초등학교 인격교육에 관한 논의 = A Discussion on Character Education in Elementary Schools

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study was to discuss on character education in elementary schools. Character education, as old as education itself, is a wide tent, covering a variety of approaches to building good character. Moral education goes through cycles. It oscillates between teaching moral principles and moral virtues. In the past few years character education has emerged as the leading term for school efforts to implement programs in the area of moral values, ethics and citizenship education. Advocates of character education believe the breadth and directness of their approach offer the most promising response to the social-moral problems that beset modem societies. There are at least three compelling reasons why all schools should be engaged in character education. The first is that we need good character to be fully human The second is that schools are better places for moulding good characters. The third is that it is essential to the task of building a moral society. Character education is based on virtue ethics which is a very old view. But many moral education theories like Lawrence Kohlberg rejected the virtues approach to moral education, criticizing it `bag of virtues` approach But the recent supporters for character education call for balance and harmonies between affect and cognition. Character education had many problems inherently, such as moral idealism, conservatism, indoctrination, ambiguous and not certain waning. And also it will not be easy to have full realization of character education, considering current situations of Korean elementary schools. Those required to achieve all the goals of character education were moral theories harmonizing virtue ethics and duty ethics, and proper roles of all the related persons with child, such as teachers, a principal, parents, peers. In the elementary school, the methods for character education have to differ from age, grade and subject.