Bringing in a New Era in Character Education (Hoover Institution Press, 2002), edited by Hoover fellow William Damon, provides a unique perspective on what is needed to make character education a lasting part of our educational agenda.
Schools from K–12 to college campuses are increasingly paying attention to students’ values and accepting responsibility for students’ character. But how can we bring in this new era in character education in a way that makes the right kind of difference to young people? What are the approaches that will provide character education the solid foundation necessary to sustain it now and into the future? What obstacles in our current educational system must we overcome, and what new opportunities can we create?
Bringing in a New Era in Character Education answers these questions, pointing out the directions that character education must take today and offering strategies essential for making progress in the field. The expert contributors explain how we can pass core values down to the younger generation in ways that will elevate their conduct and their life goals. They reveal why relativism has threatened the moral development of young people in our time—and what we can do to turn this around. And they show the critical importance of reestablishing student morality and character as targets of higher education’s central mission.
The authors make a strong case for “moral exemplarity” actual human examples of moral excellence—as an effective tool of educational practice and describe how stoic warrior principles can offer a moral manner of managing one’s emotions in times of pressure. Perhaps most important, they clarify the necessity of authority in any moral education endeavor—and show how it is actually a powerful force for both personal freedom and character building.
About the Editor
Editor William Damon is a Hoover Institution senior fellow. He is a professor of education and director of the Center on Adolescence at Stanford University.
The Hoover Institution, founded at Stanford University in 1919 by Herbert Hoover, who went on to become the 31st president of the United States, is an interdisciplinary research center for advanced study on domestic public policy and international affairs.
