Character Education

Hello bloggers and everyone who is reading this post ~ :D

At this time, I would like to share about character education. Hmm.. Firstly, we should know what is character. Let's watch this video first ~

According to Wikipedia, character is an evaluation of a particular individual's stable moral qualities.
The concept of character can imply a variety of attributes including the existence or lack of virtues such as empathy, courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty, or of good behaviors or habits.

Abraham Lincoln said, “Reputation is the shadow. Character is the tree.” Our character is much more than just what we try to display for others to see, it is who we are even when no one is watching. Good character is doing the right thing because it is right to do what is right.

So, back to the topic, what is Character Education?

Character education is the teaching of core values. For example, the Character Counts program defines six teachable "pillars of character": trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

In his book, The Educated Child, William J. Bennett writes, "Good character education means cultivating virtues through formation of good habits." According to Bennett, children need to learn through actions that honesty and compassion are good, and that deceit and cruelty are bad. He believes that adults in schools and parents should strive to be models of good character.

Character education is most effective when it is spread throughout regular school courses. In science, teachers can discuss the value of honesty in data, and in math, students can learn persistence by sticking with a problem until they get the right answer. History holds valuable lessons and heroes of character, such as the honesty of Abraham Lincoln, who walked three miles to return 6 cents.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, many teachers shied away from teaching about values because they did not feel it was their place to impose their own values on their students. But now they are seeing how including character education can transform a school community. In teaching the Giraffe Heroes Project, Ginn notes, "Values is an emotionally laden term. We avoid that discussion. The way we see it, we are teaching life skills, what you need to know to live in the world. We have to do this because it's a cultural imperative that kids learn to get along."

Character education includes and complements a broad range of educational approaches such as whole child education, service learning, social-emotional learning, and civic education. All share a commitment to helping young people become responsible, caring, and contributing citizens.

Because students spend so much time in school, our schools offer a critically important opportunity to ensure that all students get the support and help they need to reach their full potential. Schools that embrace character education become places people want to be because they bring out the best in everyone.

To be effective in schools, character education must involve everyone—school staff, parents, students, and community members—and be part of every school day. It must be integrated into the curriculum as well as school culture. When this happens and school communities unite around developing character, schools see amazing results.

Character education is not new—and it is something we can all agree on. It was an important objective for the first U.S. public schools and today it is mandated or encouraged in most states. The current movement is simply a reminder of education’s long history of stressing shared values and character.

Effective character education takes time, as Aaron Chalker, of 2011 National School of Character Pierce Elementary School, can attest. But the results are well worth it. Watch this video to learn more about effective character education.



References :
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.character-training.com/blog/
http://www.greatschools.org/parenting/teaching-values/77-the-value-of-character-education.gs
http://www.character.org/key-topics/what-is-character-education/
http://www.youtube.com