to educate a person in mind and not in morals is to

Creativity & Character Education

• "To educate a person in mind and not

in morals is to educate a menace to

society." — Theodore Roosevelt,

19th/20th century American

adventurer and politician, Nobel

Prize-winning U.S. president

What exactly is character education?

Formal Definition of Character Education (Adapted from Rayner, Lindsay – What is Character Education? & US Education’s Character Education – Our Shared Responsibility):

Character education is the process by which humans learn to interact with society, typically through the teaching of core ethical qualities such as courage, justice, wisdom, respect, civic virtue, citizenship, and responsibility for self and others. Feelings, thoughts, and actions all work together to form one’s character. In short, character education is the act of teaching students how to regulate those feelings, thoughts, and actions into pro-social behaviors. As educators, it is our moral and ethical responsibility to instill respectable, good, and decent citizenship values within our students so that our children learn to interact with society in appropriate ways. Educators need to instill these pro-social values at every grade and age level.

Throughout history, societies have recognized the need to educate the coming generation of adults to pass on knowledge and skills. Recorded history from long before the present era emphasizes that education must develop character. One of the great education reformers, Horace Mann, in the 1840’s helped to improve instruction in the classrooms nationwide, advocating that character development was as important as academics in American schools.

.

What exactly is character education?

CHARACTER EDUCATION

• Identify characteristics you

think students should have

when they graduate from

high school (3 minutes)

WHAT EMPOYERS WANT

• Interpersonal Skills

• Leadership

• Writing

• Teamwork

• Oral Communication

• Reading

• Computation

• Problem-Solving

• Listening

• Creative Thinking Teamwork

• Problem-solving

• Intrapersonal Skills

• Leadership

CHARACTER EDUCATION

https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion

Watch the following motivating video

that embraces Abraham Maslow’s

Hierarchy of Needs

https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion

Kohlberg's Six Stages of Moral

Development:

• Stage 1 Pre-conventional Phase (Egocentric Stage

age 4) –

– punishment & obedience phase where you are only

concerned about yourself and “not getting caught by

authority”.

– Fear of punishment dominates motives. One sees outside

forces as being dominating.

– Actions are judged in terms of their physical

consequences….spankings, time in a corner, loss of

money….not in terms of right or wrong.


Development:

• Stage 2 (Unquestioning Obedience K-5) One-way

concern about another person (how I act so that I

will benefit)

– Looking out for #1.The basic motive is to satisfy my own

needs. I do not consider the needs of others, unless I THINK

IT will benefit me.

– Sometimes called instrumental/relativist ---- “you scratch

my back and I’ll scratch yours”

– Motive is to just to STAY OUT OF trouble.


Development:

• As people mature, then hopefully we

move to more CONVENTIONAL Moral

values by performing good or right

roles, in maintaining the conventional

order, and in meeting others’

expectations


Development:

• Stage III (Good Boy/Girl Stage)– Concern about groups of people, and conformity to group

norms.

– There is a two-way relationship (we are good to each other).

– Motive is to be a “nice guy or gal”, to be accepted.

– Affection plays a strong role. We will visit the Affective Domain Next.

– This stage becomes frustrating because we are always trying to follow everyone else’s rules and to please everyone…which of course, cannot be done.


Development:

• Stage IV Concern for order in society. Honor & duty

come from keeping the rules of society.

– The focus is on preserving the society….not just obeying it.

– Being Dutiful plays a part here.

– During stage IV, the individual looks to rules, laws, or codes

for guidance in dilemma situations

– the laws have wisdom and are the positive glue of society.


Development:

• The final stages deal with a Basis of

Judgment – Bloom uses this as his

highest level of cognitive thinking.


Development:

• Stage V (Social Contract Stage): Is characterized by Autonomy. It is called the social contract, legalistic orientation.

– What is right is what the whole society decides. There are no legal absolutes….everyone must agree …then it is OK.

– Changes are made in the law for reasons that suit the common or greatest good for the greatest number of people.

– This is the problem-solving stage. How to make it work for everyone.

– Reasoning at this level requires the ability to think abstractly (to view laws as a system of governance), to weigh competing claims, to take a stand and yet remain open in the future.

– This moral level may take place only when children can see more than one POINT OF VIEW..


Development:

• Stage VI (Hypothetical and a Stage that hardly many people reach in life): Universal ethical Principals –“Golden Rule”. – What is right is a decision of one’s conscience, based on

ideas about rightness that apply to everyone (all nations, all people)

– A higher law. “Thou shall not kill”.

– The most important ethical principles deal with justice, equality, and the dignity of all people.

– These principles are higher than any given law….and one has the right to disobey unjust laws.

– Saint Augustine said that, “an unjust law is no law at all” Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.


Development:

• Kohlberg describes the Golden rule has

having two parts.

• 1. Do unto others as you would have

them do unto you and (2) love your

neighbor as yourself

Kohlberg’s Stages

• *****Note: None of these moral stages

(1-6) are “wrong”……..at an appropriate

age level …all people should move

through each of these stages…

• Being “stuck” at a lower developmental

stage while maturing in age, would be

undesirable.

