Character Education Through a Reflective Moral Inquiry: A Revised Model that Answers Old Questions

Abstract

With trends suggesting a new era of democratic pluralism in the United States, traditional notions of character education must be revisited. In this climate of diversity and cultural heterogeneity indoctrinary approaches to character education must be replaced by responsive and inclusive approaches that have an eye toward building consensus among disparate viewpoints. No character education approach to date has gained salience on all the varied issues surrounding moral schooling in today’s educational climate. In an increasingly pluralistic American society it would seem that it is necessary for character education programs in the public schools to foster a reflective, self-analytical vision of morality and character that has at its heart the reciprocity of one’s actions within the bounds of democratic society, an approach that is neither indoctrinary nor relativistic. This article forwards a process approach rooted in the social studies called reflective moral inquiry that answers many challenges of existing approaches.