Character Psychology And Character Education

"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." â€"Don Collins Reed, Wittenberg University "This volume takes virtue seriously as an empirically based and testable ethical phenonomenon. More unusual, it takes moral character seriously as something more than a compilation of virtues, and as something quite differentâ€"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." â€"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." â€"Tom Lickona, SUNY Cortland This distinguished collection of essays provides new perspective on the nature of character and moral education by utilizing insights from the disciplines of moral psychology, moral philosophy, and education. 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, 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 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.