Character education, as it has been defined by leaders in the field, has deep flaws, contended Alfie Kohn at his session "How Not to Teach Values." Although he "heartily endorses" educators' efforts to help students become good people, Kohn has many reservations about the character education programs schools are using. "The dominant, mainstream approach [to character education] in the country right now" manipulates students' behavior to produce "unreflective" actions, he charged. "This is what I see in classrooms—with some sterling exceptions."
Kohn discussed five concerns about character education programs as they are currently conceived.
- They take a "fix-the-kid" approach. Programs attempt to solve problems at the level of the child, Kohn said. They imply that problems rest solely within individuals; teachers should fix the child so that he "has character." This approach ignores what we know from social psychology—that structural characteristics help to drive individual behavior, Kohn said. Besides focusing on individuals, we also need to look at the structure of the school and classroom. If students' cheating is a problem, for example, we need to scrutinize the competitive system that fosters cheating.
- They take a dark view of human nature. "Character education theorists are refreshingly explicit about their views" of human nature, which are quite cynical, Kohn said. They see people as self-centered, willful, and aggressive, with their desires fighting their reason. According to this view, human beings' natural impulse is to be antisocial, and we must overcome selfish desires by force. Kohn objected to this view. "I'm not Carl Rogers; I'm not Mr. Rogers," he said, "but I believe it's as natural to be prosocial, cooperative, and distressed by others' distress." Educators must question programs whose practices grow out of a dark view of human nature, he said.
- They aim to maintain the status quo. The ultimate goal of character education programs is conservative, Kohn said; they respond to concerns for social stability. He suggested other possible goals: to promote social justice, to meet children's needs, to develop active participants in democracy, and to make students part of a caring community. We shouldn't "throw out" tradition, he said, but "it's a matter of emphasis."
- They beg the "Which values?" question. It's a cliche, Kohn said, to wave away this question with bland assurances, such as, "Don't worry about it. There's broad consensus on basic, underlying values." "Not so fast," Kohn said. Character education programs, in the values they emphasize and the values they eclipse, are promoting "an extremely right-wing agenda," he alleged. These programs define the values they emphasize—such as obedience, patriotism, respect, responsibility, and citizenship—in ways that foster "uncritical deference to authority," he warned.
- They ascribe to a "transmittal" theory of learning. The basic theory on which character education is based is one of instilling values in children, or indoctrination, Kohn said. As a result, programs rely on exhortation (using banners and posters, for example), and reward or punish students until they do what adults want.
If teachers know that children construct their own meanings, why would they use a character education program that transmits knowledge as if to empty vessels? Kohn asked rhetorically. "Kids are not clay to be molded, computers to be programmed, or pets to be trained," he said, and they won't become committed to values when the transmittal method is used to teach them.
Instead, teachers should help students "become thinkers about how we want ourselves and others to be," Kohn urged. Students and teachers should decide together what they want their community to be like, so students will understand values "from the inside out." Adults have a key role in this process, as models and facilitators, Kohn emphasized. Teachers must frame the discussion. "A constructivist teacher poses challenges and dilemmas," he said. "This critique is not an argument for relativism."
Kohn noted that some character education theorists claim that it's "a waste of time to get kids to reinvent basic values." His own view is the opposite: "Folks, there are no shortcuts."