Welcome to the first issue of the 2024 Volume 20 of the Journal of Character Education. After last year’s excellent, guest-edited two-part special issue, we are excited to return to a general issue bringing a mix of researcher and practitioner voices together.
This issue includes five articles. The first two articles present qualitative findings from studies exploring the perspectives of teachers and of students, respectively. Evelyn Kropfreiter and Roland Bernhard present insights from character education in Austria, including teachers’ reflections regarding the significance of families in fostering character development, as well as the role of schools to do so—but many teachers do not feel prepared to educate for character. Mark Pacheco, Jared McKee, and Yi Lai studied the lived experiences of students participating in the Human Dignity Curriculum, and share students’ perspectives on the value, and role, of human dignity.
Next, James Shuls presents a case for exploring the system of school assignment—whether assigned by geographical residence or by a family’s free choice—and its role in creating healthy learning communities for character formation. Our peer-review process further revealed just how controversial were the questions posed by Shuls. Accordingly, we invited a commentary from Sheldon Berman, a distinguished and experienced school superintendent and a member of the JCE Editorial Board, who adds to the discussion, describing school choice as “a coin with more than two sides.” We would love to hear additional perspectives and reflections and invite you to add to the conversation on the Center for Character and Citizenship’s website (please visit https://characterandcitizenship.org/about-the-journal to learn more).
Last, we conclude this issue with a Practitioners’ Voices article from Sara Mendonca, Kate Allman, Michael Lamb, and Donovan Livingston, presenting an intervention inspired by the Civil Rights Movement that capitalizes on cross-institutional engagement, use of moral exemplars, and a critical consciousness framework to support character development, particularly regarding the virtue of justice. Observations and preliminary findings are shared—we hope these voices serve to inform and inspire similar efforts in educating for character.
We would be remiss not to note the timeliness of this issue and its alignment with current events. At this writing, the 2024-2025 academic year is underway, with wars continuing all over the world, and a fraught U. S. presidential election on the horizon. By the time this issue is published, we will have a new U.S. president. May this issue foster meaningful reflection on the role of character development and character education—including the themes discussed in the present issue—in forming strong and resilient communities.
That said, stay tuned for Issue 2 of our 2024 Volume 20, a guest-edited special issue on the theme of educating for peace.
