Posted: September 13th, 2017

Education

This course has focused on developing character through curriculum. As
you have explored the course information, you may have found yourself
questioning practices in your personal setting. Questioning spurs
reflection which spurs research and ultimately improvement in
practice. The questions you ask will spur your thinking as you move
toward your capstone research project.

Take a few moments to write three questions or ideas spurred by the
course readings and discussions.
Create a one page essay. Ask questions at once not in separate paragraphs.
The questions should relate to your practice, or your students, your
curriculum, or some other issue that you would like to improve in your
setting.

Books Used:
Lickona, T. (1991). Educating for Character: How Our Schools Can Teach
Respect and Responsibility. New York: Batnam Books.

Example One of Assignment:
This class has truly been a blessing. I must say that as I reflect on
the things I’ ve read and learned in relation to teaching curriculum
in the classroom and developing character through the curriculum the
three questions/ideas spurred by course readings and discussions are:

1. If character education is linked to teaching values education and
values education is linked to morality, what values reach students the
best and how do I go about teaching these values so I have more
success with students at least reaching Kohlbergs preconventional
level of morality, if not exceeding it? Is it possible or likely that
a child so young will display morality at the conventional level?

2. Starting from “zero” is hard but possible, so after one to two
months of teaching kindergartners about character, how to implement it
in the classroom, and what it intels, how successful would a special
needs student be if given a “job/duty” to be the “character control
patrol”?

3. Does “reviewing” the character actions of the day in a whole-group
setting for 10-15 minutes at the end of the day have an effect on the
success of the next day’s character outcomes?

Exampled Two of Assignment:
Lickona (1991) in summing up the case for values it is pointed out
that “Everything a school does teaches values-including the way
teachers and other adults treat students, the way the principal treats
teachers, the way the school treats parents, and the way students are
allowed to treat school staff and each other. If questions of right
and wrong are never discussed in classrooms, that, too, teaches a
lesson about how much morality matters. In short, the relevant issue
is never “Should schools teach values?” but rather “Which values will
they teach?” and “How well will they teach them?””(p. 20-21).

How can the Family Engagement Center Facilitators (myself and 7 other
teachers) encourage the schools we work with to create and use a
character education program for their schools? What support can we
give them with the character education they may already have in place?

2. 2. “Students need practice both as moral psychologists (who
understand why people act as they do) and as moral philosophers (who
can judge what is right)” (p. 265) says Lickona (1991).

What can I do to encourage and assist families to make time for
intentional learning in the home regarding moral reflection for
themselves and for their family as a whole? How can I link this to
improving academics to get buy in from teachers, administrators and
parents?

3. 3. In the case for values education, Lickona (1991) points out that
peer cruelty is on the rise from 10 years ago. One elementary teacher
explains: “The change in kids over the past 10 years has been
incredible….It’s not only…disrespect for me, and I find a lot of that.
Students also show a lot of cruelty toward one another. They insult,
they hurt, they pick on the weakest member of the group, they bully,
they push, they solve their problems through physical violence” (p.
15)

A lot of attention is paid to teaching students how to stand up to a
bully. What about teaching the bullies how to be responsible and
respectful of others?

What can I do to turn that around? How can we teach all students,
especially those that are being a bully themselves to gain moral
knowledge and moral action so that they stop bullying and start being
responsible for their behavior and respectful to citizens in and
outside the classroom?

Resource

Lickona, T. (1991). Educating for Character: How Our Schools Can Teach
Respect and Responsibility. New York: Batnam Books.