What works in values education

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2011.07.003Get rights and content

Abstract

Values education (alternatively, moral education, character education) is the attempt, within schools, to craft pedagogies and supportive structures to foster the development of positive, ethical, pro-social inclinations and competencies in youth, including around strengthening their academic focus and achievement. Recent research has uncovered evidence of effective practices that apply broadly to schools at different levels and varied contents. Reviews of the empirical research have allowed for the identification of effective practices, including interactional practices, professional development, parental involvement, role modeling, and service opportunities. This article reviews the existing research and presents such a set of research-based effective practices.

Highlights

► We define values education and related concepts. ► We propose to use research to inform practice. ► We describe the sources of valid and relevant research. ► We identify 15 research-supported practices. ► We provide additional resources for research-supported practice.

Introduction

While the term used in the title of this article is ‘values education’, the term du jour in the United States is (and has been for about two decades) ‘character education’. This article is part of an international collection of essays and it has been crafted under the values rubric, hence that is the title. Nonetheless, most of the research and scholarship undergirding the article is written under the ‘character’ rubric. Hence, the character term is what will be used in the text. The perspective from which this is written however is that this field, whether called values education or character education (or for that matter any of a number of other current terms; e.g., moral education, social–emotional learning, positive psychology), is a semantic morass. This article is relevant to all educational attempts to promote the positive, pro-social development of students, regardless of the terms used to compartmentalize them in competing scholarly arenas. Character education is defined as those educational practices that foster the development of student character. Character is defined as the set of psychological characteristics that motivate and enable the individual to function as a competent moral agent, that is, to do ‘good’ in the world.

Section snippets

Framing the article

The pipeline delivering scientific research and theory to educational practice is riddled with leaks. Sympathetically, Colin (2009) uses the metaphor of “ships passing in the night.” He argues that, despite a wealth of research on, or relevant to, effective educational practice, most of it never gets applied to actual practice. Many years ago, Lawrence Kohlberg talked about the “psychologist's fallacy”, which entailed the naïve belief by social science researchers and theorists that what they,

Sources of knowledge

There are two broad sources of information of relevance to the question of what is effective practice in fostering student character development. The first is research on educational interventions, especially outcome studies such as program evaluation research that looks at the effects of school-based programs and other educational interventions. While there is not an abundance of such research, there is enough not only to reach some meaningful conclusions, but to have also generated some

What works?

In a forthcoming review of the research, Berkowitz (in press), a set of 15 categories of educational practice is identified as having a research base that supports their effectiveness in fostering the development of character. A slight variation on this list of practices is presented in this article (see Table 1). These 15 categories of educational strategies comprise an eclectic mix of specific pedagogical methods (e.g., moral dilemma discussions), specific parenting strategies that can be

Conclusion

Much is already known about effective practices in character education. The list of research-supported strategies presented here should provide guidance for those either beginning to design a character education initiative or interested in refining and improving an existing initiative. While there is no single source that provides resources for all of the practices listed, there are many resources that individually support many of them and collectively support most of them. Table 2 lists some

References (44)

  • R.M. Ryan et al.

    Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions

    Contemporary Educational Psychology

    (2000)
  • V.D. Turner et al.

    Scaffolding morality: Positioning a socio-cultural construct

    New Ideas in Psychology

    (2005)
  • V.A. Battistich et al.

    The child development project: A comprehensive program for the development of prosocial character

  • D. Baumrind

    Authoritative parenting for character and competence

  • G.G. Bear

    Developing self-discipline and preventing and correcting misbehavior

    (2005)
  • K. Beland

    Eleven principles sourcebook: How to achieve quality character education in K-12 schools

    (2003)
  • R. Berger

    An ethic of excellence: Building a culture of craftsmanship with students

    (2003)
  • M.W. Berkowitz

    The role of discussion in moral education

  • M.W. Berkowitz

    Democratic family practices

  • Berkowitz, M. W. (in press). Moral and character education. In T. Urdan (Ed.), APA educational psychology handbook:...
  • M.W. Berkowitz et al.

    What works in character education: A research-driven guide for educators

    (2005)
  • M.W. Berkowitz et al.

    Character education: Parents as partners

    Educational Leadership

    (2005)
  • M.W. Berkowitz et al.

    Fostering goodness: Teaching parents to facilitate children's moral development

    Journal of Moral Education

    (1998)
  • M.W. Berkowitz et al.

    Early character development and education

    Early Education and Development

    (2000)
  • S.H. Billig

    Support for K-12 service-learning practice: A brief review of the research

    Educational Horizons

    (2002)
  • A. Bryk et al.

    Trust in schools: A core resource for improvement

    (2002)
  • Characterplus

    The CHARACTERplus way: Plan implement refine

    (2005)
  • Colin, C. (2009, October). Out of the lab into the classroom....
  • S. Danforth et al.

    Engaging troubling students: A constructivist approach

    (2005)
  • Developmental Studies Center

    Ways we want our class to be: Class meetings that build commitment to kindness and learning

    (1996)
  • Developmental Studies Center

    Blueprints for a collaborative classroom

    (1997)
  • View full text