It is not surprising that character development of children and youth is about educating them in moral and ethical matters.  Nothing new here.  From Colonial times through the 20^th Century, moral education “was deep in the very fabric of our schools.”

Following WWII, a variety of cultural and social changes caused the public to question moral education initiatives because of religious connotations.  A shift began in the late sixties amid the widespread concern over students’ poor academic achievement, anti-social behaviors, and other cultural factors – a shift from moral education to character education.

Character development of the young expanded to include the teaching and learning of moral and civic virtues, the formation of good habits and eliminating poor ones, the beginning of interest in children’s social and emotional skill development, and greater attention to the culture of schools and the climates of classrooms.

Even with the name change from moral to character education, moral and ethical content retain its place under the character education “umbrella” as the following quotes illustrate.

Edward Wynne, a professor at the University of Illinois wrote:

We can assume that renewed attention to character development will be good for pupils, their families, educators, and the nation. For, in the end, the welfare and the very existence of our society does not so much depend on the IQs of its inhabitants, as on their character.

Professor Larry Nucci (Handbook of Moral and Character Education) says:

If we don’t teach kids moral reasoning skills, including how to challenge appropriately (non-moral) conventional issues, we may be engaging in immoral education.

Thomas Lickona, developmental psychologist and a professor of education, reports:

If schools wish to maximize their moral clout, making a lasting difference in students’ character…they need a comprehensive, holistic approach (one where schools) look at themselves through a moral lens and consider how virtually everything that goes on there affects the values and character of students.

Many ethicist remind us that “school is unavoidable a moral enterprise” infused in school codes, regulations, requirements, traditions, expected behaviors, styles of teaching, with curricula and extra-curricular offerings.

Moral (character) education, then, encompasses deliberate efforts to help the young learn, practice, and apply moral virtues and character habits that will help them individually live good lives – and at the same time become productive, contributing citizens.

In this view, moral education should contribute not only to the students as individuals, but also to the social cohesion of a community. (http://education.stateuniversity.com/)

In our first book on character education (2001), Mary Williams and I wrote:

The public has come to appreciate the importance of the young learning about human achievement, ethical principles, and the moral values that underpin democratic, civilized life….

Paraphrasing our colleague, Professor Kevin Ryan, we continued:
Character education has reintroduced one important aspect of moral development…namely, socialization—helping the young learn how to live cooperatively, caringly, and civilly.
This is a good place for a reminder and a conclusion that calls for further study.

Lickona and Davidson have made the case that there are two types of character—“moral character” and “performance character.”

They write that “moral character [values/virtues and ethics] is necessary for successful interpersonal relationships and ethical behavior.”  The characteristics of moral character encompass such virtues as integrity, caring, respect, generosity, responsibility, cooperation, and the like.

The companion to moral character is “performance character – a needed characteristic for reaching one’s potential in school, the workplace, or any area of endeavor.”  Performance virtues include diligence, perseverance, ingenuity, self -discipline, grit, optimism, and more.

American Journalist Sydney J. Harris once noted that “the whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”

 

Contact us: character@sandiego.edu

Did the title get your attention?

Not to worry –this blog is different than the popular movie. Note that the word “gray.” It is not “Grey” as in the movie title. March, in many places, is a “gray” overcast month where one wishes for an early Spring. To brighten up the month of March, consider these “gems” for the teaching and learning of character strengths and traits.

Engagement

• Gallup Students Poll
  • “Sixty-three percent of students in America are engaged…highly involved with and enthusiastic about school.” (p72)
• The Engagement Slide
  • “Student engagement peaks during elementary school, decreases through middle school and early high school, plateaus a little, and then increases through the rest of high school….”(p.72)
• Students polled suggest 4 ways to keep them engaged (p.73)
  1. “Elementary schools prepare them for the rigors of the work in secondary schools.
  2. Teachers get to know them
  3. Adults praise and recognize them for good schoolwork
  4. All schools commit to building the strengths of each student.”
• “Teachers who are engaged in their work tend to have students who are engaged in learning.” (p.73)

Shane J. Lopez, “Giving Students a Voice.” Kappan, October 2011, pp.72-73

Emotions 

Emotions have many variations: joy, contentment, serenity, frustration, sadness, sorrow, guilt, etc. If you break them down into their simplest elements, there are only two important categories; one sends positive messages and the other sends negative messages.

If you are mindful (conscious) of your emotions, you realize that they are affected by your thoughts, your self-talk, and by reactions prompted by your senses. (For example, HEARING a compliment prompts a good feeling; HEARING criticism prompts a negative one. SEEING someone smile at you prompts a nice feeling; SEEING a sad scene in a film prompts tears.)

It is normal for negative emotions to emerge in difficult situations. A negative emotional reaction to another person’s comments indicates that the other person is prompting (directing) your emotions. In such cases, redirect your thinking so positive emotions will be forthcoming.

In any situation where you feel bad, change your thinking because the emotion always follows cognition.

PROMOTING RESPONSIBILITY & LEARNING– Volume 15 Number 2, February 2015

http://MarvinMarshall.Com

Empathy  “Empathy Formula” (E = EC²)

The first the first stage of becoming empathetic is “cognitive empathy,” or the act of knowing how another person feels. The second is “emotional empathy,” or the capacity to physically feel the emotions of another. As with cognitive empathy, however, emotional empathy can have troublesome consequences if applied in isolation. The third and final part of the formula — “compassionate empathy”, which is what occurs when we combine the previous two in the name of acting upon what we think and feel.

What would happen if schools were more mindful of this Empathy Formula? Instead of offering disconnected but well-intentioned efforts to help children think, feel or act, would adults start to help children think, feel and act? Would communities be increasingly populated with people who were neither narcissistic nor emotionally empty? And would the most pressing problems of our day — from energy to education to enlivening our civic life — be analyzed, internalized, and diffused by a new generation of changemakers?  

Sam Chaltain, “The Empathy Formula,” Huffington Post, 12-18-2012

Moral & Performance Character

This question was posed to Paul Tough, author of “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character.”

Can you explain how they’re different and why that difference is important?

This is a distinction that was made in a paper by the Character Education Partnership. I found it valuable when I was reporting on the character-education collaboration between the KIPP schools in New York City and the Riverdale Country School, which I wrote about in 2011 in the New York Times Magazine, and which I write about in more depth in “How Children Succeed.”

Briefly, “moral character” refers to traits related to values and ethics: honesty, piety, chastity, generosity. “Performance character” refers to traits related to personal effectiveness: self-control, persistence, grit, optimism. These traits are very similar to what economists like James Heckman refer to as non-cognitive skills.

I think both categories are valuable, but I think they they’re clearly very different. And one big problem with the word character is that it has these two meanings. Which means that when any two people have a conversation about “character education,” they are often talking about two very different things.

When educators who care about character are able to be more specific about which character traits they’re trying to develop in their students, that benefits everyone.

Larry Feriazzo, September 3, 2012, Education Week: Teacher.

Blue Skies for You to Celebrate

• Share a Smile Day
• I Want You to Be Happy Day
• Do Something Day
• Oreo Cookie Day
• Get Over It Day
• Day of Awesomeness
• Plant a Flower Day
• Smart and Sexy Day
• St. Patrick’s Day
• Let’s Laugh Day
• Happiness Day
• Common Courtesy Day
• Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
• Take a Walk in the Park Day

Beware the Gray Clouds

Friday the 13^th & The Ides of March