{"id":159,"date":"2014-11-07T15:55:34","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T23:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/character\/?p=159"},"modified":"2014-11-07T15:57:03","modified_gmt":"2014-11-07T23:57:03","slug":"the-character-umbrella","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/character\/blog\/2014\/11\/07\/the-character-umbrella\/","title":{"rendered":"The Character Umbrella"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember the dance scene in \u201cSigning in the Rain?\u201d \u00a0Gene Kelly dancing and while holding an umbrella?<\/p>\n

Fast forward to last October. \u00a0The \u201ctaking it to the streets\u201d protests in Hong Kong called by the media \u201cThe Umbrella Revolution.\u201c<\/p>\n

In 2008, NPR (www.NPRinc.com<\/a>) published a six-page laminated character card that explained among other things the \u201ccharacter umbrella metaphor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how Wikipedia<\/i> explains the metaphor:<\/p>\n

Character education<\/i> is an <\/i>umbrella term<\/i><\/b><\/a> loosely used to describe the teaching of children in a manner that will help them develop variously as moral, civic, good, mannered, behaved, non-bullying, healthy, critical, successful, traditional, compliant or socially acceptable beings. \u00a0Concepts that now and in the past have fallen under this term include social and emotional learning, moral reasoning and cognitive development, life skills education, health education, violence prevention, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and conflict resolution and mediation\u2026. Today, there are dozens of character education programs in, and vying for adoption by, schools and businesses. \u00a0Some are commercial, some non-profit and many are uniquely devised by states, districts and schools, themselves.<\/i><\/p>\n

Over the years more and more character-related programs have been embraced under the \u201ccharacter umbrella\u201d by schools and communities. Here are a few:<\/p>\n

Character strengths (values, virtues, traits)<\/p>\n

Performance character<\/p>\n

Moral character<\/p>\n

Social skills<\/p>\n

Emotional intelligence<\/p>\n

Service learning<\/p>\n

Extra-curricular programs<\/p>\n

After-school programs<\/p>\n

Intervention programs, such as<\/p>\n

Bullying and cyberbullying prevention programs<\/p>\n

Anti-social behavior programs<\/p>\n

Behavior management programs<\/p>\n

Conflict resolution programs<\/p>\n

Discipline programs<\/p>\n

Commercial and non-profit character education programs can also be found under the \u201cumbrella.\u201d\u00a0 Programs like:<\/span><\/p>\n

Project Wisdom<\/p>\n

Character Counts<\/p>\n

Peace Education<\/p>\n

The Virtues Project<\/p>\n

Wise Skills<\/p>\n

Project ACHIEVE<\/p>\n

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports<\/p>\n

The Leader in Me<\/p>\n

Schools have many opportunities to address the character development of students as noted on the programmatic sketch above. \u00a0Many schools have combination of programs sometimes captured under the \u201cvalues-a-month\u201d framework.<\/p>\n

The evidence is clear; school personnel can contribute to the character strengths and positive behaviors of students.<\/p>\n

There are a few additional things under the \u201cumbrella\u201d that schools and school districts should be doing to promote character education.\u00a0 These include professional development opportunities, ensuring programs have the needed resources, and attending to the need for ongoing assessment.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s under your school\u2019s character education umbrella?<\/span><\/p>\n