Virtue Education and Early Childhood Learners

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of specific instruction of virtue on early childhood learners. An adapted virtue curriculum focusing on the cardinal virtues was used in conjunction with teachings on kindness to build an awareness in vocabulary and example of the cardinal virtues. Parent surveys were sent out via email twice per week and instruction was given three times per week. Older students were given the opportunity to record what they learned in packets of papers stapled together and termed virtue journals. Prior to the initial week of virtue education, participants were introduced to the Kindness Jar which recorded instances of kindness witnessed in the classroom and shared by the participants in a group setting. The most significant findings indicated saint stories as being most influential on the participants who were early childhood learners in a Catholic Montessori school in the Midwest region of the United States. The most relevant data was collected from the virtue journal drawings of the five- and six-year-olds and written responses from parent surveys. These both indicated a strong recall of saint stories which were at times associated with the virtue studied that particular week. Further research on the effect of exclusively using saint stories to teach virtue would be another area of interest, which could add to the current body of research.