I recently read a little biographical novel entitled Leaving Church. I found Barbara Brown Taylor’s story of ‘moving into and out of’ church ministry an honest and refreshing view of church leadership, one that should make those of us in the business of training these leaders think deeply about character. Here are a few quotes…
Theological convictions concerning the purpose of the church can deeply influence the consideration for character education that a particular tradition may hold. In a robust 30-year overview of the literature on theological education, Gustafson provides a taxonomy of different purposes for the church, which I will simplify and apply to the reception of character education. This…
What is the link between theology, theological education, a virtuous citizenry and government? If you visit the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena you will be able to admire four frescos completed by Ambrogio Lorenzetti between 1338 and 1339. The frescos are entitled Allegoria del Buono e Cattivo Governo e I loro Effetti in Città e in…
Online character education must rise to the challenge of developing specific virtues in light of the specific vices of digital native community. The digital native community brings with it new emphasis on certain vices, and offers the opportunity to correct with the appropriate virtues. Here are some examples of the challenging areas for digital natives that should…
Character education can be both taught and caught online. ‘Digital natives spend most of their daily lives on the Internet and possess certain temperaments inherent in contemporary Internet subcultures that are distinct from those of previous. However, little attention has been paid to any systematic online (or e) character education in the past. This has…
Online character education can caught and taught through a three-fold strategy, consisting in 1) developing an online culture, 2) creating specific courses and 3) integrating character education across the curriculum. The same principles and strategies for face to face character education projects that include elements of ‘caught’ and ‘taught’ can be implemented in online character education. This can happen through a three-fold strategy, consisting in 1) developing an online culture, 2) creating specific courses and 3) integrating character education across the curriculum. 1. An online culture where character education is caught Character can be caught online mostly through a virtue-rich culture of the online learning environment. This ‘hidden…
Character Education and Theological Education 