Character Psychology And Character Education

Jane

Description

This collection of essays provides new perspectives on the nature of character and moral education by utilizing insights from the disciplines of moral psychology, moral philosophy, and education. The volume draws from personality and developmental research as well as educational and ethical theory. Character Psychology and Character Education distinguishes itself by bringing moral philosophers, who believe that ethical reflection about virtue and character must be tied to defensible notions of personality and selfhood, into dialogue with academic psychologists, who believe that the developmental study of the moral self requires adequate grounding in various psychological literatures. The first group embraces a "naturalized" ethics, while the second group favors a "psychologized" morality.

Among the topics explored in this volume are the constructs of moral selfhood, personality, and identity, as well as defensible models of character education. One of the primary arguments of the volume is that problems of character education cannot be addressed until an adequate model of character psychology is developed. In addition to the excellent theoretical essays, this collection includes applied chapters that consider the challenge of character education in the context of schools, families, and organized sports. This book will be an invaluable resource both for scholars and practitioners in the fields of psychology and education.

Contributors: Daniel K. Lapsley, F. Clark Power, Darcia Narvaez, Christine McKinnon, Augusto Blasi, Ann Higgins-D'Alessandro, David Light Shields, Brenda Light Bredemeier, Craig A. Cunningham, Joel J. Kupperman, Matthew L. Davidson, Robert J. Nash, Marvin W. Berkowitz, Melinda Bier, Jeannie Oakes, Karen Hunter Quartz, Steve Ryan, Martin Lipton, and Jay W. Brandenberger.

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Éthique et morale
• Philosophie de la religion
• Moral Philosophy
• Essays
• Religious
• PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophie et théologie
• Ethics
• Lawrence Kohlberg

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 15 juin 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268202873
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Character฀Psychology฀and฀Character฀Education Edited฀by ฀Daniel ฀K. ฀Lapsley฀and ฀F. ฀Clark฀Power

“This฀is฀an฀important฀new฀collection฀of฀essays฀about฀character฀and฀character฀education฀by฀ some฀of฀the฀top฀scholars฀in฀the฀fields฀of฀ethical฀theory,฀moral฀development฀research,฀and฀ education.”฀—Don฀Collins฀Reed,฀Wittenberg฀University฀

“This฀volume฀takes฀virtue฀seriously฀as฀an฀empirically฀based฀and฀testable฀ethical฀ phenomenon.฀More฀unusual,฀it฀takes฀moral฀character฀seriously฀as฀something฀more฀than฀a฀ compilation฀of฀virtues,฀and฀as฀something฀quite฀different—a฀true฀identity฀system฀of฀a฀ richly฀cognitive฀and฀development฀sort.฀It฀is฀about฀time฀a฀book฀of฀this฀sort฀has฀been฀ written,฀and฀it฀will฀be฀well-received฀and฀well-used฀by฀researchers฀and฀faculty.”฀ —William฀Puka,฀Rensselaer฀Polytechnic฀Institute

“The฀psychologist฀Kurt฀Lewin฀famously฀observed,฀‘There฀is฀nothing฀so฀practical฀as฀a฀ good฀theory.’฀฀Moral฀educators฀such฀as฀Lawrence฀Kohlberg฀and฀Ralph฀Mosher฀reminded฀ us฀that฀there฀is฀nothing฀so฀instructive฀for฀theory฀as฀good฀practice.฀฀If฀there฀is฀not฀now฀a฀ fruitful฀interchange฀between฀character฀psychology฀and฀character฀education,฀this฀rich,฀ provocative,฀and฀uniquely฀valuable฀volume฀is฀an฀invitation฀to฀deepen฀the฀dialogue.”฀ —Tom฀Lickona,฀SUNY฀Cortland

These฀distinguished฀essays฀provide฀new฀perspective฀on฀the฀nature฀of฀character฀and฀moral฀ education฀by฀utilizing฀insights฀from฀the฀disciplines฀ of฀moral฀psychology,฀moral฀ philosophy,฀and฀education.฀One฀of฀the฀primary฀arguments฀of฀the฀volume฀is฀that฀ problems฀of฀character฀education฀cannot฀be฀addressed฀until฀an฀adequate฀model฀of฀ character฀psychology฀is฀developed.฀In฀addition฀to฀the฀excellent฀theoretical฀essays,฀there฀ are฀applied฀chapters฀that฀consider฀the฀challenge฀of฀character฀education฀in฀the฀context฀of฀ schools,฀families,฀and฀organized฀sports.฀

DANIEL฀K.฀LAPSLEY฀is฀professor฀and฀chair฀of฀the฀Department฀of฀Educational฀ Psychology฀at฀Ball฀State฀University.

