Character education in a pluralistic context: can and should we teach values?

The last two years have seen a resurgence of interest from the UK Government and Department for Education in character education and the role of the school in educating students in more than just academics. The notion of school-driven character education is far from new and although few would disagree with the principle of cultivating good character in young people, the diversity of values in pluralistic societies and schools raises serious questions of whether it is possible or even legitimate to teach character. Here, I outline what character education does and does not set out to do, identify the issues of delivering character education in an educational context which some have argued is not fit for purpose, and offer some thoughts on its value in a society, which, increasingly, finds its diverse values in conflict with one another.