A National School of Character

In your opinion, what is Character Education?

Write down at least 3 thoughts on the BUS paper.

Why the 11 Principles?

• Cornerstone of program• Serve a guideposts & help build program• Character Education Partnership’s (CEP) guide to

an effective program

What is Character Education?

• Core values• Intentional effort• Must permeate the school climate & curriculum• EVERYONE!

What does CE involve?

• Positive school culture• Moral education• Positive youth development• Civic education• Service Learning

Basically, it is our job to help young people become responsible, caring, & contributing citizens.

Why “Do” Character Education?

• Not a new concept• Transform school (discipline, achievement)• Teach core values• Help students reach full potential• Improves job satisfaction & retention among staff

Flip over the BUS paper.

Right Hand/Left Hand Activity

Team Activity

The Beatles

THE 11 PRINCIPLES

Where Do I Get Started?

Principle 1

The school community promotes core ethical and performance values as the foundation of good character.

PreAssessment – What?

Make a list of the values that

you feel are most important

in your own life?

What Does This Mean to Me?

• Determine core values – Virtues, traits, pillars, expectations

• Core Values vs. Performance Values• CE Mission & Touchstone

WESTWOOD PLEDGEI will make good choices today.

I will respect myself, my teachers, and others.

And give my best effort in all I do.

Basic Implementation

• Representative group of stakeholders has input into core values.

• Common language is used• Staff ownership• Values are everywhere!• The school has defined what values “look like” and

“sound like.”

“Great learning and superior ability are of little value unless honor, truth, and integrity are added to them.”

~Abigail AdamsFirst lady of the United States, 1797-1801

Listen Up! Activity

Establishing Core Values

Through Music

Video: Special thanks to Barbara Gruener – Westwood Elementary, Friendswood, TX

Principle 2

The school defines “character” comprehensively to include thinking, feeling, and doing.

PreAssessment – How?

Make a list of the ways you think people

learn to develop character?

Is this what your students sound like?


• Link values to behavior & behaviors to values– How do you want your students to act?

• Create moral awareness• Develop other perspectives• Raise questions in the classroom

– Moral reasoning– Ethical decision making– Social problem solving


• Student responsibilities in classrooms– Aaron Thompson

• Model & Practice – Show empathy– Not interrupting– Welcome students into class (caring environment)

• Lead discussions of real-life problems• Teach lessons on core values

Activity

My CHARACTER

Garden

My “CHARACTER” Garden

Plant (Draw) the following:• 3 Rows of Peas (Green)• 4 Hills of Squash (Yellow or Orange)• 3 Rows of Lettuce (Different Green)• 2 Turnips (Purple)

Principle 3

The school uses a comprehensive, intentional, and proactive approach to character development.

PreAssessment – When?

Think of a teachable

moment that you have

recently used in your classroom?


• The Hidden Curriculum– How does your school rate? – Complete Survey – labeled Exercise #2 worksheet

• Decide your approach– Large group, small group, open, developmental,

thematic, calendar


• Develop a plan/direction for CE program• Classroom routines set (based on core values)• ALL school activities

– Classes, extracurricular, cafeteria, halls, playground• Embedding values in curriculum

– Employability Grade– Use variety of activities (rubric)

Intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the true goal of education.”

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Summary of Principles 1 - 3

Top 5 Ways to Find Joy at Work (D. Letterman)5) Find every supporter a task, however small.4) Widen the circle of the informed.3) Remain positive.2) As the bits of the “cube” start moving, keep

communicating & coordinating1) Celebrate each “Rubik’s Cube” moment of

accomplishment.

Principle 4

Creating a Caring School Community


How would you characterize

your relationship with students?


The ABC’S of Effective Community Building

A is for AutonomyB is for BelongingC is for Competence

Three Aspects of Community Building

• Between Staff and Students• Among Students• Among Adults in the School Community


• Show Interpersonal Warmth and Concern• Encourage Student Thinking and Expression of Ideas• Encourage Student Collaboration, Autonomy, and Self-

Direction• Pay Attention to the Beginning• Teach Social and Emotional Skills• Set the Tone• Belonging Among the WHOLE Staff• Building Positive Relationships with Parents

Principle 5

Providing Opportunities for

Moral Action


What relationships, in your own life,

have made the greatest impact

on your character?


