Life Goals and Character Development

Most character education schools showcase a virtue of the week or of the month. Each has an operating list of 6 to 12-plus virtues, which was arrived at after a process of consensus building. Other virtues among the many that have been identified are often attached as adjuncts to the core virtues on the list. The question can be posed: among the lists of virtues used in various schools across the country, which list is superior? Which virtues are the most important or fundamental to teach? More importantly, how can the practice of virtue be demonstrated as being relevant to a young person's life?

The end toward which virtues are practiced is as important as the virtues themselves. Simply practicing a set of virtues does not necessarily make for a person of character. For example, the members of the Mafia practice virtues every day. They value the virtues of honesty, trust and loyalty so highly that they commit to them with their lives. They love and care for their families. They are responsible and persevering in their work. Yet does this mean that Mafiosi are virtuous people? The more fundamental question is, what purpose and goals are the virtues serving?

Making a case for universal moral values relates to large questions of meaning and purpose. Alisdaire MacIntyre, a prominent contemporary ethicist, places instruction in virtues within the fundamental human need to have a meaningful life story. He states, "To adopt a stance on the virtues is to adopt a stance on the narrative of human life… Belief in the virtues being of a certain kind and belief in human life exhibiting a certain narrative order are internally connected."1 In other words, the way people conceive of virtues and vices depends upon their overall view of their life's path. When young people make a personal connection between values and their own life's purposes, they are more inclined in the end to act in valuable, prosocial ways.2 Thus, a vision of the moral life as learning about love appeals to individuals' moral as well as romantic imagination. All in all, adopting a view of life's meaning affords a valuable perspective for understanding the elements of character development and fortifying the character education process.

A Framework for a Meaningful Life-
The Three Basic Life Goals

Are there certain goals for life, which people universally desire and pursue? The universal longing for a happy and prosperous life is innate in human nature. All people seek the material goods that make for happiness-adequate food, shelter, material comfort, good health and long life. Likewise, people strive to attain spiritual and moral goals that are needed for lasting happiness. These may be broadly classified as follows:

(1) Personal maturity

(2) Loving relationships and family

(3) Contribution to society

For simplicity, these can be referred to as the Three Basic Life Goals. Achieving personal maturity, engaging in loving and satisfying relationships and contributing meaningfully to society are important priorities for achieving a fulfilling and balanced life.

These three purposes are found throughout the spectrum of moral thought. They are found in a foundational Confucian text that begins, "The Great Learning teaches: to manifest shining virtue, to love people, and to rest in the highest good." Covey expressed these goals as "to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy," and considers them fundamental to human life.3 "To live" and "to learn" are aspects of the first life goal of personal maturity. "To love" encompasses the second life goal of loving relationships and family, and "to leave a legacy" describes the third life goal of making a contribution to society. Longer lists of life's priorities can readily be classified accordingly.4

The purpose of education in the broadest sense is to produce decent, competent human beings who will form strong families and be assets to society. These three educational goals were identified by British educator Richard Livingstone as: 1) to achieve personal maturity and integrity; 2) to find happiness in love through having a family and friends; and 3) to be successful in one's chosen career and so to contribute to society.5

In reality, many people do not make these goals a priority. Even while they pursue them, they don't necessarily achieve them. Yet the desire to attain them is latent in the human personality. When parents and schools lift up these goals as an explicit moral framework for life, young people can orient themselves to what is most meaningful and identify those values and tasks that may bring the greatest fulfillment.

1Alisdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, 2nd ed. (South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press, 1984), p. 144.

2Elena Mustakova-Poussardt, "The Ontogeny of Critical Consciousness," Ph.D. dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA, 1996.

3Steven Covey, First Things First (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), p. 45.

4Thus the life goals listed by Milton Rokeach, The Nature of Human Values (New York: Free Press, 1973), can be classified under:

Personal maturity: 2) freedom, 4) happiness, 5) an exciting life, 6) wisdom, 8) self-respect, 15) inner harmony, 16) pleasure

Loving relationships, and family: 3) equality-brotherhood, equal opportunity, 9) mature love, 13) true friendship, 17) family security

Contribution to society: 1) a world at peace, 7) a comfortable life, 10) social recognition, 11) sense of accomplishment, 12) national security, 14) a world of beauty.

5Richard Livingstone, Education for a World Adrift (Cambridge, 1943).