Below you’ll find the fifth essay I wrote for my MA in Character Education (2022-25). This one was a bit different – it was for a History and Politics module, very much outside my comfort zone! I decided to explore the issue of equity, which is a constant area of focus at my school, serving a largely disadvantaged community. My central question: What would equitable character education look like?
To answer this, I first needed a clear definition of equity – a challenging task, since there seems to be little consensus. After a close analysis of Levinson et al. (2022), I arrived at the following principle:
More resources should be allocated to disadvantaged children to ensure all children receive the minimum requirements for a good life.
Applying the principle to character education raises three key questions:
- How can we identify children who are disadvantaged in terms of character development?
- What is the minimum level of character development required for a flourishing life?
- What resources do disadvantaged students need to reach that level?
To explore these questions, I turned to the Jubilee Centre’s neo-Aristotelian model of moral development (Figure 1), which outlines two developmental paths:
- “Plan A”: For those raised with positive moral habits, who are generally guided by intrinsic motivation – doing good for its own sake.
- “Plan B”: For those lacking such upbringing, often driven by extrinsic motivation – doing good for rewards or approval (at least initially).
However, this model doesn’t differentiate between types of extrinsic motivation, which can vary in autonomy:
- External regulation – external rewards/punishments (least autonomous)
- Introjected regulation – internal rewards, e.g. pride or guilt
- Identified regulation – behaviour seen as personally important
- Integrated regulation – behaviour aligns with personal values (most autonomous)
To illustrate the differences, consider the example of brushing one’s teeth. A child might do it to earn a reward or avoid a punishment – this is external regulation. An adult, by contrast, might brush their teeth because they value personal hygiene – this reflects identified or integrated regulation. In both cases, the behaviour is extrinsically motivated: the act of brushing teeth doesn’t typically become more enjoyable with age. However, the adult’s motivation is more autonomous – that is, more self-governing – than the child’s.
So, the lower trajectory of the Jubilee Centre’s model can – and perhaps should – be divided into four distinct sub-paths, each corresponding to the different types of extrinsic motivation. It also occurred to me that beneath virtue lies its inverse – in other words, vice – ranging from those who commit vicious acts to earn rewards (external regulation), all the way down to those who do so purely for the fun of it (intrinsic motivation).
Building on these insights, I proposed an expanded model of moral development (Figure 2). At the very top of this hierarchy sits intrinsically motivated virtue; at the very bottom, intrinsically motivated vice. Any upward movement over time – represented by the dotted arrow – would count as moral progress.
From this model, we can begin to map character disadvantage. The most disadvantaged students are those acting out of intrinsically motivated vice – doing harm for its own sake. Thankfully, in my experience as a teacher, such children are few and far between. But those who do follow this most disadvantaged path tend to make themselves known through highly antisocial behaviour. These students, I argue, require the most support.
Now, what about the minimum requirements for a good life? In other words, is there a baseline level of character development that all children should attain? In the essay, I argue that this minimum is introjected virtue – the first level at which motivation becomes self-sustaining. It may not be deeply internalised; a child might do the right thing to boost their self-worth (pride) or to avoid guilt. But crucially, they carry that motivation with them. It means they will act rightly even when no one is watching – arguably the essence of character (Principle 5). Whether introjected virtue is enough to flourish is another question. But if a child has at least reached this level, they are unlikely to impede others’ flourishing.
Finally, what do children need in order to reach this level? In short: all the resources required to implement robust character education strategies – such as those outlined in the Jubilee Centre’s Character Teaching Inventory. I admit, this answer felt a little like a cop-out at the end. Alas, I had run out of words!
You can find the full essay below, beneath the figures.