Moral Action is at the

Heart of Character Education

1. Getting Ready2. Taking Action3. Follow-up


• Create a Full Range of Opportunities for Moral Action

• Foster the Conditions in which Opportunities for Moral Action Become Significant Learning Experiences

• Build School and District Level Commitment to Moral Action

Activity

Lend a Helping Hand

Principle 6

Providing a Meaningful Academic Curriculum

“Character Education is not another thing on the plate, it is the plate.”

Anonymous


Make a list of the ways you

presently address

character development in the academic curriculum.


Intellectual Dispositions• Curious

• Open-minded• Metacognitive

• Eager to find truth & understanding• Skeptical• Strategic

Conditions for Intellectual Character

• Modeling and Cueing• Developing Thinking Strategies• Honoring Student Thinking

What we hope ever to do with ease we may learn first to do with diligence.

- Samuel Johnson, author

Infuse Character into the Curriculum

• Embed Values in the Curriculum• Develop Core Ethical Values Through Teaching

Strategies• Discuss Ethical Dilemmas• Provide Opportunities for Student Reflection• Lead by Example


• Respect How Students Learn• Develop Intellectual Character• Embed Values in the Curriculum

Principle 7

Fostering Student’s Intrinsic Motivation


What motivates your own behavior?


• Larger Goal – Developing Students Who Will Become Good People and Responsible Members of Society.

• Schools Meet the Basic Psychological Need of Student’s ABC’s.

Basic ImplementationIdentify Disciplines that support Character

Development• Student Needs• Create Shared Norms• Live by Shared Norms

Recognize Good Character• Pros and Cons• Guidelines of Student Recognition

Fostering

We have to help (students) figure out - for themselves and with each other - how one ought to act… (Kohn, 1998)

Activity

Marshmallow Tower

Principle 8

Engaging SchoolStaff

Effective character education engages the school staff as a learning and moral community that shares responsibility for character education and attempts to adhere to the same core values that guide the education of students.

You must be the change you wish to see in your school.

Walk the talk!

What is it that makes students’ favorite teachers so special, so influential?• Competent in their delivery of content• Make learning fun• Are kind, passionate and genuine• Have a way of making students feel connected

• Teachers/staff as role model

• District hiring/mentoring practices

• Collegiality

Character education is a process..not a program!

• Character education must begin with a flight plan.

• Character education will never work if teachers and staff don’t care about it!

• Regular and adequate time is made available for staff planning, professional development and reflection in regard to character education.

The significant problems we have cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.

--Albert Einstein

Principle 9

Fostering Shared

Leadership

Effective Character Education fosters shared moral leadership and long-range support for the character education initiative.

YOU ARE ALL LEADERS!

Schools that are engaged in effective character education have leaders who champion the effort.

Understanding Effective Leadership

What is leadership? The days of the principal as the lone instructional leader are over.

When there is agreement on where you are going as a school, and a climate that supports innovation, there will be plenty of people to do the work.

Provide Avenues for Leadership (Staff)

• Standing committees• Become a learning

community• Shared decision making

Develop Student Leadership• Provide leadership

opportunities for all students

• Connect student with community leaders

• Teach moral leadership• Highlight youth leaders

Principle 9--- Overview

Staff• The character education

program has leaders, including the school administration who champion the effort.

Students• Students are explicitly

involved in creating and maintaining a sense of community and in other leadership roles that contribute to the character education effort.

Principle 10

Engaging Families and Community Members

Effective character education engages families and community members as partners in the character building effort.

• Schools that reach out to families and include them in character-building efforts greatly enhance their chances for success with students.

• Newsletters• Website• Emails• Family Nights• Parent

Conferences/Open Houses

Building Home-School Partnerships

• Framework for building home-school partnerships:**Two-way communication**Support for parenting skills

**Parent support for student learning**Volunteering**Parent involvement in decision making

Building Community Partnerships

• Service learning• Mentoring • Expertise Sharing• Discussion of ethics and character

• A true partnership for character education recognizes that the whole community shares the responsibility for character development in young people.

Benefits or partnership:• Young people continue

learning whether in or out of the school building

Principle 11—Principles of Effective Character Education

• The character of the school: To what extent is the school becoming a moral/caring community?

• The school staff’s growth as character educators: To what extent have adult staff—developed an understanding of what they can do to foster character development? Personal commitment? Skills to carry it out?

• Student character: To what extent do students understand and act upon the core ethical values.

A National School of Character

Documents

Transcript of A National School of Character