How to assess children’s virtue literacy

Methodological lessons learnt from the Knightly Virtues programme

Bibliographic Data

ID20503370
AuthorsIan Davison (0000-0001-9711-0561, University of Birmingham, corresponding author), Tom Harrison (0000-0002-8437-5197, University of Birmingham), Dan Hayes (0000-0003-2227-4531, University of Birmingham), Jenny Higgins, Jenny R Higgins (University of Birmingham)
Year2016
Volume37
Issue1
Pages16-28
Publication date2016-01-02
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Beliefs and Values (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1361-7672 • E-ISSN: 1469-9362
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13617672.2016.1141526
OpenAlexW2293757496
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited13

Character education is of growing importance in educational discourse. The Knightly Virtues programme draws on selected classic stories to teach eight moral virtues to nine- to 11-year-olds; it has proved to be hugely popular with UK schools. A finding of the trial was the different levels of ‘virtue literacy’ in faith and non-faith schools. This article outlines the key features of this trial which yielded the positive results and details its methodological strengths and potential shortcomings. Overall, statistical concerns are less problematic than the practical concerns of running trials designed to measure the impact of character education interventions. Of greatest theoretical interest is the conflation of general and virtue-specific literacy; in addition, we tease apart differences in understanding and motivation. The article highlights and discusses the challenges of running trials designed to measure character education, as well as providing insights into promising methodological approaches

Character education · Conflation · Epistemology · Faith · Literacy · Pedagogy · Sociology · Virtue · Education and Critical Thinking Development · Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation · Philosophy · Psychology · Values and Moral Education

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