인격교육은 습관과 실천을 통한 성품의 도야에 중점을 두고 있다. 1920-30년대의 인격교육은 도덕원리 접근법의 비판을 받았고, 최근의 인격교육은 도덕원리 접근법을 극복하는 대안으로 제시되었다. 1980년대에 미국에 재등장한 인격교육은 초기의 인격교육과는 달리 인지적, 정의적, 행동적 측면을 통합한 성격을 띠고 있다. 우리나라의 경우에는 1995년 교육개혁위원회의 교육개혁 방안에서 중요성이 강조된 후, 제7차 교육과정에서 도덕교육의 핵심적 근거가 되었다. 인격교육에는 도덕적 이상주의, 보수주의, 교화, 모호성과 불명확성의 문제가 내재되어 있었고 학교현장에서의 현실적 어려움도 있었다. 인격교육의 성공을 위해서는 도덕교육의 통합적 접근이 필요하고, 아동 주변인물들의 적절한 역할이 기대되며, 초등현장에서는 학년과 내용을 고려한 방법이 요구되었다.

This study was to discuss on character education in elementary schools. Character education, as old as education itself, is a wide tent, covering a variety of approaches to building good character. Moral education goes through cycles. It oscillates between teaching moral principles and moral virtues. In the past few years character education has emerged as the leading term for school efforts to implement programs in the area of moral values, ethics and citizenship education. Advocates of character education believe the breadth and directness of their approach offer the most promising response to the social-moral problems that beset modem societies. There are at least three compelling reasons why all schools should be engaged in character education. The first is that we need good character to be fully human The second is that schools are better places for moulding good characters. The third is that it is essential to the task of building a moral society. Character education is based on virtue ethics which is a very old view. But many moral education theories like Lawrence Kohlberg rejected the virtues approach to moral education, criticizing it `bag of virtues` approach But the recent supporters for character education call for balance and harmonies between affect and cognition. Character education had many problems inherently, such as moral idealism, conservatism, indoctrination, ambiguous and not certain waning. And also it will not be easy to have full realization of character education, considering current situations of Korean elementary schools. Those required to achieve all the goals of character education were moral theories harmonizing virtue ethics and duty ethics, and proper roles of all the related persons with child, such as teachers, a principal, parents, peers. In the elementary school, the methods for character education have to differ from age, grade and subject.