Lessons in character education: Incorporating neoliberal learning in classroom resources

This article examines a number of teaching resources produced by the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, the leading centre for character education in the UK, in the light of the claim advanced by Kristján Kristjánsson, the centre’s deputy director, that various criticisms of character education are best regarded as ‘myths’. The analysis provided in this article highlights significant shortcomings with these teaching resources, suggesting that far from being mythical, concerns about character and virtue being unclear, redundant, old fashioned, essentially religious, paternalistic, anti-democratic, anti-intellectual, conservative, individualistic, and relative, would seem, at least in the resources produced by the centre at which Kristjánsson works, to be very well-founded

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The rise of character education in Britain: heroes, dragons and the myths of character

What is character education? Why has it risen up the political agenda in the UK in recent years? And what does it mean in pedagogical practice? The Rise of Character Education in Britain addresses these questions, challenging the individualistic and moralistic ideas underlying the clamour amongst politicians, educators and authors to promote ‘grit’, ‘resilience’ and ‘character’ in schools. Closely examining a range of teaching resources, the book shows that the development of character is wrongly presented as the solution to a wide variety of social problems, with individual citizens expected to accommodate themselves to the realities of the contemporary economic context, rather than enhancing their capacities to engage in civic and political activities to bring about changes they wish to see. The book argues that there is a tried and tested alternative to character education, which is far more likely to strengthen British democracy, namely: citizenship education

Combatting conspiracies in the classroom: Teacher strategies and perceived outcomes

This article draws on data from a specially commissioned representative survey, which elicited responses from 7691 teachers in primary and secondary schools in England, to examine how teachers perceive young people's engagement with a variety of different conspiracy theories in school settings and how they respond to them. Approximately 40% of teachers report encountering students who supported conspiracy theories. In response, teachers use a wide range of contradictory strategies, including opening up discussion, closing it down, challenging students in class and reporting individuals as safeguarding concerns. The research evidence suggests that several of these strategies are likely to be ineffective or even backfire to reinforce conspiracy thinking. Unsurprisingly then, few teachers report successful responses. The article concludes that the evidence of possible negative impacts of unprepared teachers confronting conspiracy theories at school means that teachers need to be better equipped through training, support and further research

A Partnership Approach to Multi-Campus Library Services

With more than 50,000 students taking courses at twelve campus locations as well as online, the University of Central Florida (UCF) is one of the ten largest universities in the United States, based on enrollment. This multi-campus university system uses strategic integration of physical and virtual assets to deliver regional library services. Partnership agreements govern operations and service issues across all library functions, including collection development, cataloging, and interlibrary loan. In this environment, an organizational culture that fosters team building, flexibility, training, and all varieties of communication, and one that includes a strategic integration of new technology to improve channels of communication and collaboration opportunities is vital

Education can provide both the opportunities and capabilities to make active citizens of our young people

The General Election once again showed the extent of yawning divide in terms of political participation between older and younger citizens. James Sloam and Ben Kisby reflect on the extent to which young people (dis)engage from politics. By analysing data from the European Social Survey, they conclude that educational institutions are a vital factor in influencing young people’s levels of disengagement

Rubrics in higher education: an exploration of undergraduate students’ understanding and perspectives

Rubrics are an assessment framework commonly employed in higher education settings; however, students can engage with and perceive them to be used in a variety of ways and with varying degrees of success. The aim of this research project was to explore these perceptions, to better understand how rubrics might be used to support students more effectively to successful academic outcomes. Fourteen interviews were conducted over a period of fourteen months, and four themes were identified: rubric introductions; rubric content (including language and format); student rubric use and the role of rubrics in how work is assessed. Findings were considered from thematic perspectives of the student participants. Conclusions drawn focus on the quality of classroom discussion when rubrics are introduced, the practical application of rubrics as a writing or planning tool, the need for detail and clarity in language use and explicit links between feedback and rubrics. Overall, effective engagement with rubrics appears to reduce student anxiety

Communications Technology, Crime and Regulation: A Historical Perspective

This thesis explores the interactions between communication technology, crime, and regulation through an historic perspective. Specifically, it is concerned with the electric telegraph, and how its social incorporation facilitated crime, and the resulting regulatory response. It seeks to sustain an increasing tendency in the literature to refer to the electric telegraph as a comparator to the internet effect, through the use of systematic archival research. This thesis is concerned with three central questions: how did the social incorporation of the telegraph facilitate crime; what crimes did telegraphy facilitate, and by whom; and how was telegraph facilitated crime regulated? It is therefore concerned with the social life of the telegraph, how it influenced crime, and the regulatory efforts to either prevent or respond to telegraph-facilitated crime. In answering these questions, this thesis takes an interdisciplinary approach, connecting criminological, legal, regulatory, and historical scholarship, tracing the incorporation of the electric telegraph and its interactions with crime and regulation through an approach that is grounded in use of the technology as its organising concept. This thesis reveals a social transformation that in turn influences the ways that crime is experienced. Further, it identifies a pluralised approach to the regulation of telegraph facilitated crime, which it maintains have long-term consequences. By considering the relationship between crime, communications technology, and regulation through an historical perspective, continuities relevant to contemporary understanding of this relationship are revealed. This thesis therefore makes a methodological, as well as a conceptual, contribution to the literature

'Politics is ethics done in public': exploring linkages and disjunctions between citizenship education and character education in England

Purpose: This article explores linkages and disjunctions between citizenship education and character education in England. Approach: The article undertakes a theoretical discussion of what both forms of education are and involve, and a historical overview of their development over the past twenty years, utilising a wide range of primary and secondary sources. Findings: Citizenship education programmes tend to place much greater emphasis than character education on the development of the necessary knowledge and skills that enable participation in political and democratic activities. The focus of character education is on personal ethics rather than public ethics, and the particular understanding of character education advanced by British politicians has been narrow and instrumental, linking the development of character with individual ‘success’, especially in the jobs market. Research implications: Comparative research is now needed to examine the strengths and weaknesses of these two forms of education as they are delivered in other countries, and to explore the similarities and differences between the experiences of different countries. Practical implications: Policy-makers concerned to ensure that young people have the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes they need to engage in civic and political activity should focus on programmes of citizenship education rather than character education