Developing habits of the heart: A case study of character education in one suburban middle school

The purpose of this four-year ethnographic case study was to gain understanding of "best practice" of character education with a focus on a middle school setting. Renewed interest in character education led to a movement that accelerated during the 1990s in the United States. While schools and communities expressed various reasons for interest in character education, leaders of the movement cited the need to reclaim the moral mission of the school and highlighted character education as part of a solution to perceived widespread moral decline. Contemporary character education has been viewed as a deliberate attempt to develop human virtue through habits developed by performing virtuous acts. Providing appropriate role models and opportunities for practicing virtue within a caring school community have been key components in comprehensive approaches.;There was diversity in the field and some lack of agreement on both theory and practice. In the view of critics, the movement needed focus to guide curricular planning and research in order to yield cumulative knowledge regarding the school's role in fostering good character. Hope was placed in school-wide initiatives that would provide comprehensive models of effective character education. There was a lack of model schools. This study contributes to filling that void.;Although a school thought to model effective character education was selected on a priori basis, this in-depth study challenged that assumption. Following an apparently strong start, the approach "stalled" during the mid-1990s and regained priority status in 1998. This study addresses the evolution of character education in the district and school from 1988 into 2001. A focus on research questions takes a broad view of the school's practice. This, coupled with interpretation based on theoretical understanding from extensive literature reviews of character education and middle level educational movements, leads to understandings for effective practice. One finding was the strong link between the aims of both movements. Hopefully, this study will contribute to theory and practice for effective character education at the middle level and will encourage in-depth study of middle school character education.