Character Education in Middle and High Schools

1
Character Education in Middle and High Schools

• Christine Mohan
• To educate a man in mind and not morals is to
  educate a menace to society.
• -Theodore Roosevelt

2
What is character education?

• Helping children to know the good, to desire the
  good, and to do the good.
• (www.education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2246/Mora
  l-Education.html)

3
Background

• Principals such as morality, ethics, and
• Integrity have been the foundation of Americas
  education system since the countrys inception.
• -The demand for teaching morality and ethics
  in public schools stems from the Protestant
  ideology practiced by the founding fathers.
• -It was not until the 1980s that the idea of
  teaching character values replaced teaching
  moral values.

4

• I desire to see a time when education, and by
  its means, morality, sobriety, enterprise and
  industry, shall become much more general that at
  present.
• -Abraham Lincoln

5
Butis this our job???

• The experts say YES, so long as we teach the
  qualities of good character in a secular way.
• Character formation is something parents begin
  with children at an early age, but the work is
  hardly completed when a child goes to school.
• Teachers and others musts contribute to the
  engraving process of teaching kids
  self-control, respect, and other good life
  habits.

6
How do we teach character education?

• Explore the various existing character education
  programs and see if your school is a participant
  in any (if not, encourage your school to adopt a
  program!)
• SERVICE LEARNING/COMMUNITY SERVICE
• Integrate character education into your
  curriculum.
• Find meaningful connections between academics and
  character education.
• Practice what you preach BE A ROLE MODEL.

7
Character Counts!

• Only one out of many character education programs
  available
• An infused approach, where the focus of good
  character permeates the entire school experience.
• Use curriculum as source of teaching character
  education

8
Controversial Issues

• Teaching virtue and ethics should be the job of
  parents.
• Character education is a violation of the
  separation of church and state because it
  espouses religious principles.

9
Evidence

• Researchers at the Institute for Global Ethics
  report that five core values-truth, compassion,
  fairness, responsibility, and respect-consistently
  cut across cultural religious, and socioeconomic
  lines.
• The Character Education Partnership Study
• -found 30 successful existing programs
• -many positive outcomes!

10

• A man becomes virtuous by performing virtuous
  deeds brave by doing brave deeds.
• -Aristotle