FOR CHARACTER
creating schools and communities of character
January/February, 2005
An electronic newsletter to help make sure character counts!
Gary Smit
CHARACTER COUNTS! and the Six Pillars of Character are service marks of the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition, a project of the Josephson Institute of Ethics. For more information about training opportunities and resources available to assist schools and communities in the integration of a character education initiative, check out their web site at: www.charactercounts.org or call them at 1-800-711-2670.
Happy New Year! As you return to your role in touching the lives of children, I hope that you will be successful in making character education an integral part of your interactions and relationships. This issue of the For Character Newsletter is written to provide you with information and activities that you can use in moving character education from words to action.
IN THIS ISSUE …
· Violence in Schools Decreases
· Creating a Culture of Attachment
· Family Strengthening Website Launched
· Commentary by Michael Josephson
TAKE A MINUTE FOR CHARACTER – Gary Smit
It does not take long for me when working with a school or district to develop a feeling about the relationships that exist between administration and staff. How do they work together as a staff? Is the initiation of a character education initiative perceived as the responsibility of teachers and not administration? Will administration provide support and resources for the program? To me, working together with common goals is necessary. But why doesn’t this always happen?
Often, I sense there is a lack of understanding about the importance of relationships that must exist in order for a school to function effectively. In schools, there are clearly defined roles for administrators, teachers, and support staff. We have made the assumption that this is necessary so that responsibilities will be clearly understood by all. What we do not see as clearly is the importance of mutual dependence. In other words, how do we interact to collectively do more together than we could ever do alone? Let me offer a couple of illustrations.
In football, the team depends upon each player assuming his proper role. This is necessary if the team is to be successful. We all know what may happen when a football player misses an assignment or is prevented from playing due to an injury. A team is most successful when there is evidence of mutual dependence. Let me give another example. If you play golf, you know that each individual element of the golf swing in and of itself is not that difficult. It is not that difficult to keep your head down, or to shift your weight or to follow through. The tough part comes in putting it all together. Only those who can do it time after time, in good and bad conditions, are those who consistently achieve good scores.
And so it is with good relationships in our schools. Knowing the elements that go into building a relationship is only part of the story. If a school or district wishes to build and maintain effective long-term relationships, it must put these elements together consistently, day after day, in good conditions and bad. If this happens, chances for having a successful relationship are increased. If one forgets one element of the golf swing, the shot does not go exactly where desired. If one forgets to include one of the basic elements of a relationship, it will not achieve the desired results.
I am convinced that the importance of a mutually dependent school staff is critical for the success of a character education initiative. Implementing character education is more than poster on the walls or workbook pages assigned for students to complete. It begins with the willingness of a staff to work together in making character a way of life. Mutual dependence means that everyone within a school organization must recognize the fact that they need each other, and that they must work together to successfully implement character education. As a teacher, don’t try to do it alone. If you are an administrator, make sure you are seen as an integral part of the work being done to make character education a key element of your school’s curriculum. In this New Year, accept the challenge to work hard to put it all together. For when you do, the students will be the beneficiaries.
Gary Smit
We all know the tremendous pressures every school is under to prepare students for the new SAT and high-stakes testing required by “No Child Left Behind.” Educators are looking for strategies and programs that develop students’ reading, critical thinking and writing skills. With these needs in mind, the Josephson Institute of Ethics (administrator of the national CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition) has created Foundations for Life, a new maxim-based essay and discussion program that can build the skills necessary to have a positive impact on test scores. At the same time, participation in the program will provide students with an unusually powerful opportunity to broaden their exposure to enduring truths and profound insights found in literature, history and philosophy.
Funded by the Templeton Foundation, the program provides school administrators with a no-cost, easy-to-implement way to:
· Enrich existing programs.
· Meet state and federal academic standards.
· Give students the incentive to develop a love of reading and learning.
· Help them develop positive life strategies.
But it's more than that.
Foundations for Life also gives students the opportunity and incentive to discuss and write about matters that are interesting to them and basic to their successful futures. As they read an array of maxims from diverse sources, they encounter enduring truths about life and they broaden their exposure to literature, history and philosophy.
