1 Introduction
Learning for Life is a major research project, largely funded by the John Templeton
Foundation and Porticus UK. It is an ambitious and groundbreaking initiative with few
parallels in the UK. Indeed, there has not yet been a coherent exploration of character
development that studies all educational age groups and on into employment. Within the
overall project, Learning for Life, this is one of five separate studies; (a) a character
perspective in the early years; (b) consistency in values in the transition from primary to
secondary school; (c) the values and character dispositions of 14-16 year olds; (d) the
formation of virtues and dispositions in the 16-19 age range; and (e) values in higher
education and employment. The research focuses on the age range 3 to 25 years, which
makes the scope and the approach unique. The five studies constitute the empirical
background to a final report which will focus on Character Development, an often
neglected but essential dimension of all sound education.
The overall sample involves tracking more than 4,000 children and young people, 300
parents and 100 teachers over a two-year period in Birmingham, Bristol, Canterbury and
London. In addition, the sample contains in-depth interviews with 85 undergraduates and
65 graduate employees together with a series of group interviews and case study
observations. Additional case studies of particular issues have also been undertaken. Each
project has a dedicated full-time research fellow working over a two to three year period.
This particular study enquires into the values, attitudes and dispositions of 14 to 16 year
old students in a particular urban environment and the extent to which the education
system and the local environment advance or inhibit their sense of self, their values and
their character development. These students constitute a heterogeneous group of religious
and non-religious individuals.
This study discusses what students understand by character. It set out to ascertain the
moral values held by a group of students living in an inner-city area. The study sought to
question who or what has influenced their moral values and examined which individuals,
institutions and situations might have hindered or promoted their development. Some of
the issues and concerns which arose - for example, relations with neighbours, the matter
of local and national pride and questions of trust - may seem not to impinge upon
character education per se. The data is nevertheless presented here because it constitutes
important evidence, the potential significance of which will need to be taken into account
in the final report which will be based upon all five separate studies of the Learning for
Life project on Character Education and Development - context, policy and practice.
As far as possible the research strategy was designed to explore the ways in which young
people describe how they think, feel and behave. It is difficult to report on and analyse
their thinking without introducing ideas and perspectives that originate from the research
team (rather than the data); but the intention was to be honest with ourselves and with
others about this. A large number of concepts arise in this project: values, morality,
virtues, duties, and principles. However, there is no consensus either on the meaning of
these words or on how these should be fitted into a single system of thought. Moreover,
there is little agreement on how education does or should impact on these concepts.
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