ABSTRACT
[Abstract] Chapter 4 presents a critique of character education built on Aristotelian virtue ethics and in particular examines the work of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues founded in 2012. The Jubilee Centre has produced a vast range of resources now widely used in the teaching of character in schools. Aristotelian virtue ethics is premised on a view of the self as an imperfect and unfinished project, with a teleology of self-improvement predicated on the use of judgement and practical reason. However, whilst it has the potential to counter the weaknesses in emotions work discussed in Chapters 2 and 3, it has been criticized for its orientation to individualism to the detriment of the public and political, as well as teaching resources that fall short of the aspiration to promote ‘critical’ and ‘reflective’ thinking. Chapter 4 builds on this critique of the Jubilee Centre’s approach by raising three principal objections: the positioning of the teacher as an objective observer and ‘paragon of virtue’; the assumption of children as ‘potentially human’ on a progression to ‘full’ humanity, and a reliance on a transmission model of learning about virtues and vices that weakens the relationships of interdependence through which character develops.