F.CLARK฀POWER฀is฀professor฀in฀the฀Program฀of฀Liberal฀Studies฀and฀concurrent professor฀of฀psychology฀at฀the฀University฀of฀Notre฀Dame.

Contributors:฀Daniel฀K.฀Lapsley,฀F.฀Clark฀Power,฀Darcia฀Narvaez,฀Christine฀McKinnon,฀Augusto฀ Blasi,฀Ann฀Higgins-D’Alessandro,฀David฀Light฀Shields,฀Brenda฀Light฀Bredemeier,฀Craig฀A.฀ Cunningham,฀Joel฀J.฀Kupperman,฀Matthew฀L.฀Davidson,฀Robert฀J.฀Nash,฀Marvin฀W.฀Berkowitz,฀ Melinda฀Bier,฀Jeannie฀Oakes,฀Karen฀Hunter฀Quartz,฀Steve฀Ryan,฀Martin฀Lipton,฀and฀Jay฀W.฀ Brandenberger.

Cover฀design฀by฀Michielutti฀&฀Gloster

PowLaerpsley

Character฀Psychology

Character฀Psychology

฀and฀

AND

Character฀Education

Character฀Education

Edited฀by Daniel฀K.฀Lapsley฀and฀F.฀Clark฀Power

CHARACTER P S Y C H O L O G Y a n d CHARACTER E D U C A T I O N

CHARACTER P S Y C H O L O G Y a n d CHARACTER E D U C A T I O N

e d i t e d b y

Daniel K. Lapsley and F. Clark Power

u n i v e r s i t y o f n o t r e d a m e p r e s s

n o t r e d a m e , i n d i a n a

Copyright ©2005by University ofNotre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana46556 All Rights Reserved www.undpress.nd.edu

Publishedin the United States ofAmerica

Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Character psychology and character education / edited by Daniel K. Lapsley and F. Clark Power. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-268-03371-4(cloth : alk. paper) isbn 0-268-03372-2(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Moral development.2. Moral education. I. Lapsley, Daniel K. II. Power, F. Clark. bf723.m54c45 2005 155.2'5— dc22

2005012536

c o n t e n t s

i n t r o d u c t i o n Orienting Themes and Issues1 Daniel K. Lapsley and F. Clark Power

o n e Moral Psychology at the Crossroads18 Daniel K. Lapsley and Darcia Narvaez

t w o Character Possession and Human Flourishing Christine McKinnon

t h r e e Moral Character: A Psychological Approach Augusto Blasi

36

67

f o u r Character, Responsibility, and the Moral Self101 Ann Higgins-D’Alessandro and F. Clark Power

f i v e Can Sports Build Character?121 David Light Shields and Brenda Light Bredemeier

s i x The Psychological Foundations of Everyday Morality and Moral Expertise Darcia Narvaez and Daniel K. Lapsley

140

vi

Contents

s e v e n A Certain and Reasoned Art: The Rise and Fall of Character Education in America Craig A. Cunningham

e i g h t How Not To Educate Character Joel J. Kupperman

201

n i n e Harness the Sun, Channel the Wind: The Art and Science of Effective Character Education Matthew L. Davidson

t e n A Postmodern Reflection on Character Education: Coming of Age as a Moral Constructivist245 Robert J. Nash

e l e v e n The Interpersonal Roots of Character Education Marvin W. Berkowitz and Melinda Bier

166

218

268

t w e l v e Struggling for Civic Virtue through School Reform286 Jeannie Oakes, Karen Hunter Quartz, Steve Ryan, and Martin Lipton

t h i r t e e n College, Character, and Social Responsibility: Moral Learning through Experience305 Jay W. Brandenberger

p o s t s c r i p t Concluding Themes and Issues for the Future F. Clark Power and Daniel K. Lapsley

Contributors

Author Index

Subject Index

339

341

349

335

i n t r o d u c t i o n

Orienting Themes and Issues

Daniel K. Lapsley and F. Clark Power

t h e t i t l e o f t h i s w o rk g i v e s away i t s p r e m i s e a n d s t ru c t u r e . t h e central premise is that important insights about character and character education will be forthcoming only when there are adequate advances in character psychology. How one understands the moral formation of persons must be conditioned on what we know about personality and development. How we manage the moral education of character must be conditioned on what we know about selfhood and identity. The structure of this volume follows this premise. The first half examines critical issues in character psychology, where character psychology is understood broadly to include not only psychological literatures that address moral functioning, but also recent trends in ethics that take these literatures seriously as a point of departure for ethical theory. The second half of the volume takes up the challenge of character education in several contexts, including schools, families, and sports. Our concluding Postscript identi- fies a number of unifying themes evident among the various chapters along with five prospects for productive interdisciplinary work in character psychology and education.

