The inadequacy of character education in society is evidenced in the behavior of youth today. This is obvious in the speech and actions of elementary age students as well as in the lack of respect and violence of teenagers. Character is a natural process of adaptation that is learned through education, experience and personal choices. Researchers have found that character is definitely not hereditary and has nothing to do with genetics, but rather with the upbringing and environment in which the child is raised. Moral learning occurs during the early formative years of life. During this time, most children are involved primarily with a family unit and with friends. On weekdays during the school year, nearly half of their waking hours are spent with teachers and peers in the educational system. The school environment therefore has a profound influence on shaping the way a child habitually behaves. To take it a step further, Gerald Grant claims that “much of what we have become as a nation is shaped in the schoolyard and the classroom” (195). This indicates far reaching effects of the character education of society’s youth.
According to Ryan and Bolin, “Socrates long ago stated that the mission of education is to help people become both smart and good. In recent decades the second part of that definition has suffered in American schools and colleges” (19). There are moral precepts accepted by society as a whole and adults should have the courage to teach them. Morals refer to generally accepted customs of conduct and right living in a society, and to the individual’s practice in relation to these.
Teddy Roosevelt reportedly said, “To educate a person in the mind but not the morals is to educate a menace to society” (Josephson,...
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...ness and to develop each aspect of the program as change becomes necessary. This need for character education is a challenging task for public education that is well worth the effort for the sake of our youth and for the future of our society.
Works Cited
Gauld, Laura and Malcolm. The Biggest Job We’ll Ever Have. New York: Scribner, 2002.
Grant, Gerald. The World We Created at Hamilton High. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988.
Josephson, Michael. “Character Education Is Back in Our Public Schools,” The State Education Standard, Autumn 2002: 40-45.
Kilpatrick, William. Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right from Wrong. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
Lickona, Thomas. Educating for Character. New York: Bantam Books, 1991.
Ryan, Kevin and Karen E. Bohlin. Building Character in Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999.
Finally, I believe a character must be responsible. Responsibility comes with experience, and is something a person has, or they do not have. I am responsible by maintaining a grade point average greater than three point eight five while participating actively in numerous extra curricular activities and working more than a twenty-five hour workweek. With great power, comes responsibility in which I will always have.
takes on this responsibility to educate the young ones has more then a lesson to teach, but
McNeel, S. (1994). College teaching and student moral development. In J. Rest, & D. Narvaez (Eds.), Moral development in the professions: Psychology and applied ethics (pp. 27-49). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
The most successful way to instill righteous and moral behavior and thoughts is by demonstrating our respectable interactions and honest problem solving approaches during difficult times of our lives. “As adults we should dare to be adults that we want our children to be”. They learn by watching and are quick to mimic our behavior with their peers outside of home. The author writes that “we should strive to raise children who: engage with the world from a place of worthiness, embrace their vulnerabilities and imperfections, feel a deep sense of love and compassion for themselves and others, value hard work, perseverance, and respect, and also move through our rapidly changing world with courage and a resilient spirit” (214, 218-219). All of these elements will help to transform the way we live, love, and
In outward conformity and in inward questioning, there is the power, the ability, and the motive to see and accept change. This change can be brought out by the tension that takes place between the two, and that change is the identity of a person; it is the difference between myself and the crowd. This realization can transform the world in a different sense: the sense of character.
In order to express genuine character, a person must undergo character transformation. Transformation solidifies a person’s values in their way of thinking and behaving. According to Wright, this
The issue of whether ethics can be taught or not has been an argument that has been questioned by many individuals for thousands of years. The philosopher, Socrates himself debated this question. His view on the issue was simply that ethics is a trait in ourselves in knowing what a person ought to do in different situations in life. Socrates’ point of view on the matter of ethics is important because it is a common belief amidst people today that ethics is a trait in ourselves that tells us from right and wrong and what to do in certain situations. In a study done by psychologist James Rest in the field of moral development, he found that a lot of the ideas that were originally raised by Socrates were accurate with the use of evidence based on his research. Rest concluded that dramatic changes usually take place that deal with problem-solving strategies in young adulthood for the average human being. That is important because it shows that people in young adulthood begin to gain a sense of morals, or a sense of what is right and wrong. It also concludes that a moral compass cannot be
(2012). Vygotsky from ZPD to ZCD in moral education: reshaping Western theory and practices in local context. Journal Of Moral Education, 41(2), 225-243. doi:10
“The moral quality of education is inevitably affected by the moral character of educational institutions.
