Darcia Narvaez, associate professor of psychology, was awarded the 2009 Moral Development and Education Book Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) for her 2008 work Handbook of Moral and Character Education .
The book, co-edited with Larry P. Nucci, professor of educational psychology at the University of Chicago at Illinois, provides a contemporary, research-based alternative to rhetoric in the field of moral and character education. It highlights extensive changes that have occurred in the field over the last 15 years and illuminates the latest applications of developmental and cognitive psychology to moral and character education in settings ranging from preschool to college.
“The handbook offers a wonderful sense of the state of the field, a sense of where there is a strong consensus, and a framework for cutting through alternative terminologies to see where the real differences in perspectives lie,” remarks Glen Rogers, senior research associate at Alverno College and outgoing chair and book award coordinator for the Moral Development and Education Special Interest Group of the AERA.
In her scholarly research, Narvaez explores questions of moral cognition, moral development, and character. She has authored more than 50 articles and chapters and co-edited or co-authored several books, including the award-winning books Moral Development, Self, and Identity (2004) and Postconventional Moral Thinking (1999). Her latest work is Personality, Identity, and Character Explorations in Moral Psychology , which she co-edited with Daniel K. Lapsley, professor of psychology at Notre Dame.
Founded in 1916, the AERA is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and evaluation and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results. With the Moral Development and Education Book Award, the AERA seeks to recognize research excellence and its practical application in the field.
Originally published by at newsinfo.nd.edu on July 21, 2009.
