Teaching Virtue

Can virtue be taught?  When I look up the word virtue, this is one of the definitions that come up from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue

Virtue (Latin: virtus, Ancient Greek: ἀρετή "arete") is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting collective and individual greatness.

The definition “moral excellence” baffles me.  What is “moral excellence”?  How can we measure what is moral?  Morality is different for everyone at least that is how the Sophists believe.  I believe this too; so how can we judge what is excellent morally and what is not? 

As I am nearing the end of my History of Rhetoric class, this question of whether virtue can be taught comes up regularly in the readings.  Isocrates believes that virtue couldn’t be taught, but teachers could help students to get close to being virtuous.  Is this true?  I believe that teachers can lay down the fundamentals of virtue, but it’s up to the students to decide to be virtuous or not.

This idea of teaching virtue as a focus during the ancient Greek era is so relevant today.  Many students are being subjected to so many tests that there is little room left for analytical, critical thought.  I believe that if we can come close to teaching virtue or how to be virtuous, it is through critical thought: giving students the skills to think for themselves, therefore gaining the confidence to make good, rational decision on their own.  But with all these tests and teachers focusing their time primarily on testing, are our students getting further away from learning the fundamentals of how to be virtuous?  Is education pulling away from helping our students gain moral and ethical skills through critical thought?  Just some questions I have been pondering over this past quarter…