RT Review
T1 Self-knowledge and character formation: teaching to students' weaknesses
JF International journal of Christianity & education
VO 21
IS 1
SP 39
OP 54
A1 Griffis, Rachel B.
LA English
YR 2017
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1566791197
AB This article considers David Brooks' recent New York Times bestseller, The Road to Character, in light of Christian thinkers on the connection between virtue and suffering, specifically Dante and St John of the Cross. By putting Brooks in conversation with the Christian tradition, I show how his ideas, specifically his assertion that the mark of character is the willingness to encounter one's weaknesses, can be used by teachers concerned with cultivating virtue and character in their students. I argue that teaching to students' weaknesses, not only their strengths, is a significant way educators can cultivate virtue by helping students to understand their limitations. Students' growth in knowing their limitations and weaknesses is a kind of self-knowledge that points them inward ultimately to help them look beyond themselves and toward lives of service.
K1 Dante
K1 David Brooks
K1 Self-knowledge
K1 he dark night
K1 Virtue
K1 Rezension