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The Center for Character
Education traces its roots to a comprehensive
international research project that began in 1980.
A group of leading scholars, representing universities
from throughout the world, met in Spain to discuss
the importance of culture and values in society.
These academics formed the Council for Research
in Values and Philosophy, with the intent to respond
to the need for research related to the development
of responsible persons through education.
The council initiated a research
project entitled Foundations of Moral Education.
For the work in the United States, it was decided
to form three 10-person teams of philosophers,
psychologists, and educators to address the problem
from the perspective of their own discipline and
to engage in discussions with those from the other
disciplines. Over the next several years, this
careful study began to shape a view of moral education
for our schools that provided a sound academic
base and was appropriate for a pluralistic society
such as the United States.
By the mid-1980’s, the
first phase of the project was completed with
the publication of three scholarly works that
act as the foundation for the project. In Philosophical
Foundations of Moral Education and Character Development,
edited by George F. McLean, Frederick E. Ellrod,
David Schindler, and Jesse A. Mann (1991), scholars
analyzed various theories of moral development
and discussed classical and phenomenological philosophical
approaches to understanding the person. Special
attention was paid to the educational implications
for moral growth. In the text Psychological Foundations
of Moral Education and Character Development:
An Integrated Theory of Moral Development, edited
by Richard T. Knowles and George F. McLean (1992),
academics addressed the psychology of moral emotions
and moral choice, storytelling, and character
development. A theoretical structure was refined
for understanding moral growth, with an analysis
for the potentialities and approaches to moral
education at each age level from early childhood
to old age. Character Development in Schools and
Beyond, edited by Kevin Ryan, Thomas Lickona,
and George F. McLean (1992), explores the nature
of moral education and character development and
focuses on the school as an essential environment
for promoting moral growth. The work examines
the classroom and curriculum at the various levels
and addresses education’s relation to family,
religion, media, and community. Teams of scholars
were formed in Latin America, Asia, and Africa
to expand the approach developed in these three
volumes and to articulate the values of their
own particular cultural traditions as the basis
for their own moral education programs. To date,
24 volumes of international scholarship constitute
the research foundation of this ongoing project.
In 1985, Duquesne University’s
School of Education was asked to join the research
project. Less than a year later, the Center for
Character Education, Civic Responsibility, and
Teaching was formed to act as an implementation
agent in this emerging view of character development.
The primary purpose of the center was to distill
the massive theory into classroom practice. The
center was designed to enhance the theoretical
elements of the project by using actual classroom
tactics designed by teacher educators, classroom
teachers, and administrators in a cooperative
effort that truly wed theory with the realities
of schools.
By summer 1987, the Duquesne
Center began conducting workshops for educators.
These workshops created the unique opportunity
for classroom teachers, school administrators,
and parents to work hand in hand with the international
scholars who formed the original project and to
assist in crafting a meaningful program for schools,
thereby merging theory with classroom practice.
From the outset of the workshops,
it became apparent that several central elements
of the research project distinguished this view
of character development from others. First was
the systematic scope of the ongoing scholarship.
Generated in Europe, developed in the United States,
and extended internationally, it is research of
an unparalleled dimension as it examines the acquisition
of values in cultures from around the world. The
work analyzes contemporary character education
programs and suggests a new view of the acquisition
of character.
In the integrated view of character
education, cognition is a part of moral development,
not a means to an end. The impact of social environment,
culture, and emotion also plays an important part
in the development of an individual’s character.
Moreover, the integrated view of character developments
relies on action rather than only moral reasoning
through discussion to enhance character growth.
For 3 years, in summer workshops,
monthly colloquia, and weekly seminars, teachers
representing a cross section of school and grade
levels worked with the scholars who founded the
theoretical base of the project. Gradually, a
usable blueprint for promoting character growth
in schools emerged in the form of six basic principles,
which are also described as the integrated approach
to character education. These educators concluded
that the teaching of character is less about “making
bad kids good” than about recognizing that
character formation is the very nature of teaching.
The Center Today
In 1997, the Director of the
Center, Dr. Timothy G. Rusnak, was asked to join
the Board of Directors of the Joseph P. Kennedy
Foundation’s Community of Caring (www.communityofcaring.org).
This comprehensive approach to a learning environment
for schools paralleled the six principles of integrated
Character Education as espoused by the Duquesne
Center for Character Education. The work of the
Center became the academic platform from which
the Community of Caring now operates in almost
every state in the nation and is rapidly spreading
into schools around the world.
The Center is now involved in the development
and implementation of workshops and conferences
in schools for the Community of Caring. The Six
Principles of the Integrated Model are incorporated
into the Community of Caring as an indirect element
of its proactive message. It includes the development
of a virtuous student through community service,
a positive learning environment that fosters caring,
and five basic values.
The Community of Caring believes that the values
of Caring, Respect, Responsibility, Trust and
Family are the foundation on which responsible
decisions and behaviors are based. This K –
12, comprehensive character education program
emphasizes that the ability to reflect upon and
act upon values is essential in shaping lives,
illuminating goals and guiding responsible decisions.
Founded in 1982 by Eunice Kennedy Schriver and
the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation to reduce
the incidence of mental retardation by reducing
one of its causes – teen pregnancy. Today
it is a comprehensive, K – 12 character
education program adopted by over 850 schools
nationwide and in Canada. Its mission may best
be illustrated by its belief statement, which
is:
In the Community of Caring,
we believe the quality of caring
we give to our parents, to our brothers and sisters,
to our families,
to our friends and neighbors, and to the poor
and the powerless
endows a life, a community, with respect, hope
and happiness.
The quality of caring we give determines whether
we are successful
as individuals, as families, as communities, and
as nations.
Eunice Kennedy Schriver
Founder, Community of Caring
The Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation
Community
of Caring Web-Site »
For additional information contact
Dr. Timothy Rusnak, 412.364.1616 or rusnakt@.duq.edu
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