Resilience, self-discipline and good deeds – examining enactments of character education in English secondary schools

Abstract

ABSTRACT Character education has enjoyed renewed interest both in the United Kingdom and in other parts of the world. However, to date, few studies have examined how character education is enacted ‘in situ’. Drawing on data from a study in three English secondary schools, this paper traces how political and scientific discourses on character are mobilised in educational practice. Employing a discourse analytic reading of teachers’ and school managers’ interview accounts, the paper examines how different semantics of character were drawn upon, negotiated, and assembled with a focus on the construction of the subject. It was found that, depending on the school context, the participants foregrounded an ethical-culturalist or psycho-economic semantics or blended both. While the construction of a strong and self-steering subject was prominent, normative ideas of what it means to be a good person were also highlighted and suggest that local enactments of character education go beyond mere instrumentalist aims of shaping a productive workforce. The paper concludes with some reflections on the opportunities and dangers of an intensified focus on the reflexive capacities of the individual.