Tom Harrison

Debates about artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education are often polarised between technological optimism, alarmist concern about academic integrity, and pragmatic managerial responses. While these perspectives highlight important issues, they frequently fail to address a more fundamental question: what is the purpose of a university education in an age of increasing automation? This article argues that AI-related challenges expose the limitations of assessment- and efficiency-driven conceptions of higher education and invite renewed attention to its formative aims. Drawing on a neo-Aristotelian account of character education, the article proposes a model that prioritises the development of moral, civic, intellectual, and performative virtues as a human-centred response to AI-enabled disruption. By synthesising literatures on character education and AI in higher education, the article demonstrates how a virtue-based framework can address concerns relating to integrity, agency, epistemic responsibility, civic formation, and wider questions of educational purpose. The paper concludes by outlining practical implications for curriculum design and assessment, showing how universities can respond to AI in ways that support both individual flourishing and the public good.

ABSTRACT Living well in the 21st century will present human beings with a unique set of demands and ethical challenges, many of which will require a rapid response to developments in the online space. Online activities increasingly permeate our practical lives. Although there is every indication that this activity will intensify, even experts on digital technology recognise that the precise effects of future emergent technology will be uncertain and remain unknown. We argue that education directed at the cultivation of cyber-wisdom and other cyber-virtues provides our best chance of creating a moral vocabulary that can guide us towards living well in the 21st century. The aim of this article is to offer the first outline of an educational model, founded on neo-Aristotelian theory, that illustrates how these qualities could be cultivated through moral education.

ABSTRACT Virtual reality (VR) is an increasingly popular artificially mediated, immersive experience that is accessed through a headset. Recent research is starting to provide evidence about the positive impact that virtual reality technology can have on teaching and learning. This research, to date, has been primarily undertaken in higher education and in disciplines related to the health sciences. In this article, the possibilities, and problematics of using virtual reality in taught character education approaches are explored. The article proposes that VR can bring four learning opportunities for character educators that would not be possible in the traditional classroom. These expansive, immersive, embodied and autonomous learning opportunities can be harnessed to educate six components of virtue. In the article, the risks of VR use for character education are also investigated. The aim of the article is to get ahead of the EdTech developers and provide theoretical, conceptual and practical insights that will help ensure that the promise of VR to enhance character education can be realised.

Is character education flawed as an approach to values education? A 2013 article answered that question in the negative and defused ten common objections against character education as ‘myths’. The aim of the present article is to revisit those objections and consider the evidence that has accumulated since 2013. After a brief historical and conceptual rehearsal, the core section of the article is taken up with reminders of the original arguments rebutting each myth, complemented with additional updated, and more extensive, considerations that were not available at the time. The original article contained a section on ‘three well-founded misgivings’. We argue that none of those misgivings is as relevant in today’s climate as they were in 2013. However, we acknowledge that those misgivings have been superseded by new challenges that test the theoretical flexibility and empirical credibility of character education. To ensure that those interested in human flourishing can continue to dispel myths about character education and address the most pressing challenges in the field, we close with some reflections on the future of character education and where we see its next ideal academic destinations to be.

The internet presents not just opportunities but also risks that range, to name a few, from online abuse and misinformation to the polarisation of public debate. Given the increasingly digital nature of our societies, these risks make it essential for users to learn how to wisely use digital technologies as part of a more holistic approach to promoting human flourishing. However, insofar as they are exacerbated by both the affordances and the political economy of the internet, this article argues that a new understanding of wisdom that is germane to the digital age is needed. As a result, we propose a framework for conceptualising what we call cyber-wisdom, and how this can be cultivated via formal education, in ways that are grounded in neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics and that build on three prominent existing models of wisdom. The framework, according to which cyber-wisdom is crucial to navigating online risks and opportunities through the deployment of character virtues necessary for flourishing online, suggests that cyber-wisdom consists of four components: cyber-wisdom literacy, cyber-wisdom reasoning, cyber-wisdom self-reflection, cyber-wisdom motivation. Unlike the models on which it builds, the framework accounts for the specificity of the digital age and is both conceptual and practical. On the one hand, each component has conceptual implications for what it means to be wise in the digital age. On the other hand, informed by character education literature and practice, it has practical implications for how to cultivate cyber-wisdom in the classroom through teaching methods that match its different components.

"The Theory and Practice of Virtue Education offers the reader a comprehensive and authoritative account of both the theoretical and practical complexities of virtue ethics in education and beyond. The book moves beyond the usual philosophical literature that merely discusses virtue in the abstract, and offers scholarly, research-informed suggestions for practice. Beginning with chapters that examine differing theoretical complexities of virtue ethics, the book then moves on to explore different approaches to nurturing virtue in the classroom and beyond. This practical approach is further evidenced in the final section, where individual virtues are discussed"--

This article draws on a study investigating how 11–14 year olds growing up in England understand cyber-bullying as a moral concern. Three prominent moral theories: deontology, utilitarianism and virtue ethics, informed the development of a semi-structured interview schedule which enabled young people, in their own words, to describe their experiences of online and offline bullying. Sixty 11–14 year olds from six schools across England were involved with the research. Themes emerging from the interviews included anonymity; the absence of rules, monitoring and guidance and, the challenges associated with determining the consequences of online actions. The findings demonstrate the advantages of adopting a character-based moral theory to compliment rules and/or consequence based moral theories as the basis for future research into cyber-bullying. The findings evoke some wider implications for future research into cyber-bullying that might equally be applied to investigations into other Internet related moral concerns.

Young people are increasingly required to demonstrate civic engagement in their communities and help deliver the aspirations of localism and Big Society. Using an ecological systems approach this paper explores the experiences of different groups of young people living in areas of socio-economic disadvantage. Using volunteering as an example of civic engagement it is shown that barriers and motivators for young people stem from within the micro, meso, exo and macrosystems, and that these interact with each other, and with bio-psychological factors within individuals, to bring about differential opportunities and outcomes for young people. Through examining the experiences of three different groups of young people placed within socio-economically disadvantaged communities, considerable variation in levels of civic engagement are identified and it is suggested that some young people's lived experiences are resulting in decisions to civically disengage. It is argued that young people need to benefit from genuine opportunities to develop self-efficacy if they are to respond to the demands of Big Society aspirations for localised decision-making

What could be the point of teaching such works of bygone cultural and literary inheritance as Cervantes' _Don Quixote_ and Shakespeare’s _The Merchant of Venic_e in schools today? This book argues that the narratives and stories of such works are of neglected significance and value for contemporary understanding of human moral association and character. However, in addition to offering detailed analysis of the moral educational potential of these and other texts, the present work reports on a pioneering project, recently pursued by the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, concerned precisely with the use of these and other stories for moral and character education in schools. The success of the 'Knightly Virtues’ project is an inspiring story in its own right and should therefore be of enormous interest to all schools, teachers and parents rightly concerned with this all-important aspect of their children’s educational development.

This report is the culmination of research carried out between March-December 2014 with youth social action providers and young people. The purpose of the report is to explore the link between character, virtues and youth social action. Through textual analysis of youth social action providers’ websites and communications, interviews with senior leaders of these providers, as well as young people who experience their programmes, this research aimed at a better understanding of the link between character development and youth social action. This research has been undertaken with considerable input from interested stakeholders since its inception – in particular, members of Step Up To Serve’s crosssector Data and Quality Assurance group and the sub-group on character. These groups have provided invaluable advice in shaping this project. In addition, the initial findings from this research were presented at a consultation held at St George’s House, Windsor, in September 2014. Representatives from government departments, education, academia, and the voluntary and corporate sectors participated and their comments have also informed this report.