Character Development

 Born in  He’s an American development psychologist and educationalist, and he specializes in the field of character education since it has emerged.  Attended Siena College, where he got his Bachelor’s of Arts in 1964 and Ohio State University where he got his Master’s Degree in  He was the president for the Association for Moral Education in the 1990s and is currently a consultant for the Washington DC-based Character Education Partnership (CEP).

 Lickona was not highly influenced by any one psychologist or theory other than that of values education, which is a strong proponent in most Catholic/Christian upbringings and most Catholic schools.  Values education is basically just the idea that teachers, besides teaching lessons, also must transmit their values to the pupils. This is where the controversy comes into play.  Many believe this theory has its place at home and church, but not in schools.

 The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said it most simply: “Character is destiny.”  “Character shapes the individual and as thus, shapes the entire nation, and from there shapes the entire world.”  Basically Lickona felt that values and morals is the job of society as a whole and not just the job of the parents at home. It takes a community to raise and child and such.  “All of us who are parents naturally want our children to be successful. But we know in our bones that it's their character – their honesty, sense of responsibility, kindness, perseverance in the face of difficulty, courage in the face of danger or social pressure – that makes them human. If they lack these, brains and success don't count for much. “  The novelist Walker Percy once said, "Some people get all A's but flunk life." In living a life well, as a proverb puts it, "An ounce of character is worth a pound of intelligence." Raising Good Children: How to help your child develop a lifelong sense of honesty, decency, and respect for others.

 The basic argument against the theory is this: some parents want to deeply implant their values to their children and they don’t feel like anyone else should be a part of it.  Other than those parents out there, his work is widely accepted and praised.

 Lickona’s Theory of character education is basically just a more widely accepted version of earlier theories of values and moral education.  You can apply it in the classroom at a young age by rewarding for honesty, decency, helping out your classmates (when appropriate), and such other good deeds and punish for stealing, lying, fighting, and other bad deeds.  This theory is pretty widely used around the United States but to what extent varies from place to place and school to school. Educating for Character: How our schools can teach respect and responsibility.

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