Character Traits in Newbery Award Literature 1997-2007
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Liberty University Digital Commons CHARACTER TRAITS IN NEWBERY AWARD LITERATURE 1997-2007 A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education Liberty University Lynchburg, VA In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education By Julie Beth Bryant February 2008 CHARACTER TRAITS IN NEWBERY AWARD LITERATURE 1997-2007 by Julie Beth Bryant APPROVED: Committee Chair Dr. Kathie Morgan, Ed.D. Committee Members Dr. Scott Watson, Ph.D. Dr. Holly Hill-Stanford, Ph.D. Dean of Education Dr. Karen Parker, Ed.D. Abstract Julie Bryant. CHARACTER TRAITS IN NEWBERY AWARD LITERATURE 1997- 2007. (Under the direction of Dr. Kathie Morgan) School of Education, February 2008. The purpose of this study was to determine the character example elements in the Newbery Award winning books from 1997-2007. Content analysis was used to identify the pertinent character traits identified by the researcher using the acronym C.H.A.R.A.C.T.E.R. These example elements include: (a) caring/compassionate, (b) helpfulness, (c) acceptance, (d) respect, (e) ambition, (f) citizenship, (g) trustworthiness, (h) encouragement, and (i) responsibility. Using a coding system developed for this study, four readers read and discussed the books to attempt consensus as to the character traits identified. The researcher sought answers to the following questions: (a) Do the Newbery Award winning books from 1997-2007 reveal example elements of character education as specified by the acronym C.H.A.R.A.C.T.E.R.? (b) What are the predominant character example elements in the Newbery Award winning books between 1997 and 2007? (c) Who displays these character example elements in the literature? (d) Does the protagonist exhibit certain example elements? (e) How are these character example elements portrayed in the books? (f) What are the frequencies of the positive character traits? (g) What are the frequencies of the negative counterparts of the character traits? (h) How many pages are devoted to expressing the positive character traits? (i) Which books could be recommended for teachers to use to meet guidelines for teaching character education as outlined by federal legislation? Frequency lists were kept for each character trait for the entire sample and for each individual book. ii Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge many individuals for their contributions to the completion of this degree. First, I express my sincere appreciation to my chair, Dr. Kathie Morgan, for her invaluable assistance in all aspects of this doctoral pursuit. She has given much support to me, and I appreciate her willingness to lead my committee. I wish to extend special thanks to Dr. Scott Watson and Dr. Holly Hill-Stanford who also served on my committee. I thank them both for sharing their expertise in research and technical writing, as well as guiding me through the dissertation process. To Mrs. Tisha Clawson, Mrs. Debbie Gamble, and Mrs. Donna Young, I extend my heartfelt thanks for reading, coding, collaborating, discussing, and bonding together over Newbery books. Their valuable time, energy, and efforts will never be forgotten. I wish to thank Dr. Judy Bryant and my Southwest Baptist University family for their prayers and confidence along this incredible journey. I wish to extend a big thanks to my students who prayed for me, sent me uplifting notes, and always showed interest in my progress. Appreciation is also extended to Mrs. Jennifer Smith and Cathy Floyd for helping me with mail merges and other technical computer issues. To Dr. Shelley Kilpatrick, I extend my thanks for helping me with the statistical aspects of the dissertation. I also wish to thank the professional development committee for the financial support given to make this degree possible. I extend my gratitude and love to my family. I thank them for the prayers, the time they spent babysitting, driving us to Virginia, the financial support, and simply iii being there for me every step of the way. Additionally, I wish to thank my church family for their prayer support. More importantly, I wish to thank my precious husband Robbie and our son Jaron. I could never have done this without their love and encouragement. They constantly inspired me with each phase of the doctoral process. I thank them for their belief in me and for all they sacrificed for my success. Most importantly, I extend my deepest gratitude to my Heavenly Father. I thank Him for blessing me with so much and for His favor. I thank Him for His presence in my life and for calling me to the teaching profession. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………….ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………….iii LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………...ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY………… 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………… 1 A. Background……………………………………………………….. 2 a. Federal Legislation for Character Education…………… 2 b. C.H.A.R.A.C.T.E.R. Elements Selected………………... 3 c. Newbery Award…………………………..…………….. 4 B. Focus of Inquiry………………………………………………….. 5 C. Purpose of the Study……………………………………………… 5 D. Assumptions……………………………………………………… 6 E. Definitions of Terms……………………………………………… 6 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE………………………………………… 9 Introduction…………………………………………………………… 9 A. History of Character Education…………………………………… 9 B. The Current Need for Character Education in Schools……………15 C. Methods of Teaching Character Education………………………. 26 Through Children‟s Literature D. Character Traits Found in Children‟s Literature…………………. 34 v E. The Use of Newbery Books by Teachers…………………………. 37 F. Similar Research Studies Conducted……………………………… 41 G. Summary………………………………………………………….. 43 3. METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………. 44 Introduction……………………………………………………………. 44 A. Content Analysis…………………………………………………… 44 B. How Content Analysis Was Used…………………………………. 46 C. Development of the Coding System………………………………. 47 D. Makeup of the Coding System……………………………………. 47 E. Selection of Readers………………………………………………. 48 F. Selection of Books………………………………………………… 48 G. Book Assignments………………………………………………… 50 H. Inter-rater Agreement……………………………………………… 51 I. Procedures…………………………………………………………. 52 4. DATA ANALYSIS RESULTS……………………………………….. 54 Introduction……………………………………………………………. 54 A. Data Analysis……………………………………………………… 54 B. Results……………………………………………………………... 57 C. Quantitative Analysis……………………………………………… 58 a. Frequency of Character Example Elements Demonstrated by Major and Minor Characters………………………….. 59 vi b. Mean of Character Example Elements Demonstrated by Major and Minor Characters…………………………….. 61 F. Qualitative Analysis……………………………………………….. 64 a. Character Example Elements Directly Mentioned in Text 64 b. Opposite Character Trait Demonstrated in Text………… 66 c. Character Trait Themes………………………………….. 67 d. A Close Look at Each Book…………………………….. 69 1. The View From Saturday (1997)………………….. 69 2. Out of the Dust (1998)…………………………….. 71 3. Holes (1999)……………………………………….. 71 4. Bud, Not Buddy (2000)…………………………….. 74 5. A Year Down Yonder (2001)………………………. 76 6. A Single Shard (2002)…………………………….. 76 7. Crispin: The Cross of Lead (2003)………………... 79 8. The Tale of Despereaux (2004)……………………. 81 9. Kira Kira (2005)…………………………………… 83 10. Criss Cross (2006)…………………………………. 85 11. The Higher Power of Lucky (2007)………………... 85 e. What Some of the Authors Had to Say………………….. 87 5. CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………. 90 Introduction……………………………………………………………. 90 A. Summary…………………………………………………………… 90 vii B. Answers to Questions Posed……………………………………….. 92 C. Conclusions and Implications………………………………………. 95 D. Limitations of Study……………………………………………….. 102 E. Recommendations for Further Research…………………………… 102 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………….. 104 APPENDIXES…………………………………………………………………….. 111 A. One Sentence Summaries of Newbery Books…………………….. 111 B. Questions and Frequencies of Codebook………………………….. 113 C. Definitions of C.H.A.R.A.C.T.E.R. Example Elements…………… 114 D. Codebook………………………………………………………….. 116 E. Letter to Authors…………………………………………………… 128 VITA……………………………………………………………………………….. 129 viii LIST OF TABLES Chapter 3 Tables 1. Newbery Books from 1997-2007………………………………………. 49 2. Reading System for Raters……………………………………………… 50 Chapter 4 Tables 1. Frequency of Character Example Elements Demonstrated by Major and Minor Characters…………………………………………………. 60 2. Mean Frequencies & Ranges of Demonstrated Traits Across All Books 62 3. Character Trait Directly Mentioned in Text…………………………... 65 4. Opposite Character Trait Demonstrated in Text………………………. 67 5. Character Trait Themes Found in Newbery Books……………………. 69 6. The View From Saturday (1997)………………………………………. 70 7. Out of the Dust (1998)…………………………………………………. 72 8. Holes (1999)…………………………………………………………… 73 9. Bud, Not Buddy (2000)……………………………………………….. 75 10. A Year Down Yonder (2001)…………………………………………. 77 11. A Single Shard (2002)…………………………………………………. 78 12. Crispin: The Cross of Lead (2003)…………………………………….. 80 13. The Tale of Despereaux (2004)………………………………………... 82 14. Kira-Kira (2005)……………………………………………………….. 84 15. Criss Cross (2006)……………………………………………………... 86 16. The Higher Power of Lucky (2007)…….……………………………… 87 ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY Introduction On April 20, 1999, a tragedy that shook the nation, known as the Columbine Massacre, occurred at a high school in Colorado. Just two years later, on September 11, 2001, our nation reeled with shock as terrorist threats