CHAPTER 20: The Character Journal: An Assessment Tool for Advancing Character Learning

Stories and experiences provide valuable opportunities for character learning and development. But how can students assess their personal stories and experiences to access the lessons and learning they contain? How can administrators demonstrate that character learning has indeed occurred?

Recent accounting scandals (e.g., Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Waste Management, etc.) contain stories that have focused attention on the need for business education reform (Ghoshal, 2005). Reforms call for “business school graduates who are capable of ethical business action” (Kracher, 1999, p. 291). This call for ethical business actors has led to a rethinking of the business ethics paradigm. Grounded in the work of Kohlberg (1969), traditional business ethics education tends to “address cognitive goals and focus on teaching students tools and skills they need to be able to make ethical decisions in business” (Kracher, 1999, p. 292). The narrow focus is on moral judgment.