Knowra Character education Character education Character education is an educational approach that deliberately cultivates virtues and habits such as honesty, responsibility, and respect through teaching, relationships, and school culture.
Moral education : Education that develops moral understanding, judgment, and conduct. Character education overlaps with moral education but emphasizes practiced virtues and habits.
Virtue : A stable disposition to think, feel, and act well. Virtues are the qualities character education seeks to cultivate.
Aristotle : An ancient Greek philosopher whose works shaped Western ethics, politics, and science. His account of virtue through habituation remains a major influence on character education.
Values clarification : An educational approach that helps students identify and reflect on their own values. Unlike direct virtue instruction, it emphasizes students' own process of choosing values.
Social-emotional learning : An educational approach that develops skills for managing emotions, relationships, and responsible decisions. Its self-management and relationship skills can support virtuous conduct.
Habituation : The process by which repeated actions establish patterns of behavior or disposition. Repeated practice is expected to turn chosen conduct into reliable habits.
Thomas Lickona : An American developmental psychologist and educator known for modern work on character education. His books and advocacy helped shape contemporary school-based character education.
Moral relativism : The view that moral judgments depend on cultural or individual standards rather than universal facts. It challenges programs that present particular virtues as broadly authoritative.
Hidden curriculum : The unstated norms and values students learn through school routines and relationships. Daily school practices model character whether or not virtues appear in formal lessons.
Moral development : Changes in moral reasoning, emotions, and behavior across a person's life. Developmental theories shape what educators expect students to understand and practice.
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