Character Psychology and Character Education

This collection of essays provides new perspectives on the nature of character and moral education by utilizing insights from the disciplines of moral psychology, moral philosophy, and education. The volume draws from personality and developmental research as well as educational and ethical theory. Character Psychology and Character Education distinguishes itself by bringing moral philosophers, who believe that ethical reflection about virtue and character must be tied to defensible notions of personality and selfhood, into dialogue with academic psychologists, who believe that the developmental study of the moral self requires adequate grounding in various psychological literatures. The first group embraces a "naturalized" ethics, while the second group favors a "psychologized" morality.

Among the topics explored in this volume are the constructs of moral selfhood, personality, and identity, as well as defensible models of character education. One of the primary arguments of the volume is that problems of character education cannot be addressed until an adequate model of character psychology is developed. In addition to the excellent theoretical essays, this collection includes applied chapters that consider the challenge of character education in the context of schools, families, and organized sports. This book will be an invaluable resource both for scholars and practitioners in the fields of psychology and education.

Contributors: Daniel K. Lapsley, F. Clark Power, Darcia Narvaez, Christine McKinnon, Augusto Blasi, Ann Higgins-D'Alessandro, David Light Shields, Brenda Light Bredemeier, Craig A. Cunningham, Joel J. Kupperman, Matthew L. Davidson, Robert J. Nash, Marvin W. Berkowitz, Melinda Bier, Jeannie Oakes, Karen Hunter Quartz, Steve Ryan, Martin Lipton, and Jay W. Brandenberger.