elementary & middle schools
We believe that character education is first and foremost the
responsibility of the family. However, for young people to have a total understanding of good character, in all aspects of life, the school can play an important role in character education.
Our professional staff works with schools, districts, teachers, administrators and school staff to build a school culture and climate that strengthens moral and performance character.
When character is truly integrated throughout all aspects of the school day, youth feel a sense of safety - not just physical safety, but social, emotional and intellectual safety too. When administrators, faculty and all supporting staff make an effort to model good character, the youth become aware of the visible and subtle difference in the learning environment and the interactions of people in the building.
These differences in the school's culture and climate lead to a stronger learning environment, including:
- Documented reduction in disciplinary referrals
- Increased attendance
- Decreased in-school and out-of-school suspensions
- Reduction in fighting and vandalism and increase in a sense of belonging that education research cites as a major factor in increasing student achievement
Why do we need character education in schools?
A large segment of young people can be described as the "I Deserve It" generation. They are preoccupied with personal needs, wants, don't wants, rights and entitlements. Their worldview results in greater willingness to ignore traditional ethical restraints in the pursuit of personal goals.
The Josephson Institute of Ethics and the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition released new data from a national survey of more than 20,000 middle and high schoolers. The figures paint a troubling picture of the attitudes and actions of America's youth.
A few examples from that survey:
- 24% of male high school students and 18% of male middle schoolers say they took a weapon to school at least once in the past year.
- 47% of high school males believe it is sometimes okay to hit or threaten a person who makes them angry.
- Only 69% of high schoolers say they are satisfied with the ethics and character of their generation.
View the complete report at www.charactercounts.org.
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"Intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character -
that is the true goal
of education."
- Martin Luther King, Jr. |
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Eleven Principles of Character Education
- Character education promotes core ethical values as the basis of good character.
- Character must be defined to include thinking, feeling and behavior.
- Effective character education requires an intentional, proactive, and comprehensive approach that promotes the core values in all phases of school life.
- The school must be a caring community.
- To develop character, students need opportunities for moral action
- Effective character education includes a meaningful and challenging academic curriculum that respects all learners and helps them to succeed
- Character education should strive to develop students' intrinsic motivation.
- The school staff must become a learning and moral community in which they share responsibility for character education and adhere to the same core values that guide education.
- Character education requires moral leadership from both staff and students.
- The school must recruit parents and community members as full partners in the character-building effort.
- Evaluation of character education should asses the character of the school, the school staff's functioning as character educators, and the extent to which students manifest good character.
From Thomas Lickona, Eric Schaps, and Catherine Lewis
What Works
Effective character-building programs are centered on:
- Instilling habits
- Inspiring moral ambitions
- Imposing positive and negative consequences
- Developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- Modeling good conduct
- Comprehensive approach
From the Josephson Institute of Ethics
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"Adults cannot leave their own values at the school house door and look on
as
interested bystanders
to see what
values students invent
for themselves."
-Dr. Gerald Grant |
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Ready to find out how character education can make a difference in your school?
Get started today!
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"To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society." - Theodore Roosevelt |
