Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen Movement

Theoretical Aspects of Character Development

Over the past century, several psychologist and theorists (Piaget, Vygotsky, Kohlberg, Bloom) proposed models and taxonomies to explain moral and cognitive aspects of  human development. Among the first theorist who worked on the moral and cognitive development of human was Jean Piaget. Piaget proposed that “all development emerges from action; that is to say, individuals construct and reconstruct their knowledge of the world as a result of interactions with the environment.” (Nucci, 1997). Piaget’s postulates were based on his observations of children playing and limited empirical studies based on his findings. He believed that children first develop cognitive ability and that cognitive abilities then determine the children’s logical reasoning abilities. Accordingly, he concluded that moral development occurs in predictable discrete stages starting form egocentric moral reasoning behavior at early childhood to  justice- based cooperative moral reasoning adolescence(Slavin, 2006, p.51) .  After his lengthy observation of children’s moral reasoning during their play, he formulated his famous four cognitive development stages to describe, not only the cognitive development of children, but also to help understand their moral development.  The driving force behind Piaget’s inference was that younger children were more strict in their perception of right and wrong than older children or adults. Benjamin Bloom , Piaget’s contemporary, also worked on cognitive domain or mental reasoning, and concluded a similar developmental framework, but his included six levels of intellectual behavior development stages (Vogler, 2009, p.110). Although, both theories and their development structure  may seem  similar when considering the gradual development of human  behavior,  they differ greatly in terms of how they define cognitive and moral development and predict the future  intellectual and moral development of children.  The technological advances in neuroscience offers research-based explanation about the ability to develop logical reasoning and psychological maturity, and  at a certain point it could be interpreted  as supporting Paget’s  cognitive stages. In fact, researchers have shown that individuals at around age sixteen have (late adolescence) almost completed the development of their logical reasoning ability, while psychological maturity development continues as late as 25 years of age (Steinberg, 2009, p.40)

The practical implication of Piaget’s findings to the education system was that his work suggested the use of cooperative learning strategies by which teachers nurture mutual decision making habits and problem solving ability, and emphasize fairness while creating environment for personal discovery rather than direct coaching students with moral values (Nucci, 1997).

A few years after Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg also developed a stage theory of moral reasoning . Theoretically Kohlberg did not propose something completely new. Instead,  his work  of six developmental stages was a modification of Piaget’s development stages. Like Piaget, he also proposed that children develop moral reasoning ability through  their practices and personal experiences which comprise comprehension of moral  values such as fairness, justice, and human welfare. (Nucci, 1997) 

Unlike Piaget, who observing playing children,  Kohlberg used moral dilemmas  to understand the ability of moral reasoning of children at different ages. He then concluded that moral dilemmas can actually help kinds advance their moral reasoning ability, but only one stage at a time. (Slavin, 2006, p.55).  As a result, Kohlberg also disputed the effectiveness of traditional character education which involves direct teaching of moral norms, and instead he proposed that these “bag of values” be integrated into the fabric of the standard school curriculum.  His  inferences also coincided with our understand of today’s pluralistic society that there are no single set of moral values that can be imposed on young children. Instead there are moral dilemmas that collectively agreed upon such as social conventions to regulate social relations and interactions.  For instance, he pointed that individuals can make different decisions, yet they may hold the same core moral values.

Despite the evidentiary differences in their opinions, one of the common themes that these psychologist and theorist agree upon is the emphasis on “universal values” appealing to all religions, cultures and values of pluralist society in a democratic setting, as it has also  been long advocated by Fethullah Gulen (http://www.fethullahgulen.org/)

How a Good Character Education Program is Implemented

The goal of a good character education program is to help schools create a safe, caring, and inclusive learning environment for all students where they can develop socially, emotionally, ethically, and academically. A character education program seeks to create such an environment by promoting core ethical values such as respect, responsibility, perseverance, honesty, fortitude, fairness, and compassion.  To be effective, character education must be implemented through a holistic approach, known as whole school reform, which integrates character development into every aspect of school life. While character education fosters qualities that help students be law-abiding citizens accepted by the society, it also lays the foundation for success in their future careers by teaching them self-discipline and compassion for others. A distinct feature of the holistic model is its emphasis on “building a caring community” (Character Education Partnership, n.d.) among students by fostering cooperation and collaboration over competition, by stressing discipline and classroom management based on problem-solving techniques rather than on rewards and punishments, and by favoring a democratic student-centered teaching approach over the old teacher-centered classroom model.

Based on the results of extensive research and on consultation with leading character education experts, the Character Education Partnership (CEP) prepared Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education to provide guidance on the elements that should be included in an effective, comprehensive character education program. The Eleven Principles, which compliment the core values that Gulen has been emphasizing in child education for the past thirth years, are to: 1. promote core ethical and performance values; 2. teach students to understand, care about, and act upon these core values; 3. encompass all aspects of school culture; 4. foster a caring school community; 5. provide opportunities for moral action; 6. support academic achievement; 7. develop intrinsic motivation; 8. include whole-staff involvement; 9. require positive leadership of staff and students; 10. involve parents and community members; and 11. assess results and strive to improve.

In addition to the above principles responding the growing needs of our ever-shrinking world, Gulen rightfully adds “dialogue” as another attribute that must be gained at early stages of schooling. Williams says, “These schools have been producing generations open for dialogue, …we have a lot to take from the education perspective of Gulen” (http://tr.fgulen.com/content/view/9351/12/ )