Richard Osguthorpe

Caring in a technology-mediated online high school context

The objective of this study was to describe how caring is experienced in the technology-mediated context of the Open High School in Utah, an online charter high school. Two female teachers, two male students, and two female students were interviewed three times over 9 months regarding their experience of caring teacher–student interactions. Data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Discovered themes were then organized into three superordinate themes: engrossment, motivational displacement, and reciprocity. Results suggest not only that caring interactions are possible in the online context, but also that specific caring pedagogies can strengthen the teacher–student relationship online. Additionally, evidence indicates that student reactions play an important role in caring in the online medium.

The Moral Nature of Teacher Candidate Beliefs about the Purposes of Schooling and Their Reasons for Choosing Teaching as a Career.

This study reports teacher candidate beliefs about the purposes of schooling and their reasons for choosing a career in teaching. The beliefs are analyzed in relation to the moral work of teaching, and the findings suggest that teacher candidates choose teaching as a career, in part, to engage in moral work, and that they believe that schooling has moral ends. The article concludes by providing implications for teacher education research and practice, suggesting that these implications have particular relevance in the current environment of high-stakes testing and accountability, as well as for constructivist teacher educators who seek to understand and meaningfully respond to their teacher candidates’ beliefs.

Analysing the Child Development Project using the Moral Work of Teaching Framework

This inquiry applies the Moral Work of Teaching (MWT) Framework to analyse the psychological, moral and educational assumptions, and the contingent factors, that explain the basic features of the Child Development Projects (CDP) approach to moral education. The analysis, it is suggested, not only illuminates the CDPs approach, but the virtues and implications of using an appropriately complex, theoretically descriptive framework, such as the MWT Framework, as a tool for understanding, comparing, developing and applying approaches to moral education.

The Scholarship of Educational Foundations: What Does It Imply for Teaching a Course?

This article examines the process of learning to teach an educational foundations course and explores the complexities of designing and teaching an educational foundations course based on the current educational foundations scholarship. The author details his graduate school experiences related to the pedagogy of educational foundations, connects that initial training to his early induction experiences, and describes how his understanding of the pedagogy of educational foundations has evolved over this period of time. In conclusion, the author examines the idiosyncratic nature of the course he currently teaches and offers recommendations for the preparation of future foundations educators.

The Phenomenon of Character Development in a Distance Education Course

Rarely are character development-related aims espoused by higher education reflected in the design and delivery of distance education programs. Further, literature exploring the character development aspects of distance education is sparse. This study finds that the instructor and students in a fantasy literature distance course perceived myriad kinds of character development related to performance, moral, relational, and spiritual character traits and strengths. This paper considers implications for character development in distance education and directions for future research.

“Like Produces Like”: John Heyl Vincent and His 19th Century Theory of Character Education

An examination of late 19th century writings about character development by popular educator and revered Methodist bishop John Heyl Vincent (1832–1920) sheds additional insight on early character education theory. Vincent is best known as the cofounder of the Chautauqua movement in 1874. However, his theoretical constructs for character development merit not only acknowledgment in the disciplines official history but also further investigation and discussion by todays scholars. The constructs identified from early writings suggest that effective character education occurs in both the home and the school and requires parents and teachers who model good moral character. This article posits the importance of a teachers moral character as the central idea of Vincents theory of character education, and it provides one example of how theories of character education at home transitioned to theories of character education at school during this important time period.

Pedagogical Considerations that May Encourage Character Development in a Distance Education Course

The aims espoused by institutions of higher education often entail the development of students’ character. Rarely, however, are these character development aims connected to the unique design and delivery of distance education programs, and the research literature that explores the moral and character development aspects of distance education is sparse. This case study examines instructor and student perceptions of approaches, instructional methods, and other factors that contributed to perceived character development in a fantasy literature distance education course. Findings indicate the instructor and students perceived myriad kinds of character development and corresponding approaches and methods for bringing about such development in the context of the course. This paper considers possible implications for character development in the context of distance education and directions for future research.