Kohlberg’s Stages

• One must be careful not to push

children who are not cognitively ready

into a stage of moral decision-making

for which they are not ready.

Kohlberg’s Stages

• It is ridiculous to have small children arguing over

moral dilemmas until they have developed a sense of

right and wrong.• “One precaution,” said Plato, “is not to let students taste of

arguments while they are young, the danger being that they

would develop a taste for arguments rather than a taste for

truth. Young minds, like young puppies, said Plato, would only

“pull and tear at arguments”

• For Plato, it was much more important for young people to

learn to love a virtue than to argue about it.

SIX PRINCIPLES

FOR

INTEGRATING CHARACTER EDUCATION

• Principle l: Character education is part of every subject, not just another subject.

• Principle 2: The school and community are vital partners in the character education of youth.

• Principle 3: A positive classroom environment supports character education.

• Principle 4: Empowered teachers are in the best position to carry out the goals of character education.

• Principle 5: Character education is encouraged through administrative policy and practice.

• Principle 6: Character education is action education.

The Six Pillars

of

Character

Samsel Upper Elementary School

Character Education

Program

An example of a whole school

character education program

You always SCORE with

good character!

People of good character are admired and

well respected in life. You can be a person

of good character, too, by possessing six

important traits. We call these traits the

six pillars of character. They are

trustworthiness, respect, responsibility,

fairness, caring and citizenship.

“True Blue!”

• Be honest - don’t lie, steal or cheat.

• Always keep your promises.

• Be courageous enough to do what is right even though it may be difficult.

“The Golden Rule!”• Be courteous and polite; don't insult people, make fun of them, or call them names.

• Listen to what other people have to say.

• Conduct yourself with dignity and pride.

“Reliable like an oak!”

• Create and maintain a safe living environment.

• Be reliable and dependable; when you agree to do something, do it.

• Think before you act and imagine the consequences.

“ An orange divides into equal parts!”

• Play by the rules, and don’t be a sore-loser.

• Think about how your actions will affect others.

• Don't play favorites.

“Like a red heart!”

• Treat people with kindness and generosity.

• Be sensitive to people's feelings; never be mean or hurtful.

• Always remember - we become caring people by doing caring things!

“Regal – representing a state!”

• Do your share to make your school, your community and the world a better place.

• Participate in community activities and be a good neighbor.

• Respect family values and follow the rules of your school and society.

• I am trustworthy when I tell the truth.• I show respect when I listen to what

others have to say.• I am a responsible person when I take

care of my own business; I never make others do what I am supposed to do.

• I am fair when I treat others the way I would like to be treated.

• I am caring when I help those in need of assistance or guidance.

• I am a good citizen when I take care of my school, home, family and friends.

“Points” to Ponder

- Name a famous person you look up to and

list any pillars of character they possess.

- How can the pillars of character help you

resolve problems you may face in life?

- What pillar do you personally want to work

on? How will you work on this?

CHOICE BOARDThink about Choice Boards and Character Education?

• https://www.smore.com/z12ay-tic-tac-toe-choice-

boards-menus

Draw a picture/s that

captures the essence of

chapter

List 5 new pieces of

information from chapter

Create a story rebus that

describes the focus of

chapter (Words and

pictures)

Develop a short skit that

describes one or more

parts of the chapter

Create a poem based on the

core of chapter

Relate 3 new pieces of

learned information from the

chapter to the lives of your

students – Constructivist

Learning

Create a song that

concentrates on the

chapter

Create a graphic organizer

for the chapter

Create an Acrostic that

captures the focus of the

chapter

https://www.smore.com/z12ay-tic-tac-toe-choice-boards-menus

http://books.google.com/books?id=NxP8Ofg4Fc4C&dq=have+you+filled+your

+bucket+today&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=n0gETLC3JMK78

gae9s3PDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDAQ6AEw

Aw#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://bucketfillers101.com/

http://books.google.com/books?id=NxP8Ofg4Fc4C&dq=have+you+filled+your+bucket+today&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=n0gETLC3JMK78gae9s3PDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAw

http://bucketfillers101.com/

SMALL AS A PEANUT

Small as a peanut,

Big as a giant,

We are all the same size

When we turn off the light.

Rich as a sultan,

Poor as a mite,

We are all the same size


Red, black, or orange,

Yellow or white,

We are all the same size,


So maybe the way

To make everything right

Is for God to just reach out

And just turn off the light!

Sample Lesson

Plans

• file:///D:/Curriculum%20and%20The%20Ar

ts/Triangles%20Are%20Not%20Bad%20L

esson%20Plan.pdf

• file:///D:/Curriculum%20and%20The%20Ar

ts/Sample%20Lesson%20Plan%20-

%20Goldilocks%20and%20the%20Three

%20Bears.pdf

to educate a person in mind and not in morals is to

Documents