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If educators are silent on moral issues, that means only that other voices will have exclusive call on children's minds. No one, Mr. Etzioni suggests including Alfie Kohn - could possibly favor such a world.
IN HIS February 1997 article, "How Not to Teach Values," Alfie Kohn criticizes just about everyone involved in character education, asserting that the values taught in classrooms across America are based on "the ideological legs of behaviorism, conservatism, and religion." One wishes that he would consider partaking of at least one of the commonly taught virtues himself: humility. His long essay is filled with statements about how everyone, except him, has gotten it all wrong. I will let others speak for themselves. Here I speak only for the core positions that the Communitarian Network has developed over the years, which are articulated in a number of position papers and in The Spirit of Community.'
1. The school as total environment. One of Kohn's major claims is that advocates for character education, specifically the Communitarian Network, argue "for the most part" in favor of "a collection of exhortations and extrinsic inducements." His own recommendation, albeit very sparsely discussed, is the following: "More than specific practices that might be added, subtracted, or changed, a program to help children grow into good people begins with a commitment to change the way classrooms and schools are structured" (p. 437). Welcome to the club. Our position is and has been from the outset that everything that happens in school - the total culture and social environment -- shapes experiences that either help build good character or end up undermining it.
Educators have long been aware that extracurricular activities, especially sports, influence character. If young athletes learn that "winning is the only thing," rather than "it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game," their character will be shaped accordingly. Less well understood is the fact that everything a school does affects character.
From the viewpoint of character formation in general, it is best to view education as a series of experiences, whether they take place in the classroom, in the gym, or elsewhere. Are the parking lots negotiated with consideration or recklessness? Do students throw food in the cafeteria? How...