Character Education

Year One Theories of Character, Virtue and Flourishing (20 credits)

The Theories of Character, Virtue and Flourishing module will explain how key theories from the fields of psychology, philosophy and education, inform planning, administration, policy and professional practice – including a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights in the field.

This module will teach you how to evaluate educational research from theoretical and methodological perspectives, in order to contribute to character education through the demonstration of original thinking in teaching and learning. The various research methods available to researchers will be discussed; alongside this, the ethical implications and challenges associated with researching character in education are explained, with a strong focus on issues of reliability and validity in research.

This module will start with a consideration of the historical development of character education where you will gain an understanding how character education has been delivered in and out of schools and what form this schooling has taken. The politics of character education (both in the UK and internationally) will be examined during the second half of the module and an in depth investigation of current character education policy in the UK will be used as a case study to consider how the subject is shaped by government priorities. Comparisons will be made with other countries who have adopted character as a central plank of their educational policy.

Exploring the practical implications of character education, this module will draw and build on the theory learnt in previous modules. You will learn about how character education can be implemented in various educational settings, including schools and community organisations; this will give you the ability to analyse data, synthesise information and apply critical thinking to develop your own relevant interventions and tools to create a culture and ethos designed to enhance good character.

This module will examine the role of leaders in developing character education in schools and other organisations. It will cover positive organisational theory, and both leadership theory and practice, with a specific focus on making decisions that bring about change in schools. Throughout the module the challenges of implementing and leading character education programmes will be examined and critically debated.

The responsibilities of teachers and other educators working with children and young people will be examined throughout this module; this is framed around the fundamental question- what does it mean to be a virtuous professional? Drawing on research (both theoretical and empirical) into the character virtues of teachers (as well as other professionals), this module will consider what their moral responsibilities are, and considers the role of both initial and continuing professional development (CPD) in teacher education.

In year three, you will complete a 15,000 word dissertation on a topic related to character education which is likely to have been covered in one of the taught modules.

The optional modules listed on the website for this programme may unfortunately occasionally be subject to change. Where the module is no longer available we will let you know as soon as we can help you make other choices.