the view of the education of character. Education of character is determined to bridge the gap between moral judgment and moral action. This paper has five sections. First, the need for character education…

Results of this study reveal that professionals have a higher level of moral development, and counselor training has no effect on moral development. (Author)

This paper addresses the pros and cons educators may encounter if they are involved in a character education program. Those supporting a character education program offer the following reasons: (1) decline of a traditional family structure; (2) erosion of the values system of key institutions; (3) the position of schools as the second most…

Growing public concern with student discipline, increases in student suicide rates, homicides, and high pregnancy rates of teenage girls are causing educators to give renewed attention to the concept of "character development" in public education. (MD)

This paper offers suggestions for structural changes needed in the classroom to develop the moral side of students' lives. Curriculum designs often do not translate into moral behavior. A more systemic and philosophically pedagogical interest in moral development must begin to pervade classrooms in order to make them places where student ethical…

Discusses the role of conscience in moral decisions and several approaches to moral education. Indicates that moral development is an interactive process between children and their environment and that empathy, delayed gratification, and the courage to withstand social pressure must be encouraged in the moral education of youth. (MAB)

This study investigated the effects of training on reciprocity judgments in 43 white, middle class children, ages 38 to 68 months. Hypotheses were (1) children trained to make mature responses to interpersonal conflicts would make more mature judgments in illustrated story conflict situations than those receiving no training, (2) children exposed…

Offers a critical analysis of Kohlberg's moral development theory. Claims that the theory misses a level of operative structures and needs to have its stage descriptions revised. Concludes by considering instructional implications. (Author/JDH)

This paper examines the research literature on character education and advocates its inclusion in the public school curriculum. Research indicates a connection between a lack of moral and ethical development and destructive behavior among children. Sections of the paper include: (1) Introduction; (2) "The American Moral Heritage"; (3)…

This literature review presents the essentials of the theory of Values Clarification and its fundamental terms, and makes a critical analysis of the Values Clarification Theory of Valuation. (Author/JLL)

Examines three areas of Lawrence Kohlberg's work and suggests that this information might have future application in the field of moral development. Discusses the cognitive model underlying morality, the exploration of other psychological constructs of morality, and the new approaches to moral education. (KO)

Delineates the concepts of character, virtue, vice, and privation which undergird Joseph J. Schwab's 'informing vision,' as discussed in "The Practical 4: Something for Curriculum Professors to Do." States that in explicating the informing vision, the animating spirit needs to be retained. (LS)