Character Education

Character Education

I read five articles on character education. These articles helped me to better understand the importance of character education and useful techniques and methods to teach children values and morals.

The first article I read was Champions of a cause by Dick Riley. This article states that character education dates back to the time that the puritans came over to the new world and thought everyone should be reading the bible. They believed that that this would teach good values. The author believes that morals and ethics should continue to be important goals that are taught to children in schools. The character education program mentioned to teach this method is Character Counts and is based on the "six pillars of character". These six pillars (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship) should b e taught through real-life experiences such as volunteering in the community. The article believes that children learn better when they are involved in the lesson that they are being taught. It is believed that this type of character education would help our students to achieve true greatness.

The second article I read was Eleanor Childs: Speaking out on character education and it is an interview with Ms. Childs who is an attorney and child advocator. She says that the most important factor in teaching character education in early childhood is looking at the world through the childs eyes and being able to understand to understand how the child sees the world. Also, the teacher should show the children the respect that they believe children should be showing others. She believes an important strategy in teaching character education is to first explain to the children that there are boundaries to protect the feelings of others. Next, involve the children in a conversation so that they can openly discuss and come to their own conclusion about how people should act toward others. Another important factor in teaching character education in the classroom is to make sure parents are aware of strategies being used in the classroom so that can continue to instill the same values at home.

The third article I read was Workshop topic: Understanding the basic principles of character education by Kimberly More Kneas. This article states that it is important for the entire staff of a school to get together to develop a character education program that can be taught universally throughout the school. First, all staff members should write down important points that they would like to discuss during the forming of the curriculum. Also let them write down what character education should be. Next also discuss what character education should not include. After the responses are shared with the entire staff the confusion of where the direction of the program is going will be cleared up. By this point, the staff will also understand that it is important to not push your own values on your students. Also, make sure that there is a plan of action to involve parents in the program and give students the opportunity to practice the values they are learning. Another great idea in this article is to form a character education committee to come up with the basis of what the objectives of the program should be.

The fourth article I read was Eleven principles of effective