Abstract

In the United States, character education efforts have taken many forms; from the Just Community approach of developmentalists such as Lawrence Kohlberg to the traditional values approach of Bill Bennett. Unfortunately, the traditionalists are often not clear about what they mean by character, and the developmentalist perspective describes the process of moral reasoning and growth rather than the content of morality. What is needed is more knowledge as to what one means when one speaks of character. Is character a relativistic concept which varies according to a particular culture, or are there certain universal themes inherent in all definitions of character? ;The researcher conducted a content analysis of thirty-six folktales chosen randomly from Dorson's Folktales Told Round the World. The analysis employed an inductive approach to identify and compare themes related to character both within and across six geographical regions meant to encompass the world's major people groups. A pilot study established a high degree of interrater reliability and also helped to establish a coding system for the actual study. ;Twenty-two themes relating to character were found among the folktales. The most commonly found themes were wisdom/foolishness, violence/peacefulness, love/hate, and courage. Only the themes of wisdom, love and courage were found to be universal, both in terms of their geographical appearance and their consistent treatment with regard to character. The study, therefore, suggests that good character is universally definable by the qualities of wisdom, love, and courage. This study also pointed out that most of what people believe to be universal indicators of good character are, in fact, relatively or regionally determined. ;Character educators and educators in general are left with the task of teaching those values which they hold to be universal. First, they must identify the values to be taught. Finally, they must be willing to live up to the high standards those value demand