The basis of good character involves being respectful, honest, hardworking, responsible, caring, and understanding. Parents and teachers alike wish for their students to possess good character; but what does “character” mean in the realm of education; and whose responsibility is it to ensure that students do in fact develop good character? The Character Education Partnership (2003, pg. 1), defines good character as involving “understanding, caring about, and acting upon core ethical values”, and thus takes a holistic approach to the development of character in students by developing the “cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of moral life.” Through character education, students can grow to understand core values, learn to develop caring relationships, and grow in self-motivation; thus students grow in character as their understanding and subsequent commitment deepens through varied opportunities to apply values through everyday interactions (CEP, 2003). In theory, a student who possesses good character is a more productive, responsible, respectful, and caring student; yet the question as to whether a student with good character is a better student academically remains.
In a society with a vast array of different beliefs and mediums through which these beliefs are presented, children can get lost in an overwhelming sea of influential ideas and concepts not necessarily intended for their eyes and ears. Character education is a concept that calls for teachers and school curriculums to guide students in learning what Edward F. DeRoche and Mary M. Williams (2001, p. 25) described as “core values held sacred by a democratic society.” Parents are generally considered the teachers of morals, but if values like sharing, compassion, and honesty are never enforced or addressed outside the home, these values may never be established as a stable foundation in the child’s mind. Character education’s purpose is to help children choose to be well-mannered, stable, cooperative individuals. Character education is not in every school system, but its support is growing along with the amount of research evidence increasing in its favor (Viadero, 2003). The teaching of values in education has evolved into character education, and today there are different studies, designs, and resources for character education programs in schools to foster moral growth and citizenship in children.
The second thing that character education needs to have is thinking, emotion, and behavior. The point here is to help people understand the difference between what is right and wrong, good and bad, and to use those “good” values throughout their life.
Education: a priceless and powerful commodity. The human race has attempted to understand the role of education and how we digest information for centuries. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle devoted much of their lives to analyzing the foundations of education and how to teach subsequent generations. Socrates attempted to find the true meaning of education through a constant attempt to discover the truth in all aspects of life. Plato, on the other hand, viewed education as a way to attain the perfect society, hoping that educating the youth would improve future generations. Believing that education was necessary for intellectual virtue, Aristotle sought out a well-rounded education that created a balanced human being. Unfortunately, education
A good establishment to one’s moral standards starts from an early stage that requires to be powered by parents. Thus, parents should inspire their ideas of appropriate morals from a very early age. Parental behavior affects the child's personality and the chances of developing moral absence. All parents have a duty towards their children but a number of these parents tend to care about their child’s academic education more than their moral standards; forgetting that it is most importantly to have moral values than to just learn. Parents are their child’s number one teacher they must teach them how life works, because life is not all about teaching them academically but morally as well. Thus, if parents don’t corporate and well-teach their children, they shouldn’t get surprised when their child ignores them or disrespects them. Yet, many of today’s parents seem to only care about their own pleasures rather than their children’s morals. A simple example, are parents who only care about having fun and enjoying their time leaving their kids behind for the nanny. Parents now often don’t have the time or can't be any bothered to spend the...
Education is man’s most valuable possession: it is the concept through which one’s love for learning stems, and the equipment used to pave an individual’s path to success. Although easily influenced by the opinions of others, education is one of the few concepts that neither internal nor external stress can strip from our being. The future of our society lies in the hands of our educators; the values and morals instilled by such figures govern the actions of the earth’s people.