Blazing New Trails - Connexions

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CRITICAL ISSUES IN SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Self-Efficacy and Principal Involvement in Character Education
Robert Tatman
Stacey L. Edmonson
John R. Slate
With character education as one of the “fastest growing reform movements in P-12
education today” (Williams, 2000, p. 32), understanding the principal’s leadership role and
perceived abilities in character education is critical for program success. Educational
administrators, in pivotal roles as instructional leaders and school reform change agents, need
to be aware of character education programs including curriculum content, program delivery,
and evaluation processes designed to assess effectiveness. The American School Counselor
Association (ASCA) has posited that school counselors, teachers, and administrators work
cooperatively in providing character education as an integral part of the school curriculum and
activities (ASCA, 1998).
The growth of the character education movement, according to Wynne and Hess
(1987), is largely due to the increasing irresponsible and destructive behavior being reported
among youth. Jensen, Lewis, Williams, and Yanchar (2003) noted, however, “The vast
majority of character education programs to date have not focused on secondary education
applications where youth might participate” (p. 4). In such a context of increasing malevolent
youth behavior, parents and the public alike are demanding that schools eradicate bad
behavior, promote good behavior, and maintain a safe learning environment. With the
responsibility for school change and success resting with the building-level principal, we
believe it is important to examine relationships between principals’ perceived efficacy beliefs
for character education success and their abilities to implement, administer, and evaluate
character education programs. School administrators who are aware of personal levels of selfefficacy
necessary to implement the many components of a successful character program may
be aided in their decision-making, leadership focus, and levels of effort toward selfimprovement.
National attention is now being given to more areas than academic achievement alone.
With the goal of ensuring students’ future success, an educational shift exists that includes a
broader view of what constitutes student successes. For example, focusing on the educational
practice of developing the whole child is the Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development’s (ASCD) adopted position (Freeley, 2005). This stance affirms the
organization’s educational belief regarding the dimensions of human growth and
development, and reflects a broader understanding of the whole child—a view resurfacing
amidst the heavily entrenched culture of academic performance and accountability (Freeley,
2005). Encapsulating ASCD’s position that extends a child’s education beyond the present
focus on academic achievement and assessment, Freeley (2005) noted, “A comprehensive
approach to learning recognizes that successful young people are knowledgeable, emotionally
and physically healthy, motivated, civically inspired, engaged in the arts, prepared for work
and economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond their own borders” (para. 2).
Robert Tatman, Crosby Independent School District
Stacey L. Edmonson, Sam Houston State University
John R. Slate, Sam Houston State University