Surveys examined how teacher-education programs nationwide are preparing future teachers for character education. Results pointed out a significant dichotomy between expectations placed on teachers to be character educators, on one hand, and the education teachers receive, on the other hand. The study notes the need to formalize and prioritize…

Discusses Alfie Kohn's argument that developing caring, thoughtful citizens via character education is preferable to creating the obedient, unreflective workers cultivated by many programs. Suggests focusing not only on classroom culture, but also on school culture, describing a New York City model for developing caring and reflective communities…

Examines skills and understandings that preservice teachers need to create caring classroom communities, noting the supportive conditions they need, both as student teachers and as teachers, to make positive contributions to students' character development. Discusses why it is necessary to create caring environments, how to teach the various…

Discusses providing culturally competent services to individuals with visual impairments and seven cultural values: communication, health beliefs and practice, family structure, attitudes toward authority, etiquette, expectations of "helping," and time orientation. Provides suggestions for meeting cross-cultural challenges through skills used in…

Considers the Nuremberg trials to be the "Trial of the Century." Highlights the series of 13 trials in which Nazi leaders, officials, judges, and others were tried, and most convicted, for war crimes. Relates that these trials had far-reaching effects in that they showed that moral obligations transcend national boundaries. (CMK)

British Catholic schools are experiencing a pronounced decline in head teacher and teacher applications. Leadership is important, but it requires a critical mass of students and believing teachers who can co-lead school communities. The church must find, enlist, train, and support teachers who share its value system. Contains 19 references. (MLH)

Presents moral philosophical arguments regarding life-saving medical treatment that may be more available to infants without disabilities than to infants with intellectual disabilities. Argues that human well-being is not based merely on individual characteristics, but is a result of the individual's relation to other people. (Author/CR)

Describes a survey comparing the attitudes of university students in Greece and Scotland about sexual development and sex education. Students' attitudes tend to converge with regard to gender identity, sexual relations, and appropriate forms of sexual behavior. Differences exist regarding sex-education aims and the moral principles that should…

Studies university students' job-selection criteria as an indicator of how socioeconomic forces have deconstructed the state-supported value system in China during 1990 to 1995. Suggests the increasing importance of income as a criteria and explains the resulting decreases in the effectiveness of political-moral education. (DSK)

Examined prosocial moral reasoning in Brazilian institutionalized delinquent, orphaned, and noninstitutionalized adolescents. Found that compared to nondelinquent adolescents, delinquent adolescents were less likely to prefer higher level, internalized types of prosocial moral reasoning and more likely to prefer lower levels of prosocial moral…

Outdoor education can foster spirituality through its ability to instill a sense of awe and wonder. Outdoor education should play a role in the spiritual development of young children, but in view of the United Kingdom's requirement that schools promote spiritual development, teachers need guidance in practical ways of involving and evaluating it…

Chinese education aims to teach students to be strong morally, intellectually, and physically. Those who excel are rewarded at each semester's end. Over three million candidates are eligible to take the college-entrance exam every year, but only 20% to 30% can be admitted to college. (13 references) (MLH)

Examines the effectiveness of an ethics education component in a media law and ethics course. Suggests that a short-term mass media ethics study could not develop values considered essential for ethical behavior. Argues that students developed more complexity in their reasoning not measurable by the scale. Suggests a course or module on ethics…

Examines the ethical aspects of the experience of providing day care to dementia patients. Results, based on telephone interviews (N=40), indicate that ethical challenges arise in everyday incidents when participants, staff, or family members "cross the line" of acceptable behavior. Staff responses ranged from benign manipulation to…

Highlights themes from I. Kant's "Lectures on Pedagogy," especially his message about moral perfectability (1781, 1787). It is argued that this ideal, although not completely achievable, should guide educational policy. Although it is the subject of much debate, Kant's emphasis on the international purposes of education is worth serious…