Relationships between character education and school climate

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between character education and school climate based on the lived experiences and beliefs of teachers. The research was conducted in a public middle school to explore understandings and beliefs of teachers about character education and its perceived impact on school climate. Social learning theory was used as a theoretical framework to ground this research. This qualitative research employed interview study as the research methodology. Teachers interviews were used as the main data collection instrument. Analysis of interviews revealed three significant themes emerging from current practices. These themes were: Character education promotes social skills development; Character education helps develop positive personal skills; and Character education contributes to a safe school environment. This qualitative interview study suffered from four main limitations. They were sample size, semi-structured nature of the interview process, timing of the interview, and diversity of the participants. This research concluded there is a positive relationship between character education and school climate. However, the research also indicated there was a consensus among participants about character education not being the only factor affecting school climate as there were several other factors playing a role in improved school climate. Further research may be warranted to examine the degree in which character education, among other factors, is playing a role in shaping school climate. These findings may provide a vantage point for scholar-practitioners to focus on designing, implementing, and evaluating character education in an effort to improve overall school climate.