FOR CHARACTER
creating schools and communities of character
                                                                                                July/August, 2006
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.

IN THIS ISSUE…

Information You Can Use
Promoting Good Citizenship
Ten Tips For Creating a Caring Classroom
The Lessons of Sports for School Reform
Youth and School Sports
Commentary by Michael Josephson

TAKE A MINUTE FOR CHARACTER

Borrowing from the 1969 move, “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium” I begin this issue of the Newsletter with a reflection on my month of June.  The past four weeks have not been spent on an exciting tour of far-away countries but rather speaking at various state and regional character education conferences. If it’s a  Tuesday in June, there has to be a conference on character education someplace. You can just check my calendar.  On the second Tuesday of June, there was the Midwest Character Education Conference in Indianapolis. The following week was a challenge as there were two conferences to speak at, both beginning on Tuesday. There was  the National Center of Youth Issues Southwest Regional Conference in Dallas. Then it was on to the South Dakota State-wide Conference on Character Education that was held in Chamberlain. This left the last Tuesday of the month for the Southeast Regional Conference in Chattanooga.

One would not have to attend all of the conferences to find value in what is gained by being a participant. I know from speaking at all of the above, opportunity is provided to receive practical strategies for one to begin or enhance a character education initiative for their school or community.

In at least one of the sessions I do at these conferences, I like to include a discussion on what I believe are the “Three P’s of an Effective Character Education Initiative.”  No matter what program you have adopted or developed locally, these "Three P’s" need to be considered: principles, process and practices.

Let me share a few thoughts on each of these “P’s.”

Principles: Common language around shared beliefs and consensus values. In order to be effective, the initiative must be purposeful with clear and explicit objectives that are designed to influence values and behavior.  The use of a common language to describe and teach character substantially increases the effectiveness of character-building programs by exposing young people and adults to consistent and pervasive messages.

Processes: A series of actions that will lead to specific results. These actions must be repetitive and pervasive in order to be effective.  Repetitive requires that the messages about meaning and importance of the core values are frequent and conspicuously repeated to promote a common language. By being pervasive, we see that the core values infuse all aspects of organizational activity and al direct contacts with students.

Practices: The application of skills leading to appropriate behavior.  In developing specific strategies to teach character, we must ensure that the instructional practices are consistent, creative and concrete. By being consistent, I mean that the attitudes, words, and actions must be consistent with and supportive of the core values regardless of how inconvenient or costly it might be. Secondly, creative strategies require the teacher to go beyond preaching by employing engaged learning activities. Finally, concrete strategies emphasize that the values should be expressed explicitly and directly in the context of concrete, realistic and relevant situations.

Implementing these “Three P’s” as a framework for your character education initiative provides the foundation for teachers to make character education move from words to action.

Gary Smit
gsmit@forcharacter.com

INFORMATION YOU CAN USE PROMOTING GOOD CITIZENSHIP

It's no secret that political and civic knowledge is lacking in today's students. According to the 1998 NAEP Civics Assessment-the most recent one, since it's offered only once a decade-nearly one-third of high school seniors lack a basic understanding of how American government operates. On the IEA Civic Education Study of 1999-2000, American students ranked 10 out of 28 countries on their knowledge of democracy. The good news is that there are plenty of high-quality civics programs available.

HERE ARE THREE: TEN TIPS FOR CREATING A CARING SCHOOL

There is growing evidence that students do better not only socially but academically when they feel safe and regarded as important members of a learning community. In response, a number of reform efforts are focusing on creating small schools or schools-within-schools where students are known and valued as individuals by other students as well as by teachers and staff. Some schools have instituted practices such as looping (teachers stay with the same students for two or more years), multiage instruction, and block scheduling to connect students with their schools. Other schools or districts have instituted character education, violence prevention, and empathy programs. But even simple actions that cost little or no money can positively affect the school climate and create that all-important sense of belonging and safety that many researchers say makes the difference between thriving and floundering at school. Diane Curtis outlines ten strategies for fostering healthy and caring environments for learning.http://www.edutopia.org/1025

