Historically, adults have passed on their knowledge and expertise to the younger generation. This passing of the torch is a way to preserve values and traditions and for young children to learn important life skills and grow emotionally. In the 1840’s Horace Mann, an advocate for education reform encouraged the significance of teaching character development to children in American schools. However, it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the United States Congress recognized character education as an essential concept for students to learn in school.
School is the first place where students encounter social structure, making it the perfect opportunity for educators to teach character-building skills. Qualities such as honesty, respect, and kindness are all the foundation of what makes a responsible and respectable citizen. While teachers serve as role models to their students showing them a positive example of what an upstanding citizen should act and look like, character development can also be learned through classroom activities, teaching approaches, and lessons.
What Is Character Education?
Character education is an educational method focused on teaching and instilling shared attitudes, values, behaviors, and social and emotional skills in students. This method aims to prepare students to become responsible, compassionate citizens who will positively contribute to society.
Character education is important in every facet of a child’s life, from their home life to their school life and extending into their community involvement.
It aims to shape elementary school students into responsible citizens and equip them with the life skills that are vital for personal growth, building relationships with others, and positively contributing to their community. Character education can help students succeed not only academically, but also help them to become socially responsible citizens.
How to Teach Character Education
Character education aims to instill positive values and moral principles so that children will develop into caring, responsible citizens of society. Here are a few suggestions on how to build students’ character and create a classroom culture that is kind and respectful.
Teach the Six Pillars of Character
A person’s character is how they act or react when no one is looking. To help build your student’s character, teach them the six pillars of character. The six pillars are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Once a month choose a specific character trait to focus on and have students explore it. You can choose which character trait to concentrate on by thinking about what specific trait your students lack or need to work on. Assign projects, classroom tasks, or discussions that revolve around a particular trait. This method is a great way to raise awareness about a trait, enabling students to foster it within themselves.
Exemplify Positive Role Models
Although you may be a wonderful role model for students, by actively practicing listening, treating students with respect, and engaging in acts of kindness, students need to have other tangible examples of the qualities you are promoting. Initiate classroom discussion about exemplary character role models found in the novels they are reading or in their history books.
Utilize age-appropriate literature that contains characters facing moral choices or dilemmas, then use these books to discuss the choices and the consequences of the character’s actions with your students. Bring attention to the character traits of world leaders, politicians, or celebrities they look up to. Ask students to share their personal role models and ask them what qualities these role models possess that make them a positive influence.
Offer Community Service and Volunteer Opportunities
Encourage students to engage in community service and volunteer activities. Engaging in volunteer work is one of the best ways for students to build character because it allows them to apply character education in real-world situations. It also teaches them empathy, compassion, responsibility, and teamwork. Students learn how to listen, communicate, and be kind to others.
Every volunteer experience allows students to expand their knowledge and skills and grow. Whether students are aiding to provide food and clothing to the homeless or offering companionship to elders in a nursing home they are learning valuable life skills that will enhance their character.
Organize School-Wide Assemblies
Create a positive culture within the school by organizing a school assembly that teaches, reinforces, and recognizes students who exemplify excellent character traits. During the assembly reinforce the importance of good character by having students recite a pledge or code of conduct they must follow. Then invite a guest speaker to help motivate students to set high standards for themselves. You can find a variety of speakers online at A Vision in Motion.
The Role of Parents and Teachers in Character Education
Parents and teachers both play essential roles in collectively shaping a child’s development. Parents are their children’s first role models; they are the ones who instill their morals and values by leading through example and communicating their standards and expectations. By providing a loving and supportive home, parents are the ones who lay the foundation for the development of their child’s character.
Since students spend most of their day in the classroom, teachers can reinforce and expand the core values that parents teach their children at home. By creating a nurturing classroom environment students can feel comfortable practicing these values. Teachers can help students understand these important values and principles through classroom discussions and activities to develop their social and emotional skills.
Implementing a character education program in your school can help lay the foundation for students to become responsible, ethical individuals who can move through life with compassion and integrity. By modeling ethical values and integrating character education into your daily elementary education lessons, you are nurturing young minds to be respectable and contributing members of society. Remember, consistency is key to building and reinforcing character development. Lead by example and try to integrate character education into your daily curriculum to ensure students are filled with opportunities that will encourage and develop their character.
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