Becoming Who I Want To Be: A critical, constructivist grounded theory exploration of character education in England, centred on the perspectives of young people

This thesis critically explores the concept and practice of character education in English secondary schools, through the perspectives of young people who have experienced it. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, it investigates the tensions between ‘top-down’ policy intentions and the ‘bottom-up’ understandings articulated by students themselves. A Foucauldian discourse analysis of government policy exposes an instrumentalist framing of character as a set of measurable skills designed to serve the functional and political worlds.
The interview data stands in relief against this background, highlighting points of both resonance and resistance. Ten interviews were conducted with young people aged 16–18 and analysed in accordance with Charmaz’s (2006) constructivist grounded theory methodology. In contrast to the policy findings, participants constructed character as wild, alive, relational, and rooted in context. They spoke of the pressures and fears they faced, expressing a felt lack of hope or power to change their circumstances; yet also a desire for character education to play a more supportive role by becoming more relevant, responsive, and relational.
This grounded theory journey raised deeper questions about becoming, and about the space available (or desired) for autonomy and democracy. Through iterative engagement with literature, policy, interviews, and theory, the thesis finally explores Foucault’s (2000) concept of ethics as a practice of freedom. This idea is developed in tandem with the interview data to propose an ethical model - an alternative approach to character education that enables individuals to take a more active role in shaping both the becoming of their own selves, and of their social worlds. This model moves beyond the prescriptive teaching of fixed virtues, suggesting an ethical practice that is grounded in cultivation, care, criticality, courage, curiosity, and creativity.