Abstract:
For a long time since the banning of corporal punishment, character education is back on the agenda in
Kenyan education policy. However, there is much uncertainty on how it should be implemented in schools
and there is no one definition of what it means. This is not surprising since there has clearly been a long
history of ill-conceived, ineffective and failed efforts at character education in Kenya and elsewhere in the
world. The kinds of character goals that teachers and educational thinkers espouse and the teaching
methods they use vary enormously. Although character education is seen as part of citizenship education by
the government, there is no clear way on how this could be achieved. Even now, questions as to whether
the current 8-4-4 educational system serves the purpose of education linger in people’s minds. With the
banning of corporal punishment, research has shown that there are currently no viable alternatives offered
by the government to the various pedagogical methods used for maintaining discipline and teaching
character education in Kenyan schools. Unfortunately, these gaps may well have prevented the emergence
of a clear definition and working consensus on character education for schools. This perhaps sets the basis
for the development of this paper. The aim of this paper is therefore to explore the role of teachers in
character education development. It explores ways in which the teacher can enhance character education in
the classroom. The paper utilizes desktop review of literature concerning the character education and how it
can be inculcated in the school context. It draws on literature that depicts the implications of teaching
content and skills on character education. Further, the paper addresses the implications of these aspects for
the school curriculum and draws out some conclusions.
