Bringing in a New Era in Character Education (HOOVER INST PRESS PUBLICATION) [Paperback]

William Damon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0817929622 | ISBN-13: 978-0817929626 | Publication Date: March 29, 2002 | Edition: 1st Edition

Education in the United States has at last ended its failed experiment with separating the intellectual from the moral—and schools from K–12 to college campuses are increasingly paying attention to students' values and accepting responsibility for students' character. But how can we bring in this new era in character education in a way that makes the right kind of difference to young people? What are the approaches that will provide character education the solid foundation necessary to sustain it now and into the future? What obstacles in our current educational system must we overcome, and what new opportunities can we create? This book provides a unique perspective on what is needed to overcome the remaining impediments and make character education an effective, lasting part of our educational agenda. Each chapter points out the directions that character education must take today and offers strategies essential for making progress in the field. The expert contributors explain, for instance, how we can pass core values down to the younger generation in ways that will elevate their conduct and their life goals. They reveal why relativism has threatened the moral development of young people in our time—and what we can do to turn this around. And they show the critical importance of reestablishing student morality and character as targets of higher education's central mission. The authors make a strong case for "moral exemplarity"—actual human examples of moral excellence—as an effective tool of educational practice and describe how stoic "warrior" principles can offer a moral manner of managing one's emotions in times of pressure. Perhaps most important, they clarify the necessity of authority in any moral education endeavor—and show how it is actually a powerful force for both personal freedom and character building.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Education in the United States has at last ended its failed experiment with separating the intellectual from the moral—and schools from K–12 to college campuses are increasingly paying attention to students’ values and accepting responsibility for students’ character. But how can we bring in this new era in character education in a way that makes the right kind of difference to young people? What are the approaches that will provide character education the solid foundation necessary to sustain it now and into the future? What obstacles in our current educational system must we overcome, and what new opportunities can we create? This book provides a unique perspective on what is needed to overcome the remaining impediments and make character education an effective, lasting part of our educational agenda.

Each chapter points out the directions that character education must take today and offers strategies essential for making progress in the field. The expert contributors explain, for instance, how we can pass core values down to the younger generation in ways that will elevate their conduct and their life goals. They reveal why relativism has threatened the moral development of young people in our time—and what we can do to turn this around. And they show the critical importance of reestablishing student morality and character as targets of higher education’s central mission.

The authors make a strong case for "moral exemplarity"—actual human examples of moral excellence—as an effective tool of educational practice and describe how stoic "warrior" principles can offer a moral manner of managing one’s emotions in times of pressure. Perhaps most important, they clarify the necessity of authority in any moral education endeavor—and show how it is actually a powerful force for both personal freedom and character building.

William Damon is a Hoover Institution senior fellow. He is a professor of education and director of the Center on Adolescence at Stanford University.

Contributors: Marvin W. Berkowitz, Anne Colby, Irving Kristol, F. Clark Power, Arthur J. Schwartz, Nancy Sherman, Christina Hoff Sommers, Lawrence Walker

Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: Hoover Institution Press; 1st Edition edition (March 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817929622
• ISBN-13: 978-0817929626
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #706,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best essays in support of character education..., February 25, 2004

By 

Stephen Armstrong (Hadley, Ma USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bringing in a New Era in Character Education (HOOVER INST PRESS PUBLICATION) (Paperback)

I think this edited book is one of William Damon's best, because he brings together nine writers who each take a position on the prospects and future of character education in American schools and universities. The essays are very well written and integrated, and are accessible to upper high school and college-level readers.

Damon's position is that character education has been neglected because of "false oppositions" (either-or propositions), such as "individual vs. the community," "secular vs. the religious," and so on. These oppositions are false because each "side" of the argument stems from adult perspectives, not the ideas and imaginations of developing children. Additionally, advocates for each "side" fail to use the logic of "both-and" propositions.

As Damon says, "I have never heard of a youngster being harmed by witnessing another person's expression of spirituality, even when the form of spirituality is highly unfamiliar to the child. On the contrary, young persons are usually moved and fascinated..." (p. xiii-xiv). This is an example of how he wishes to understand the development of children and adolescents in areas of moral and character development.

The essays concern (1) how to transmit moral values when the transcendant American value is the "autonomous self;" (2) how character education is based on valid, scientific developmental psychology; (3) how to educate youngsters by "moral exemplarity" and by building a democratic community; and (4) how most Americans really are very united on the values that underpin character education.

I hope you enjoy this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Important Contribution, September 8, 2005

By 

Ezra - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bringing in a New Era in Character Education (HOOVER INST PRESS PUBLICATION) (Paperback)

An excellent series of authored chapters, this book get to the heart of character education, the children and their potential to improve the world, while addressing the adult ideologies projected onto the topic as dichotomous arguments for and against.