Character Education for Military Cadets of KOREA Army as Leaders of National SAFETY

Abstract

The Korea Army educational institutions like military academies conduct extensive training on their core values beginning with the Initial Entry Training (commonly referred to as basic training) in order to shape military personnel’s behavior and decision making in combat and non-combat situ-ations. This paper addresses the theoretical and practical processes of military cadets’ character education. This paper employed a qualitative analysis of various kinds of articles including policy research on character education of military cadets to accomplish the research purpose. Character education programs were administered to the cadets from beginning of freshmen military cadets' Initial Entry Training to facilitate changes in cadets’ value system toward country and ethical moral judgment. Military academies need character development strategies to better integrate and syn-chronize the scattered programs to the direction of cadet character. Furthermore, the programs require an assessment plan to ensure that they are fulfilling the objectives. The military academies must ensure that their cadets and graduates keep the moral codes and military regulations in any circumstances. Character and honorable living are essentials of cadet education and strong charac-ter demonstrated by honorable living strengthens the Army Profession by enabling the leaders to build trust, which is relying on the integrity of another professional. The military academies must ensure that their cadets and graduates keep the moral codes and military regulations and align their efforts by implementing a commonly understood and approved model of cadet and character development. Building leadership by moral development, which establishes the framework for mili-tary academies’ Leader Development System (LDS), provides a detailed Cadet Developmental Mod-el. The Cadet Developmental Model consists of five components for developing individual character. This study provides feedback to disciplinary officers and senior cadets that can be used to design effective moral and character education and thereby prepare cadets for decision-making and mor-ally consistent behavior in educational courses and drill situations. A military academy authority is responsible for assessing character development of military cadets and the assessment includes both direct and indirect measures for individual cadets and organizational culture. Especially disci-plinary officers coordinate with cadet leaders to collect and analyze data from several sources to include the Corps of Cadets and external experts. This strategy provides the ends, ways, and means for ensuring education programs and activities are integrated and synchronized in support of mili-tary academies' mission to provide the nation with commissioned leaders of character.