Abstract
This study describes the instructional resources that facilitated elementary teachers’ integration of character education into their content standards-aligned curriculum. This single-site case study utilized qualitative data, including curricular materials, teacher interviews, and researchers’ anecdotal notes from professional development sessions and committee meetings, collected from five teachers and one district character education coordinator, over the course of 1 year, as they designed and piloted the new character education-infused curriculum. Findings from this study indicated the importance of instructional resources for teachers to successfully integrate character education into an elementary, content standards-aligned curriculum. These resources include the provision of time for cross-grade level teacher collaboration, opportunities for co-teaching with a character education coordinator, utilizing literature to develop character traits, and community-based learning. The findings of this case study provide professional learning recommendations and resources for integrating character education into an elementary, content standards-aligned curriculum.
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Ciampa, K., Wolfe, Z.M. Integrating character education into an elementary common core standards-aligned curriculum: a pilot study. Curric Perspect 41, 59–69 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-020-00116-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-020-00116-2