CHARACTER EDUCATION IN PRINT: CONTENT ANALYSIS OF CHARACTER EDUCATION IN INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATION TEXTBOOKS

Albert Einstein is credited with saying that the most important component of education is the development of students’ character. While debate exists as to the delivery of character education in the public schools, it must be recognized that not all students have a support system outside of the schoolhouse. Consequently, when character development is not fostered within the home setting, this responsibility falls to the schools. Additionally, 36 states have enacted legislation that either mandates or encourages the inclusion of character education instruction in the schools’ curriculum. To address this need as well as comply with legislative mandates, teachers must first be provided the skill set to effectively incorporate character education in their respective classrooms. Teacher education programs bear this responsibility; however, the authors and publishers of textbooks marketed and sold for teacher education do as well. This study analyzed the content of eight introduction to education textbooks to determine the extent to which character education was presented to teacher candidates. The results revealed that the expansive topic of character education was largely silent in these textbooks. The information presented was found to be narrow in scope and breadth. Strong recommendations were offered for consideration by programs of education, professors, authors, and the publishing industry