Name : Putu Wiraningsih

NIM : 1929081007
Class/Dept. : 1A/English Language
Education Dept.
Assignment : Synthesis Essay

Character Education
This writing is the synthesis of ten sources which discussed about character education.
It covers the definition, the importance, things to be considered, the way and challenges in
teaching character education. In order to support our understanding toward this topic, these
sources were concisely synthesized. The ideas of character education were combined on how
an idea supported by others or in contrast. In this writing, the term “values” and “virtues” are
used interchangeably. Thus, brief and clear information toward character education could be
understood.
The cultivation of values that can benefit students for their future life can be defined
as character education. Character is derived from a Greek word charaktêr, that means “to
mark” so that, character is the distinctive marks that differentiate ourselves from others (Pala,
2011). Character education is a conscious value gaining activity (Lickona, 1999) to grow
universal values such as caring, fairness, honesty, responsibility and respect for self and
others, which is become the base for the future leadership (Agboola & Tsai, 2012; Pala,
2011). It is also known as value education and moral education which lay on the same notion
that is the optimization of good behaviors of human beings (Agboola & Tsai, 2012 ; Beldağ,
2016; Lickona, 1999; Pala, 2011; Wansheng & Wujie, 2004). Liu (2014) defines character
education as educating students through literature, modeling and also focuses on teaching
core ethical values moreover, character education becomes a proactive efforts by school that
foster ethical, responsible and caring. In short, character education is a process of cultivating
virtue on students.
Character education is important to be taught. It is a fundamental democratic society
(Pala, 2011) because through adjusting students’ behaviors, they can be a good citizens. This
statement is supported by Lickona (1999) who mentioned three goals of character education
that is good people, good schools, and a good society. The first goal required that students
need good character to be fully human. The second goal expected that students need character
education in order to have good schools where they are civil, caring, and purposeful
communities. The third goal asserted that character education is essential to the task of
building a moral society. It means that students would be able to judge what is right. They
would be care deeply about what is right, and then do what is right-even in the face of
pressure from without and temptation from within. Moreover, the result of study conducted
by Benniga et.al. (2003) revealed that schools with higher total character education
implementation tended to have higher academic scores on academic measures for the year
prior to their application. Besides, it also grows universal values on students as the base to be
a leader for tomorrow (Agboola & Tsai, 2012; Pala, 2011). Considering the beneficial effects
on students’ behavior therefore, it is a need to teach character education at school.
The cultivation of values in character education should be based on the development
periods of students and the contexts of situation. Isaacs in Lickona (1999) proposed 24
virtues, grouped based on the developmental periods during which the different virtues
should be given special emphasize. While in this millennial era, Horvathova (2015) defined
six essential qualities of 21st character education into character qualities framework that is
mindfulness, curiosity, courage, resilience, ethics and leadership. The choice of which virtues
to teach is influenced by context. For example, in democratic societies, character education
would be emphasized on democratic virtues such as respect for individual rights, concern for
the common good, reasoned dialogue, regard for due process, tolerance of dissent, and
voluntary participation in public life-virtues that are important to the kind of character needed
for democratic citizenship (Lickona, 1999). Therefore, the development periods of students
and the context of situation influence the cultivation of values in character education.
Teaching character education can be done through literature, modeling and focusing
learning activities on the virtues. Teachers usually teach character through literature,
modeling and also focuses on teaching core ethical values (Liu, 2014) moreover, character
education becomes a proactive efforts by school that foster ethical, responsible and caring.
Pike (2010) described that in shaping the characters of students, they were being instructed,
guided, and toward having some sets of prescribed behaviors so they understand, accept, and
act on virtues. Horvathova (2015) gives the example of how to cultivate character of
mindfulness on students through begin with exercises emphasizing awareness of the
environment, such as writing in a journal about students’ daily activities by look into details,
or drawing a picture of an object with increasing levels of detail. Bergmark in Agboola &
Tsai (2012) stated that student voice also services as the foundation of character education
because by doing so, it allows students to actively participate in the development of character
strength. Thus, literature, modeling and focusing learning activities on the virtues can be done
to teach character education.
 In teaching character education, teachers may face challenges in school system,
teachers’ lack understanding of character education and students’ characteristics. Agboola &
Tsai (2012) revealed that there are some downsides to the program ranging from conflict with
the standard school curriculum, defiance of some parents about the education of character, or
where some students of an institution will have variable, or un-identical beliefs in regard to
character. Additionally, Romanowski (2005) added the lack of reliable and valid evaluation
to justify the effect of character education on students’ behavior as the issues. Another
challenge was the confusions that could take place when the students of different religious
backgrounds are studying under the same class. A tested solution is to work around the
perimeters of some value shared together (Pike, 2010). However, this could lead to some
disagreement between all the concerned people as they would have different interpretation to
what is being perceived as shared value.
In conclusion, the cultivation of values that can benefit students for their future life is
defined as character education. Considering the beneficial effects on students’ behavior, it is
a need for school to teach character education. The cultivation of values in character
education should be based on the development periods of students and the contexts of
situation. It can be done through literature, modeling and focusing learning activities on the
virtues. In teaching character education, teachers may face challenges in school system,
teachers’ lack understanding of character education and students’ characteristics.

Reference:

Agboola, A., & Tsai, K. C. (2012). Bring character education into classroom. European
Journal of Educational Research, 1(2), 163–170. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.1.2.163

Beldağ, A. (2016). Values Education Research Trends in Turkey: A Content Analysis.

Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(5), 101–112.
https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v4i5.1325

Benniga, J. S., Berkowitz, M. W., & Kuehn, P. (2003). The Relationship of Character
Education Implementation and Academic Achievement in Elementary Schools. Journal
of Research in Character Education, 1(1), 19–31.

Horvathova, M. F. C. B. M. B. M. (2015). Character education for the 21st century. Center

for Curriculum Redesign, (February), 25. Retrieved from
http://curriculumredesign.org/wp-content/uploads/CCR-
 CharacterEducation_FINAL_27Feb2015.pdf

Lickona, T. (1999). Character Education: Seven Crucial Issues. Action in Teacher Education,
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Liu, X. (2014). The problem of character education and Kohlberg’s moral education: Critique
from Dewey’s moral deliberation. Philosophical Studies in Education, 445(December),
137–145. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.86.2235.400

Pala, A. (2011). the Need for Character Education. International Journal of Social Sciences
and Humanity Studies, 3(2), 23–32.

Pike, M. A. (2010). Christianity and character education: faith in core values? Journal of
Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion & Educati, 31(3), 311-312.

Romanowski, M. H. (2005). Through the eyes of teachers: High school teachers' experiences
with character education. American Secondary Education, 34(1), 6-23.

Wansheng, Z., & Wujie, N. (2004). The moral education curriculum for junior high schools
in 21st century China. Journal of Moral Education, 33(4), 511–532.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0305724042000327993