Approaches to the Development of Character Proceedings of a Workshop (2017) / Chapter Skim
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2 What Is Character? Moving Beyond Definitional Differences
2 What Is Character? Moving Beyond Definitional Differences
Pages 5-26
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From page 5... ...
Follow-up discussion was anchored by reflections from Robert McGrath of Fairleigh Dickinson University, Kristina Schmid Callina of Tufts University, and Carola Suárez-Orozco of the University of California, Los Angeles. CHARACTER AS A MULTIFACETED DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEM Even skeptics of the idea of character have a sense of what Martin L uther King, Jr., meant when he spoke of looking forward to the day when his "children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,"1 Nucci observed.
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From page 6... ...
Critiques of Traditional Views of Character Traditional understandings of character have often consisted of a set of qualities -- such as honesty, fairness, and compassion -- that are defined in a particular cultural context as worth developing in young people, Nucci noted. Lists of traditional virtues are often linked to religious or philosophical traditions but generally lack coherence as definitions, and primarily reflect social mores rather than any rigorous conceptual framework, Nucci explained.
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From page 7... ...
Such traits may be important in the pursuit of personal and social benefits, such as success in school or career, but do not in themselves lead to moral or immoral actions. Performance itself, he added, "is not a sufficient indicator of a person's character." Some researchers who study moral education have moved away from the term "character," Nucci explained, and use the terms "moral self" or "moral identity" instead.
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From page 8... ...
The idea that people behave morally because it is important to them to be able to "view themselves as moral beings," Nucci explained, "reduces morality to self-interest" and does not account for people's judgment about what is a moral choice in a given situation. Other factors play an important part in people's judgments, he explained, such as their readings of social situations and their capacity to regulate their emotions and social behavior.
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From page 9... ...
Some moral decisions may require little deliberation while others require careful weighing of competing considerations, but they are not a ccidental or instinctive. Researchers have distinguished moral judgments, which concern issues such as the welfare of others, fairness, or rights, from two other factors that affect decision making: social conventions (norms established by consensus or authority in in a particular social system)
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From page 10... ...
Nucci and his colleagues have also examined the role of organized religion in moral judgments by interviewing young people and adults from BOX 2-1 Child's Reasoning about a Moral Issue Did you see what happened?
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From page 11... ...
Nor is there an end point, he added -- a stage at which people have the wisdom to apply moral principles in all contexts, regardless of competing nonmoral considerations. In other words, Nucci noted, "moral judgments are inexorably bound up in context, and this makes the assessment of moral growth and the identification of character more challenging." Component 2: Emotional Development or Moral Mental Health Moral mental health, Nucci explained, consists of the capacity for empathy, the ability to accurately read the emotions of others, and a sense
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From page 12... ...
Nucci noted that social and emotional learning fit in this component because they are essential to moral functioning but do not in themselves lead to moral behaviors. Component 3: Performance Character entails not only the capacity to recognize the right thing to do but also "the propensity to act on that judgment," Nucci explained.
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From page 13... ...
More useful, he suggested, would be to assess the components of the character system -- social and emotional learning, moral reasoning, and moral mental health -- in much the same way that a physician would assess the various aspects of a child's physical growth and development. This might be done using questionnaires, interviews, and observations, Nucci suggested, but he also noted that further developments in understanding of moral development and moral functioning in a social context would be needed for such approaches to be practical.
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From page 14... ...
E Plato Aristotle Jainism Catholicism Franklin Moore Courage Courage Forgiveness Wisdom Temperance Interpersonal enjoyment Justice Temperance Humility Fortitude Silence Aesthetic enjoyment Prudence Generosity Straightforwardness Temperance Order Temperance Philanthropy Purity Justice Resolution Magnanimity Truthfulness Faith Frugality Honor Self-Restraint Hope Industry Gentleness Penance Love Sincerity Friendliness Renunciation Justice Truthfulness Nonattachment Moderation Wit Celibacy Cleanliness Justice Tranquility Knowledge Chastity Art Humility Prudence Intuition Wisdom SOURCE: McGrath (2016)
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From page 15... ...
et al. Hope Politeness Creativity Self-discipline Empathy Wisdom and knowledge Will Fidelity Curiosity Compassion Order Courage Purpose Prudence Diligence Responsibility Resourcefulness Humanity Competence Temperance Entrepreneurialism Friendship Serenity Justice Fidelity Courage Forgiveness Work Temperance Love Justice Future-mindedness Courage Transcendence Care Generosity Generosity Perseverance Wisdom Compassion Honesty Honesty Mercy Humility Loyalty Gratitude Joy Faith Humility Love Simplicity Purpose Tolerance Reliability Purity Thrift Gentleness Good Faith Humor Love construction or whether there is an objective and universal truth that under lies its structure, even though it is socially malleable.
