1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« With this study, I hope to demonstrate how character education can move beyond theory and into the classroom. In particular, I hope to demonstrate that morality can be taught in a multicultural environment without suppressing any one particular culture. » (pp. 8-9)

Questions/Hypothèses :
« In addition to the general problem statement of how character education has been established in the school there are a number of more specific research questions that are used to guide this study:
1. What basis did the school use in developing the concept of ’families’?
2. What role does the conception of the ’family unit’ play in teacher character education?
3. How has the implementation of ’family units’ contributed, if at all, to the moral culture of the school?
4. Does classroom practice adhere to the comprehensive approach that Lickona’s model proposes to incorporate chatacter education into the school?
5. How does incorporating character education through the use of the concept ’families’ benefit/limit the learning process? » (pp. 7-8)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
Une unité familiale (family unit), formée de 23 élèves du primaire âgés entre 6 et 9 ans, dans une école anglophone de Montréal, et menée par un « family teacher », ainsi que d’anciens étudiants du programme.

Instruments :
Grille d’observation de la période hebdomadaire allouée à l’unité familiale (deux heures), durant huit semaines; canevas d’entrevues de groupe avec les étudiants actuels du programme, avec deux enseignants, celui de la classe observée et un autre, nouvellement introduit au programme, et d’anciens étudiants du programme

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

« This thesis examines a character education program at a local Montreal elementary school. Character education as a necessary component of the classroom, has dominated the field of moral education for many years. The theories of Thomas Lickona, William Damon, and Anne Lockwood, have established different approaches to incorporating character education into the classroom. Although these theories have had a wide influence on the support for character education in today’s classroom, the forms these programs have taken has been criticized for being too traditional and not serving the changing needs of today’s classroom. Noddings work as an ethicist of care has been critical of these theories for their reliance on an ethic of justice as opposed to an ethic of care. This thesis draws on the model put forth by Lickona for educating for character to demonstrate the practical nature of a character education program. The thesis also incorporates Noddings’ ethic of care in determining if the students are engaged in the program and if Lickona’s model is being put into action through individual relations between the students. » (p. iii)