Human Flourishing: The Context for Character Development in Christian Higher Education

Although character formation has always been a central goal of education, efforts to promote character education in schools have, in the last century, always been hampered by an inability to adequately define character. We offer the concept of the flourishing life as the appropriate context for defi...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Langer, Richard (Author)
Contributors: Hall, M. Elizabeth Lewis ; McMartin, Jason
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2010
In: Christian higher education
Year: 2010, Volume: 9, Issue: 4, Pages: 336-360
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Although character formation has always been a central goal of education, efforts to promote character education in schools have, in the last century, always been hampered by an inability to adequately define character. We offer the concept of the flourishing life as the appropriate context for defining and developing character. This concept, which includes a robust understanding of character, has historically prevailed in Western thought. We first recover some of the historical discussion, and then consider essential elements of the good life in light of this historical discourse and the findings of the social sciences, including the focused work on the flourishing life coming out of positive psychology. Finally, we consider some implications of a well-formed understanding of human flourishing for Christian higher education.
ISSN:1539-4107
Contains:Enthalten in: Christian higher education
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/15363759.2010.492738