Transcript The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues University of

Character education and digital lifestyles
Character Education: The virtues at
the centre of adolescent's life.
Professor James Arthur
Director : Jubilee Centre
Dr Tom Harrison
Director of Education: Jubilee Centre
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Our Key Message
Good character matters to individuals and
society. The qualities which make up character
can be learnt and taught – and we need a new
emphasis on their importance in schools and
professional education
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Litany of Alarm
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Lack of Participation
Mental Health Issues
Exclusion
Disorders and Syndromes
Growth of Therapy
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OUR GOAL
To promote through rigorous research the
importance of teaching character in schools and
society
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Making a difference
Research
Substantive
and
transformative
change
Practice
Policy
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What do we want our audiences to think about
the Jubilee Centre
Objective, Multi Disciplinary, Robust and
rigorous, non-political and centre of excellence.
The work of the Centre will help people
understand and demonstrate the benefit that
good character and virtues bring to the
individual and society
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Centre Reports:
What is Character Education?
Character is a set of personal traits or
dispositions that evoke specific emotions,
inform motivation and guide conduct.
Character education is an umbrella term for all
explicit and implicit educational activities that
helps young people develop positive personal
traits called virtues.
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Domains of Virtue
Moral
Intellectual
Civic
Performance
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Domains of Virtues
Moral Character Virtues
Character habits that enable us to respond well to
situations in any area of experience.
Examples: Courage, Self-discipline, Compassion,
Gratitude, Justice, Humility, Honesty.
Civic Character Virtues
Character virtues and skills that are necessary for
engaged and responsible citizenship.
Examples: Service, Citizenship, Volunteering.
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Domains of Virtues
Performance Character Virtues
Behavioural skills and psychological capacities that
– while they can be used for both good and bad
ends – enable us to put our character habits into
practice.
Examples: Resilience, Determination, Creativity.
Intellectual Character Virtues
Necessary for right action and correct thinking.
Examples: autonomy, reasoning, perseverance.
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The Key Virtue
Moderating Virtue: Good Sense (Practical
Wisdom)
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A Neo-Aristotelian Interpretation of
Virtue Ethics
Education is to guide us towards objectively
worthwhile goals, i.e. the Aristotelian virtues, e.g.
being wise, courageous, just, self-controlled, truthful
and friendly, or civil.
It is about acquiring, cultivating and exercising these
excellences of character.
The virtues refine and educate our emotional and
rational lives, enabling us to flourish as human
beings!
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A Virtue Ethics Approach to
Character
What kind of person do I want to become, when
confronting situations that call for an ethical
response?
How do I balance out the competing demands of the
moral life?
How do I flourish as a person?
Aristotle, Anscombe, MacIntyre, Hursthouse,
Nussbaum
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Defining Arguments
Good character has multiple benefits for individuals and
society
Character can be taught and learnt and reinforced – it
should be put at the heart of education
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Good Character has Multiple Benefits
The virtues which make up character enable us to enjoy
rewarding and productive lives
The more people with good character the healthier our society
People live and learn better with character
Integrity, as well as knowledge, are vital to our professions
Virtues are Universal – they are found in all great faiths but not
restricted to religions.
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A Framework for
Character Education
in Schools
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Common Myths about Character Education:
Indoctrination?
Mindless conditioning?
Conservative?
Paternalistic?
Necessarily religious?
About promoting the
ideals of a particular
moral system?
Either character or
attainment, but not
both?
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Virtue Literacy
Virtue Knowledge
Virtue Reasoning
Virtue Practice
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What is Virtue Knowledge About?
It is about acquiring and understanding the
sometimes technical language and concepts
associated with virtue.
But knowing about virtue is not sufficient for being
virtuous – in other words, it may not necessarily
change our behaviour for the better.
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What is Virtue Reasoning About?
It is about making reasoned judgements about when
and how to act well. This includes the ability to
explain different moral situations, such as moral
dilemmas.
This emphasis on acquiring judgement is reflective,
and allows for each individual to make their own
decisions about how best to give expression to the
virtues in situations that are pertinent to them.
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What is Virtue Practice About?
Both the previous components; virtue knowledge
and virtue reasoning are linked to the promotion of
virtue practice.
Virtue practice enables us to give expression to
virtue in desirable, recognisable and observable
attitudes, behaviours and action.
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University of Birmingham School
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Virtuous Digital Lifestyles
Polemic….are young people?
Truthful
Compassionate
Selfless
Altruistic
Courageous
Modest
Dishonest
Callous
Selfish
Egotistical
Cowardly
Vain
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Need a Sound Theoretical Base
Utilitarianism
Greatest happiness for the greatest number of people
Educational response: Show films of cyber-bullying victims to help young
people calculate consequences
Issue: It is often difficult to predict the consequences of online actions
Deontology
Our duty is to follow rational rules and guidance
Educational response: Put up signs with rules about cyberbullying / online
plagiarism etc
Issue: rules and guidance are opaque and easy to bypass online
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The challenges are new….
We therefore need a new
educational response
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An old theory for a new age problem
Virtue Ethics
Doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right
amount (when nobody is watching)
Central Pillars
• Digital Flourishing
• Character Virtues
• Cyber-Phronesis
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Cyber-dilemmas
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Cyber-bullying
Plagiarism
Piracy
Extremism
Digital legacy
etc
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Developing online practical wisdom
through Character Education
Character Caught
Culture and Ethos
Role Models
Character Taught
Discreet subject
Through and within Computer Science
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