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From page 16... ...
16 APPROACHES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER there is no logical way to critique the "bag of virtues" construction -- there would be no conceptual framework to replace it. Second, if ideas of character and virtue are entirely socially constructed, virtue education would be no more than a method for convincing people to comply with whichever social conventions have priority in a particular time and place.
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From page 17... ...
. the VIA Classification of Strengths and Virtues, developed by the VIA Institute on Character, a nonprofit organization.4 The model, McGrath explained, is based on research in positive psychology and is an effort to develop a comprehensive picture of character.5 The model identifies six universal virtues, shown in the left-hand column, and 24 strengths that everyone has in some degree.
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From page 18... ...
In teaching people about virtue, he concluded, "we need to recognize that people have personal, interpersonal, and cultural values and that together these three contribute to a life well lived." In his view, effective character development must include teaching young people to "be caring without the expectation of benefit, to be questioning without a crisis, and to be disciplined without structure." Studying the Interactions Between Character and Context Kristina Schmid Callina drew on her experience with research in devel op ental psychology focused on positive youth development to offer obser m vations about how character can be developed. Her work has been based in a relational developmental systems theoretical perspective, she explained.
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From page 19... ...
Across time and place, good character reflects the coherence of an individual's behavior -- how reliably he or she displays "the right virtue, in the right amount, at the right time," in Aristotle's words. The attributes needed might vary according to circumstances, Schmid Callina noted, so what is critical is coherence, not consistency.
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From page 20... ...
One challenge in examining individual pathways to development, she explained, is that standard approaches to statistical analysis in the social sciences tend to focus on differences between people rather than changes within individuals.6 Integration of multiple methods of qualitative and quantitative research is needed, Schmid Callina noted, to effectively analyze changes within individuals and then aggregate such findings to yield broader conclusions about character development. "Person-centered analysis is critical," she argued for evaluating programs such as that at West Point.
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From page 21... ...
Anthropologists pay close attention to cultural practices -- the routines, activities, and other things that people do -- Suárez-Orozco commented. These include • language use; • kinship systems; • religious and ritual practices; • economic models; • power structures and hierarchies; • gender expectations; • cultural socialization (child rearing)
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From page 22... ...
27) wrote, "There is no contemporary society in which one culture, one language, one religion, one single identity characterizes the whole population." Suárez-Orozco used a simplified version of the Bronfenbrenner model that Schmid Callina had used to show how the experiences of immigrant children illustrate the intersection of culture, values, and character: see Figure 2-5.
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WHAT IS CHARACTER? 23 FIGURE 2-5 Ecological framework.
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. Suárez-Orozco and her colleagues explored the degree to which these young people follow patterns of civic engagement typical in the broader population, and also sought to understand the values and motivations that drive them to engage civically.
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From page 25... ...
Nucci responded by acknowledging that each individual does have a unique identity that is stable, but that reducing character to a set of immutable traits is "misguided." Martin Luther King, Jr., he reminded the group, was both an esteemed moral leader and a "philanderer," who presumably was dishonest to family members and others to hide his infidelity. Thinking about character in terms of coherence -- to attempt to understand how an individual's internal motivation and reasoning interact with the circumstances and external influences -- is more useful for making sense of this type of paradox than looking for consistent traits in the individual, Nucci suggested.
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From page 26... ...
26 APPROACHES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER person is a way around the debate over the respective influences of individual attributes and cultural influences. Programs that help young people develop character could usefully be viewed as opportunities for young people to practice acting as people of character, making judgments about what is right and wrong, and making decisions about how to pursue concrete goals, this person suggested.
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