Character Education and Citizenship Education: A Case of Cancerous Relationship

INTRODUCTION A good share of what passes today for moral education bears the label of “character education.” On my reading of the literature pertaining to this area of education most (perhaps all?) of the theory and practice claiming this label is highly conservative in about every way possible. Not to put too fine a point on it, I consider most of it to be conceptually, empirically, morally, politically, and educationally corrupt. Now, obviously I cannot support this entire somewhat grandiose claim in 4,500 words. But it is not hard to find a lot of it strongly supported by others. However, one particular concern has been largely overlooked — the assumed relationship between character education and citizenship education. That particular concern comprises the focus of this essay.