For the past 35 years, I have been active in the field of values education. In the 70s and 80s, along with Sidney Simon, Merrill Harmin and others, I was a leader in the "values clairification" movement, encouraging teachers, parents, counselors and youth leaders to help young people learn a thoughtful process to develop their own values and realize them in their daily lives.

Later, as I came to better understand the strengths and limitation of the values clarification approach, I became active in the character education movement of the 90s. I developed a comprehensive approach to values education that includes values realization, character education, citizenship education and moral education. I believe we can both teach traditional values and character traits and help young people to learn to think for themselves and make their own best decisions. We can teach and model good character and social responsibility while facilitating young people's independence and life skills.