Character Education: Christian Education Perspectives

Abstract

Character is defined broadly by leading authorities, including concepts such as practicing apt behavior and teaching right from wrong. Virtue and moral undertones tend to pervade most experts' use of character, although in secular settings, the notion of ethics is more prominent. Overall, developing in students a desire for the good is how most authorities understand the construct. Implementing character in the public and Christian schools, apart from a Judeo-Christian view of the construct, leaves schools open to values clarification, situational ethics, and other post-modern foundational options. Character development, at least at the conceptual level, is at the heart of all education—Christian or non-Christian.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gretchen M. Wilhelm

Gretchen M. Wilhelm is an adjunct instructor in teacher education at Columbia International University, Columbia, SC.

Michael W. Firmin

Michael W. Firmin is professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at Cedarville University, Cedarville, OH.