Austrian Secondary School Teachers’ Views On Character Education: Initial Qualitative Insights From A Mixed Methods Study

Recent years have seen heightened interest in school-based whole-child development in the Austrian education system. In this context, our paper will provide some insights into the results of a qualitative interview study that examined teachers´ beliefs about character education as part of a mixed-methods doctoral project conducted at the University of Salzburg. The interviewees were teachers in Austrian schools in two Austrian federal countries, Lower Austria and Vienna, from 16 different schools. Most regard character education as an essential aspect of schools’ remit. Alongside consensus among the interviewees on the significance of families to young people’s character development, we noted a belief expressed by many participants that schools as institutions have an equally vital role to play in this regard. In light of this awareness around the centrality of character development, it is a notable finding that most interviewees feel that neither their initial teacher education nor their continuous professional development has prepared them adequately for the challenge of character education.