Jessica Skye

3-30-14/A3
Mrs. Vuono/ English 9H
Research Outline Paper
THESIS: The history of character education in America.
I. Character education in the colonial times.
A. Education was distinctly moral and emphasized religion. (A Brief History of
Moral Education)
1. The sermons in church were educational because of the knowledge they
acquired studying for the past years. (Peterson)
a. Sermons had tools for emotions, will, and intellect. The first Sunday
school opened during the colonial times for educational purposes.
(Peterson)
B. Education started at home and in the fields. (Peterson)
1. Homeschooling came first before schools where it was a literate moms
responsibility to teach her children to learn the basics of the English language
such as reading and writing. (Peterson)
C. Institutions were established for illiterate people or people unable to go to school.
(Peterson)
1. Society and the library are some examples of these institutions. (Peterson)
2. The library was supported by the church. (Peterson ) Church money and
tax money supported libraries (Peterson ) Libraries are open to anyone
(Peterson) in the colonial times. (Peterson)
II. Character education in the 1800s.
A. Religion created problems (Brief History of Moral Education) for schools.
1. Immigrants came from Germany, Ireland, and Italy. (Brief History of
Moral Education)
2. Immigrants of different religions created their own schools with their own
religions for the base for their childrens character education. (Brief History
of Moral Education)
B. Teachers in the 1800s were engineered in a certain way for each school.
1. Teachers were trained and hired for the moral mission of the school in which they
were teaching at. (Brief History of Moral Education)
2. Literature, biography, and history were taught with the explicit intention of
infusing children with high moral standards and good examples to guide their
lives. (Brief History of Moral Education)
C. Disciplining the students was direct. (Character Education: An Historical
Overview.)
1. Textbooks emphasized civic virtues, because they promoted love of country,
love of God, duty to parents, thrift, honesty and hard work. These
characteristics were designed to encourage youngsters to support the
accumulation of property, the certainty of progress, and the perfection of the
United States. Schoolbooks were meant to train the childs character. (p. 14)
("Character Education: An Historical Overview.")
III. Character education in the 1900s.
A. Time periods within 1900s
1. The 1960s emphasized individual rights and as a consequence it demoted
moral and character development. ("Character Education: An Historical
Overview.")
2. In 1970s researchers researched the quality of students thinking. ("Character
Education: An Historical Overview.")
3. In 1980s new methods to develop character were introduced in schools along
with the teaching of the understanding of relationships and citizenship.
("Character Education: An Historical Overview.")
4. Character education in 1990s was affiliated with religion making it too
religious, so schools taught everything universal and nonreligious to avoid
charges pressed against them. ("Character Education: An Historical
Overview.")
IV. How character education is taught in the present.
A. New methods were introduced currently or in present time.
1. One of the new methods introduced was the infusion approach.
2. In general, an infusion approach to character education aims to restore the
formation of students' characters to a central place in schooling. Rather than
simply adding on character formation to the other responsibilities of schools,
such as numeracy, literacy, career education, health education, and other
goals, a focus on good character permeates the entire school experience. (A
Brief History of Moral Education)
B. The fear of cheating is present in society today.
1. Fears of a Cheating Culture (Gallant) is in society.
2. Moral degraded because of students committing cheating in different ways (Ex:
Plagiarism)
3. Schools incorporate moral right and wrong, such as what is cheating and what is
not in the schools curriculum.
4. There are still Sunday schools at churches.
5. Majority of schools have stopped incorporating religion in their curriculum unless
it is part of a secular context. (Religion in the Public Schools - Religion in the
Curriculum)























Works Cited

"Moral Education - A Brief History of Moral Education, The Return of Character
Education, Current Approaches to Moral Education." - StateUniversity.com. StateUniversity, n.d.
Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

Peterson, Robert A. "Education in Colonial America." : The Freeman : Foundation for
Economic Education. Fee, 1 Sept. 1983. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

Tatman, Robert, Stacey Edmonson, and John R. Slate. "Character Education: An
Historical Overview." Connexions. Ed. Theodore Creighton. Connexions, Spring 2009. Web. 30
Mar. 2014.

"Religion in the Public Schools - Religion in the Curriculum." Religion in the Public
Schools - Religion in the Curriculum. ADL, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

Gallant, Tricia B. Moral Panic: The Contemporary Context Of Academic Integrity. N.p.:
ASHE Higher Education Report, 2008. PDF.