This fosters the love of reading and learning — as it helps them develop ethical values, positive attitudes and habits that can improve their lives. We call this process Reflect, Express and Commit.
And, again, all the while they are improving the language skills measured by standardized tests, like those for NCLB. In addition, the new writing portion of the SAT debuting in March 2005 requires college-bound students to write an essay in response to a quotation or brief passage, making an FFL essay the perfect practice for the test.
Schools may also submit up to five essays per grade level to the national Foundations for Life recognition program — a significant benefit to students and their schools. National submissions are due March 15, 2005. The national FFL office will communicate award results by May 1 to accommodate school ceremonies and graduations.
The Josephson Institute gives you everything you need to run your program: a comprehensive teacher’s resource, handouts for students, a contest manual, a reproducible student certificate and other aids. FFL’s unique rating system indicates the level of difficulty of each quotation in terms of conceptual reasoning and vocabulary. The program easily integrates into existing activities and curricula and is nonpartisan and nonsectarian. A national staff is available to assist you with any questions. Call (800) 711-2670 or e-mail FFL@jiethics.org
INFORMATION YOU CAN USE
· ELEVEN TIPS TO HELP PARENTS CREATE SAFER SCHOOLS
Because a safe school is key to helping students achieve, KSA-Plus
Communications and the National Crime Prevention Council have teamed up to
release "11 Tips to Help Parents Create Safer Schools." This is the latest
in a series of KSA-Plus tip sheets that help parents become more effective
advocates for their children and partners with their schools. Among the
safety tips: Help your child identify the early warning signs of violence;
and work with other parents to develop standards for school-related events.
11 Tips, as well as other parent-friendly publications, can be ordered for
free at:
http://www.parents.ksaplus.com/framesplpubs.html
· DEALING WITH YOUNG CLIQUES
Cliquish behavior is expected in middle school and high school, but recent research shows that children are now grouping themselves exclusively as early as preschool and kindergarten. These cliques -- the little kids call them "clubs" or "crews" -- may be forming so early because children are spending more time with peers at a younger age, starting in day care and preschool, reports Karina Bland. When kids are just 5 or 6, they don't have the emotional skills to handle rejection on the playground. Parents may have to help, offering reassurance and suggestions on how to engage others in play.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1108edcliques08.html
· DOWN WITH DETENTION
If you are a student in a public school and you break a rule (or if somebody else breaks a rule and involves you), there is a very good chance that you will be sentenced to the academic equivalent of the empty conference room. Because most schools -- even quite good schools -- continue to use the outdated, expensive, time-consuming, and generally ineffective one-size-fits-all Detention Program. Using detention as a catchall cure for student misbehaviors is like using one medicine for every physical ailment, writes LouAnne Johnson. We don’t expect one pill to cure colds, bronchitis, broken bones, gallstones, ulcers, headaches, heart attacks, and cancer -- yet schools assign detention for tardiness, fighting, daydreaming, forgetfulness, laziness, defiance, profanity, truancy, over exuberance, drunkenness, stealing, cheating, lying, or being the object of a physical assault. If we want our children to be decent people, we must set the example. Instead of looking at our children, shaking our heads, and asking, "What is wrong with these children?" we must look to ourselves and ask, "What are we not teaching them?" Threats and punishments may make short-term changes, but for long-term behavior change, we must include an instructional aspect. If we expect children to behave in school, we must teach them to take responsibility for their behavior; but we must also teach them how to make better choices, how to develop personal ethics, and how to solve problems.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2004/12/01/14johnson.h24.html
· GIVING OUR KIDS THE GIFT OF TIME
Reading, writing, math are organic in the world around us. Now is the time to build the connections for children to academics in the world, not just in the classroom. Give the gift of your time, writes Dorothy Rich. Don’t bother to go the store for one more toy. Save your money. Bring yourself and your ideas. Pleasure and learning are right there in front of and around you. Create your magic moments. They don’t come packaged in a box.
