Outlines 11 principles to guide schools as they plan their character education programs. These include a definition of character, developing the school as a caring community, a comprehensive and intentional approach to developing good character, and the relationship between character education and the academic curriculum. (MJP)

Defines moral education as the attempt to create individuals who are willing and able to treat each other as equals and feel compassion towards one another. Considers the contributions of psychotherapy concerning the potential of autonomous individual development to enact social change. (MJP)

Explores Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development in relation to Korean and British children. Illustrates cultural differences in moral orientations. Notes it was not possible to match responses from Korean children to Kohlberg's manual. Suggests that interpretation of children's moral reasoning should be based on consideration of cultural…

This study examined the psychometric properties of a multidimensional measure of prosocial behaviors, the Prosocial Tendencies Measure-Revised (PTM-R), with early and middle adolescents. Results showed adequate reliability and evidence of validity for the PTM-R. Discussion focused on individual differences in prosocial behaviors among early and…

Identifies and explores educational issues related to Lawrence Kohlberg's work never systematically addressed by the author himself. Suggests that these issues could be developed into a contextualised theory of transformation. That theory could help make manifest Kohlberg's vision of a democratic school run by students and teachers. (MJP)

Presents the school-based mediation program at Law and Public Service Magnet High School (Cleveland, Ohio). Highlights the positive results involving students in school governance. Argues traditional discipline policies obstruct student ethical development. Narrates several examples of students resolving conflicts, becoming engaged with their…

Reports on the results of 180 questionnaires given to public school teachers and 26 structured follow-up interviews on how teachers view themselves as moral educators. Found that teachers' individual moralities shaped the choices they made. Discovered that, although reluctant to teach values directly, teachers feel a commitment to share their…

This series of papers examines the role of play from various angles, discussing play as an essential human function and universal experience, the role of play in developing cultural values and awareness, a symbolic interactionist view of play, early therapeutic recreation specialists, and the direction of commercialized play. (SM)

Presents a study in which students from Kuwait were given Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT) to measure the development of moral judgment skills. Explains that results were compared with scales measuring student perception of parental behavior. Concludes that the DIT may not be a valid test for development of moral judgment in an Arab culture. (DK)

Recently developed multidimensional-scaling methodology was used to explore the underlying structure of moral reasoning responses to 12 moral dilemmas by 111 graduate students in law and social work and to relate that structure to individual differences. Results indicate that moral reasoning must be viewed from multidimensional and interactional…

Classifies and explains some of the basic concepts, practices, and approaches of character education. Delineates eight ways to differentiate current approaches. Discusses the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs (Respect and Responsibility) comprehensive approach. Includes a list of 10 moral education centers. (MJP)

Describes a seventh-grade class project in which students researched a specific social problem, proposed an action plan, and took steps to implement the plan. Students who chose problems closer to home (the elderly, literacy, dropouts) were able to develop more effective action plans. (MJP)

This qualitative study that allowed children to be the dominant voice examined children's stories of hope. Twenty-nine kindergarten children through to third graders were interviewed using familiar school items: story board, pictures, puppets, and so on. One elementary school, located in a large southwestern metropolitan city, was selected for…

This study (part of a larger study of 104 boys and girls) examined the moral and cognitive development of 37 female elementary school students in an independent college preparatory day school in the midwestern United States. Six students (two each in kindergarten, grade 2, and grade 4) were interviewed for the study, which found that the girls in…

The Prosocial Attitude Blank (PAB) was designed to assess interpersonal values and ethical awareness of elementary school children. PAB was administered to 405 elementary students as one component of the evaluation of an intervention program designed to reduce interpersonal conflicts, increase literacy skills, and enhance children's ethical…