The goal of character building in east Asian countries is often presented as a shared cultural construct and positioned within an east-west dichotomy. However, it is not at all clear that east Asian forms of character education are identifiable and distinct or that they always transcend national and cultural values. Jeynes (2008) has cautioned us to remember that cultural differences limit the extent to which we can learn lessons from another country, but how authoritative is this caution' The English Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, announced in December 2014 that she intended to secure England's place as a global leader by expanding the nation's provision and evidence base for character education. In this context, this article asks whether England shares any commonalities in the so-called east-west dichotomy on character education-are they mutually exclusive or are they compatible. Is there a west-individual view and an east - collective view' Is the character education movement in east Asia more of an ideological and political movement' As the British government looks for policy solutions to new and challenging problems, including character education, what answers can it find from abroad' What can it learn, borrow or pinch from these east Asian countries and is there a convergence on policy goals for character education within and across these countries' The paper is based on the work (translated) of prominent east Asian academics and builds on the author's personal interface with officials in the Ministry of Education in Japan and Singapore as well as meetings and conferences with numerous academics in universities across east Asian countries to address these questions.

中文翻译：

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政策目标趋同：东亚和英国的品德教育 

在东亚国家，建立角色的目标通常表现为一种共同的文化结构，并定位于东西方的二分法内。但是，目前还不清楚，东亚的性格教育形式是可识别的，独特的，还是总是超越民族和文化价值。Jeynes（2008）提醒我们要记住，文化差异限制了我们向其他国家学习课程的程度，但是这种谨慎的权威性如何？“英国教育大臣尼基·摩根（Nicky Morgan）在2014年12月宣布，她打算通过扩大国家的品格教育提供和证据基础来确保英国成为全球领导者的地位。在这种情况下，本文问英格兰在所谓的品格教育的东西方二分法中是否有共同点？它们是相互排斥的还是兼容的。有西方的个人观点和东方的集体观点吗？“东亚的品格教育运动更像是一个思想政治运动吗？”当英国政府寻求针对包括品格教育在内的新的具有挑战性的问题的政策解决方案时，答案是什么？它能从国外找到吗？它能从这些东亚国家那里学到什么，向其学习或借鉴哪些东西？这些国家内部和国家之间的品格教育的政策目标是否趋于一致？”本文基于著名的东亚国家的工作（翻译）学术和建立在作者的