Legislating Character

Moral Education in North Carolina's Public Schools

Bibliographic Data

ID8924342
AuthorsAaron Cooley (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume43
Issue3
Pages188-205
Publication date2008-06-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducational Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-1946 • E-ISSN: 1532-6993
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00131940802117563
OpenAlexW2001300189
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited17

This article analyzes the epistemological aims and justification of character education legislation passed by the North Carolina General Assembly. I take this specific state law as representative of the broader national trends in the character education movement. I primarily use the work of Richard Rorty as the theoretical lens for the analysis and critique. I conclude by commending aspects of the legislative effort, but I suggest that greater emphasis must be placed on strengthening students' ethics through democratic action inside and outside schools and not on a right-leaning, conservative, and didactic curriculum. Further, as social foundations educators, it is imperative to make strides in our classrooms to expose preservice teachers to the apparent and hidden contradictions of using character education as a tool of educational reform

Action (physics · Character (mathematics · Character education · Curriculum · Democracy · Legislation · Legislature · Pedagogy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Values Education · Work (physics · Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare · Law · Peace and Human Rights Education · Public Administration · Values and Moral Education

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