Date of Award

Fall 11-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Primary Advisor

Dr. Amy Bratten

Second Advisor

Lisa Ciganek

Abstract

This thesis sought to determine the influence of educators’ personal values and philosophies on character education, particularly on methodologies and effectiveness. Research consisted of a two-part study of an elementary charter school. Part one of the study consisted of an interview with two administrators from the school, and part two of the study consisted of a survey sent out to the teachers of the school. Both the interview and survey sought to determine the values and philosophies of character education held by the educators, the methodologies the school uses for character education, and how the educators perceive the effectiveness of the school’s character education. The philosophies of the administrators and teachers were rooted in the belief of educating the whole child. These philosophies heavily influenced the curricular and instructional choices of the educators. Because of the belief that education is about more than academics, this school intentionally incorporates character education into the school day. Instructional time is set aside specifically for character education, and character traits are integrated into other subject areas throughout the day. The administrators and the teachers perceived character education to be very effective at the school and see students demonstrating positive character traits in their daily lives.

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