Character Education

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Character Education

• By
• Chris Gilbert

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What is Character Education?

• A national movement creating schools that foster
  ethical and responsible young people through the
  emphasis of certain moral values and character
  traits.
• It is both inescapable and essential. A
  deliberate attempt to teach values.
• Inclusion of morals and values in all parts of
  the school environment. Its not simply an
  add-on.

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The History of Character Education

• Character Education is as old as education itself
• Founding fathers created democracy, for this to
  work, people must have democratic virtues
• In early days, the Bible was the source book for
  moral/religious instruction
• William McGuffey and his McGuffey Readers.
  These taught children values such as honesty,
  patriotism, and courage.
• This form of Character Education was popular
  until the middle of the 20th century, declining
  because of several reasons

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History, continued..

• As societal problems worsened, emphasis on
  instilling good values in youth has increased. So
  has the belief that teachers have an obligation
  to do this.
• In 1995, the U.S. Department of Education
  provided money for Character Education through
  Partnerships in Character Ed. Pilot Projects.
• -36 states have received a combined total of 27.5
  million dollars
• - 17 states address Character Ed. Through
  legislation

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Character Education

• No national standard for Character Ed.
• Character Ed. Is successfully facilitated only
  when schools work with the local community to
  determine what values should be emphasized
• There are many different Character Ed. Programs
  

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• All Character Ed. Programs should
• Emphasize values and character traits
• Integrate these traits and morals into curriculum
• Define these core values in terms of observable
  behaviors
• Provide students with real life challenges to
  help them develop a practical understanding of
  the core ethical values
• Recruit the help of parents, community, local
  government, and media representatives in
  promoting these values

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Character Ed. Programs

• Character Counts! http//www.charactercounts.org
  
• - Supports character education nationally.
  Identifies six pillars of character respect,
  responsibility, trustworthiness, caring,
  fairness, citizenship
• -Offers training sessions and resources
• The Giraffe Project http//www.giraffe.org
• -Offers examples of heroes who stuck out their
  necks for good character
• The Character Education Partnership
  http//www.character.org
• -Offers seminars, training sessions, etc.

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Character Education in North Carolina

• In 1996, The General Assembly first allowed local
  boards of ed. To adopt Character Ed. Programs
• Student Citizen Act of 2001
• - Requires every local board of education to
  develop and implement character education
  instruction with input from local community
• -Emphasizes two different areas civic ed. and
  character ed.
• Character Education modifications were required
  for implementation during the 2002-2003 school
  year.

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Character Ed. In NC, continued..

• The Student Citizen Act of 2001 recommends eight
  traits for inclusion
• -Courage
• -Good Judgment
• -Integrity
• -Kindness
• -Perseverance
• -Respect
• -Responsibility
• -Self Discipline

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Character Ed. In NC, continued..

• -Seven Es of teaching a character trait
• Explain it
• Examine it
• Exhibit it
• Expect it
• Experience it
• Encourage it
• Evaluate it