Of good character: exploration of virtues and values in 3–25 year-olds

In Of Good Character, James Arthur reports the findings and conclusions of an extensive and comprehensive mixed-method research study into the virtues and values of young people between the ages of 3 and 25 years. The study, largely funded by an extensive grant from the John Templeton Foundation, is notable for being the largest exploration of character education to date in the UK. The content of Of Good Character brings together the results of five substantial age-phased reports and in doing so adds greatly to the literature in the field. As the author reminds us, and as the research presented here attests, whilst the family remains the primary source in developing the character of the child, the role of education, schooling and teachers should not be underestimated. Following an introduction by Lord Watson of Richmond, the book comprises nine chapters. Chapter 1 provides a brief summary of the educational and public policy context relating to character education. Chapter 2 sets out the research aims and methods used throughout the project. Each of the remaining seven chapters concentrates on a particular thematic analysis drawn from across the data-set, namely the Individual, Family and Friends, Community Civic Engagement and Volunteering, Schools and Teachers, Universities and Employment, Language and Media and Religion. Each of these chapters is clearly and usefully structured, starting with extracts from respondents, a summary of the studies’ main findings in relation to the respective theme, a discussion of these findings in relation to the literature and a set of recommendations for consideration. The style employed is accessible and direct, and readers are likely to enjoy its refreshing clarity. Of Good Character contains many more notable findings than can be given attention here, and so I will choose to summarise briefly two which I found to be of particular interest. The first relates to the language used by young people in their discussions of character and values. Whilst the research found that across the dataset, ‘young people are interested in their own character and are concerned with enhancing the good aspects of their character’ (p. 21), Arthur reports that a ‘finding consistent throughout the reports is that young people lacked a language to talk meaningfully about character and virtues’ (p. 79). This finding is disconcerting and suggests that schools and teachers need to pay greater attention not only on how they may help young people to develop a substantive moral language and vocabulary, but also on how they may work effectively with other sources of character development (e.g. the family) towards such an end. The second finding of particular interest, which is related to the first, concerns teacher perceptions of character and values within education. Arthur reports that whilst teachers believe: ‘it is the role of the school to develop values . there does not seem to be a consistent understanding of what these are, the areas of school life they relate to, and the processes through which Evaluation & Research in Education Vol. 24, No. 3, September 2011, 217 225