Introduction
This entry provides insight into why a focus on character and virtue is required to enhance current approaches to teaching and teacher education. It prioritizes the moral theory of virtue ethics, arguing it should be central to our understanding of teachers as professionals. Focusing primarily on practice in the UK, arguments are made for the need to (re)align teacher education, with a focus on core virtues associated with being a good and wise teacher. The entry concludes by providing theoretical and practical arguments alongside examples that can be applied internationally, about how such a vision can be achieved through a focus on the neo-Aristotelian concepts of flourishing, virtue, and practical wisdom.
Why Virtue Ethics?
In recent years there have been many high-profile examples across the world of what might be described as “unvirtuous practice” within the professions. Doctors, bankers, lawyers, politicians, teachers, and others from around the world have been the...
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References
Harrison, T., & Khatoon, B. (2017). Character, virtue and professional education: Research report. Birmingham: University of Birmingham.
Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues. (2016). Statement on character, virtue and practical wisdom in professional practice. http://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/userfiles/jubileecentre/pdf/Statement_Character_Virtue_Practical_Wisdom_Professional_Practice.pdf
Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues. (2017). A framework for character education in schools. https://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/userfiles/jubileecentre/pdf/character-education/Framework%20for%20Character%20Education.pdf
Kristjánsson, K. (2015). Aristotelian character education. London: Routledge.
MacIntyre, A. (1984). After virtue. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
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Harrison, T. (2019). Virtue Ethics in Teacher Education. In: Peters, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Teacher Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_182-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_182-1
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