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d a n i e l k . l a p s l e y a n d f . c l a r k p o w e r

t h e p r e s e n t c o n t e x t

The present volume takes up a set of problems that are of timely significance. The role of virtues and vices in the formation of character is one of the most important is- sues in contemporary popular and academic discourse. Certainly the language of vir- tue and character has become part of the common parlance that is used to appraise political leaders and to express judgments about the source of social problems in vir- tually every aspect of modern society. This is particularly evident in the astonishing increase in reflection on the promise, prospects, and failings of character education in the schools. Indeed, anxiety about character formation in contemporary society has spawned an enormous popular literature on virtues, character, and character educa- tion, so much so that it has become a veritablegenre of discontent. Within academic discourse, virtue ethics, drawing heavily on the Aristotelian tradition (e.g., MacIntyre1981), has returned to prominence in philosophical studies of morality, engendering vigorous debate with the Kantian deontological tradition on the role of character, traits, and reasoning in the moral life of persons. Moreover, there has been a recent discernible trend within ethics to constrain philosophical reflection on virtuous character by what is known about personality, self-processes, cognitive functioning, and development through these and other psychological literatures. According to this view the point of ethical theory is not so much to de- scribe a normative theory that is attractive to the ideal, noumenal moral agent—the rational, impartial spectator who adjudicates instances of moral conflict—but rather to describe a kind of moral theory that is possible for “creatures like us.” Modern ethical theory must possess a minimum degree of psychological realism that will re- quire ongoing engagement with advances in psychological science (Flanagan1991). Psychological facts about self and identity, for example, are seen to ground ethical analysis of moral character (Kupperman1991, this volume). Similarly, Christine Mc- Kinnon (1999, this volume) has argued for a “naturalized ethics” (or what she calls “functionalistic naturalism”) that takes certain facts about human nature as a start- ing point for virtue theory. Hence, the emerging naturalized ethics perspective seeks to ground ethical theory by what is known about “human motivation, the nature of the self, the nature of human concepts, how our reason works, how we are socially constituted, and a host of other facts about who we are and how the mind operates” ( Johnson1996,49). John- son argues further that any comprehensive moral psychology must include an ac- count of personal identity, and must be adequately grounded by the concepts, con-

Orienting Themes and Issues

3

structs, and literature of cognitive science. Hence there is an important movement within ethical theory to consider the literatures of personality, cognitive, and devel- opmental psychology for insights about the parameters of virtue and character. The shift from a Kantian deontological approach in ethics to an Aristotelian char- acterological approach has been matched in moral psychology by a shift away from moral development stage theories that paid little heed to the qualities of agents to recently proposed theories of moral self and identity that suggest new ways of under- standing the development of character. Moreover, there are additional relevant psy- chological theories that do not yet contribute to ethical or even psychological work on the nature of moral functioning, nor do they inform contemporary educational mod- els of character formation, although these literatures have enormous potential for providing both the “minimal psychological realism” required by naturalized ethics and ethical theory, and the foundation for new models of character education. We are clearly at a point where important work in moral psychology and ethi- cal theory is reaching a common juncture. Indeed, the increased attention devoted to moral selfhood, character, and identity is the result of movement from two directions. It results from the desire both to expand the explanatory reach of moral psychology beyond structures-of-justice reasoning and to ground ethical theory in a defensible account of moral psychology. Both trends, then, from within moral psychology and philosophical ethics, point toward greater interest in virtues, character, and moral identity. Moreover, it is now evident that important new insights about character and character education will only be possible when there is sustained exploration at the interface of these disciplines. We are confident that the present volume will catalyze this exploration.

i n t e g r a t i v e s u m m a r y

The volume opens with Daniel Lapsley and Darcia Narvaez outlining the contours of what they call the “post-Kohlbergian era” of moral psychology. While acknowl- edging the contributions of Kohlberg’s moral stage theory to psychology and educa- tion, they believe that Kohlberg’s theory has become isolated from new developments in psychology and unable to meet the demands of contemporary character educa- tors. They argue that recent cognitive and social-cognitive literatures can be a pow- erful source of insights for understanding moral functioning, although they are rarely invoked for this purpose. Lapsley and Narvaez use a social-cognitive account