Citizenship and Character Education in British Education Policy

The formation of character could be said to be the aim that all general education has historically set out to achieve. It is an aim that has often not been explicitly stated, instead it has simply been assumed. This has been the prevailing story of British education policy on character building in schools. Currently, in Britain, it is the government that is advocating the teaching of virtues in schools and it is the government that is seeking policies to build the character of the young, particularly through citizenship education. However, it does so largely on a philosophy that fails to provide a substantive explanation of what the basis of this citizenship or character education is. There is no consensus in schools of what virtues should be taught or how they should be taught. Government policy on ‘education with character’ appears fragmented, but a careful reading of the range of official documents indicates the potential for a more coherent view, but nevertheless one that continues to side step any fundamental agreement. This article traces the early development of character education in schools as an explicit government policy within citizenship