http://www.megaskills.org/newFeatures.html
· BULLYING MOVES FROM THE SCHOOL TO THE COURTS
Parents of student victims of bullies increasingly are turning to the courts. The number of personal protection orders issued by Michigan courts in cases involving minors increased from 600 in 2002 to approximately 700 in 2003. These concerned incidents range from bullying to boyfriend-girlfriend harassment. Protection orders typically prohibit perpetrators from any contact with the victim, under penalty of arrest. While legal experts acknowledge that the courts can be an effective means of eliminating bullying, they urge parents to use the courts only as a last resort. Bonnie Hanes, education director of Oakland Mediation Center in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, argues that school programs designed to curb bullying are more effective than court orders, which do little to change school culture. A 2001 survey of 15,600 American students in grades six to 10 funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development reported that 30% of students nationally say they have been involved in bullying, either as perpetrator, victim, or both. To read the Detroit News full story; by Marisa Schultz, go to: http://www.detnews.com/2004/schools/0410/25/a01-314243.htm
VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS DOWN 50 PERCENT IN DECADE
Violent crime against students in schools fell by 50 percent between 1992 and 2002, with young people more often targeted for violence away from school. There were about 24 crimes of rape, robbery and assault for every 1,000 students in 2002, down from 48 per 1,000 a decade earlier, according to a report from the Education and Justice departments. The reduction mirrored the trend found outside classrooms: Overall crime is at a 30-year low across the nation, reports Curt Anderson. The report found that instances of school violence involving students have dropped steadily since a string of fatal shootings in the 1990s, most notably the 1999 killings of 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado by two heavily armed students. "There has been a drop, and we attribute a lot of that to the fact that schools are focusing on the issue more," said William Lassiter, school safety specialist at the Center for the Prevention of School Violence in Raleigh, N.C.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002104205_schools30.html
CREATING A CULTURE OF ATTACHMENT
Learning isn't about test scores or even preparing for the future. For most young people, learning matters when it is personal and serves a purpose. When students have an opportunity to use or share what they know, they want to learn more. It is time, writes Milbrey McLaughlin and Martin Blank, for educators and policymakers to pay attention to what our children -- and the research -- are telling us. A special 2004 issue of the "Journal of School Health" documents that 40 percent to 60 percent of all students are chronically disengaged from schools. This "culture of detachment," argues Johns Hopkins University’s Robert Blum, decreases their prospects for academic success and promotes a variety of high-risk behaviors. Many schools that are under the gun to show improved student performance continue to soldier on in the wrong direction. They have narrowed the curriculum, hammered away at direct instruction as a "one size fits all" strategy, and confused high-stakes testing with achieving accountability for high standards. If we are serious about leaving no child behind, we must present the content that young people need to meet high standards in a context that has meaning and relevance in their everyday lives.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2004/11/10/11mclaughlin.h24.html
NEW FAMILY STRENGTHENING POLICY CENTER WEBSITE LAUNCHED
The Family Strengthening Policy Center (FSPC) website is a clearinghouse of information and tools dedicated to family strengthening practices, programs and policy. The family strengthening approach is a framework for serving children and families that is rooted in the following principles: (1) Family is the most fundamental factor influencing the lives and outcomes of children; and (2) Families are strong when they are supported by safe and thriving neighborhoods. Family strengthening is a 'new way of doing business' because it recognizes that families must be at the center of the process of neighborhood transformation and family development. The website draws from the knowledge and expertise of a broad array of professionals from service providers to researchers to bring visitors policy information, news from the field, funding opportunities, and resources and opportunities for engagement.
http://www.nassembly.org/fspc/
COMMENTARY BY MICHAEL JOSEPHSON
Wise Sayings for a New Year
It’s such a struggle to be profound, especially on the eve of a New Year when everyone is trying to make insightful, witty observations on the past and the future. And so many really smart people have already summed up so much of what life is about, so it just makes sense to spend some time reflecting on their insights. Here are some favorites:
If you want to know how to live your life, think about what you want
people to say about you after you die and live backwards.
-- Unknown
We are what we repeatedly do.
-- Aristotle
You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment
if you don’t trust enough.
-- Frank Crane
Our life is frittered away by detail.... Simplify, simplify.
-- Henry David Thoreau
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make,
whom would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
-- Stephen Levine
And I’ll end this tour with one favorite New Year’s quote from poet Bessie Stanley: "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."