The article discusses the importance of quantitative empirical character assessment for better understanding the formation of character and for promoting virtue and thereby also human flourishing. Attention is given to a number of challenges in developing character survey items along with criteria for evaluating items and examples of successes and…

Objective: The Bioethics Teaching in Secondary Education (Project BEST) aims to promote the teaching of bioethics in secondary schools. This paper describes the development and implementation of the programme in Portugal. Design: Programme development involved two main tasks: (1) using the learning tools previously developed by the US Northwest…

In this society where ethical misconduct is prevalent, faculty and staff can do a better job of providing training and encouragement to help students make ethical decisions. At the University of North Carolina Wilmington, a task force was created to develop a workshop for student leaders to enhance their awareness of ethical issues and the…

Since the 1970s an "ethics boom" has occurred to counter the disappearance of ethics education from tertiary institutions. This "boom" appears to be absent from teacher education programs in Australia and the United States. Given persistent calls to enhance teacher quality this is problematic because quality teaching is…

This book offers an examination of the related topics of school prayer and character education in the United States, advocating for their return to public schools. In 1962 and 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court made rulings that removed prayer and Bible reading from public schools. But in the aftermath of the rulings, the nation endured one of the worst…

This study focused on current practices of character education in Virginia secondary schools and intended to establish baseline data. The research was conducted in two phases and used a mixed methodology. Of the 621 secondary schools in Virginia, a combination of 243 urban and county schools were randomly selected to participate in Phase One of…

Communicating the Christian ethos of Christian institutions constitutes a significant portion of the effort and monies of these institutions. Included in the purview of ethos enablers are faculty input and advising, student services, required chapel/worship, ministry formation/field experiences, admissions procedures, and opportunities for…

Notes that 57 percent of West German teachers who responded to a survey believed it was difficult to transmit values to students and indicated the high degree of social differentiation in an industrial society promoted social fragmentation. Argues values education should not be the sole responsibility of the school but shared by the entire…

Provincial curriculum directors were surveyed and literature reviewed to determine which Canadian provinces have official policies on values/moral education and the extent to which the ministries are implementing these policies through the promulgation of curriculum materials and standards. Reasons for failures to encourage values/moral education…

Reports the attitudes of 80 Taiwanese teachers of morality about moral education in the face of drastic social change and modernization. Discusses the content and nature of traditional Chinese morality, the effects of contemporary culture on children's moral development, and teaching methods. Contains 18 references. (SV)