THE LESSONS OF SPORTS FOR SCHOOL REFORM

Intensified coursework. Increased graduation requirements. Overwhelming homework. Cuts in electives. More standardized testing. Although well-intentioned, many proposals for school reform reemphasize the same old approaches. For instance, more tests of superficial learning and more courses taught by the textbook. These misguided approaches validate the premise put forth by social theorist George Leonard, winner of 12 national awards for education writing: Whenever we're not getting something right, we try more advanced versions of the same thing. No wonder our students suffer from disinterest, manifested through disruptive behavior, drugs, alcohol, and violence. We have numbed their minds, neglected their bodies, and drained their spirit. In his talks to school superintendents, principals, teachers, and parents, Joel Kirsch likes to ask two questions: Question 1 -- On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being totally excited and one totally apathetic, how excited are middle and high school students about going to school for their academic courses only, not the extracurricular or social aspects of school?; and Question 2 -- Are kids natural or unnatural learners? The range of responses for the first question is between two and five, with three being the most common. However, everyone says that kids are natural learners. If kids are natural learners but are not excited about school, then something is fundamentally wrong with how we go about educating them. Perhaps we should look to sports for a few insights on how to engage student interest and provoke performance mastery. http://www.edutopia.org/768

YOUTH AND SCHOOL SPORTS
Six Do's and Don’ts for Moms and Dads

Six Dos
Coach Bruce Brownlee advises parents to memorize and say the following to their child before and after every sports activity:
Before:
1. "I love you."
2. "Good luck."
3. "Have fun."

After:
4. "I love you."
5. "It was great to see you play."
6. "What would you like to eat?"
"The Six Things Parents Should Say to Their Player,"  www.brucebrownlee.com

Six Don`ts
Parents sometimes don’t understand kids and sports. For that reason, the Kentucky Youth Soccer Association suggests you avoid
the following:
1. Don’t tell your kid what to do on the way to games or practice. (Kid’s response: "I know how to play!")
2. Don’t try to psyche up your child. (Kid’s response: "They think they’re the one playing. ‘Are you ready? We’re going to win!’")
3. Don’t say anything if you don’t know what you’re talking about. (Kid’s response: "Mom thinks she knows the rules, but she doesn’t.")
4. Don’t say anything even you do know what you’re talking about. (Kid’s response: "You’re telling me the opposite of what the coach
told us.")
5. Don’t tell a kid after a loss that it doesn’t matter (Kid’s response: "When you try to cheer me up, it just reminds me of the score.")
6. Don’t tell a kid after a loss that it does matter. (Kid’s response: "Parents take losses harder than we do. Get over it!")

Adapted from "Nine Things Parents Don’t Get About Kids and Sports," www.kysoccer.org

COMMENTARY BY MICHAEL JOSEPHSON - Being Basically Honest

After a workshop, a fellow came up to me and complained that I had made him feel uncomfortable. "I`m not perfect," he said, "but I`m basically honest." His implication was that it`s unfair to expect people to be honest all the time.
 
His comment reminded me of a cartoon where one fellow confided to another, "I admire Webster`s honesty, but his insistence on being scrupulously honest is really annoying."

Look, I`m not an honesty absolutist. I think it was okay to lie to Nazis to save innocent lives, and I approve of police lying during undercover operations to catch drug dealers or corrupt politicians. I also think it`s okay to tell your grandmother you really like the sweater she knitted or let young children believe in the Tooth Fairy.
 
But be careful. It`s easy to stretch these special situations into an endless chain of rationalizations that justify lying whenever it`s convenient.

Every lie must be justified by competing moral principles, not simply self-interest. Some lying during criminal investigations pass muster because they are subjected to judicial review and advance a long-term public good. And there are times when "white" lies can be justified when kindness trumps truthfulness.
Otherwise, being scrupulously honest is not only possible, it`s desirable and morally mandatory.
Being basically honest is not enough. It`s like saying, "I really want to be honest, but not if it costs too much, not if it prevents me from getting what I want."
 
Honesty is crucial, not only to uphold an abstract moral principle, but to preserve one of our most important personal assets -- credibility. Despite self-serving excuses, almost all lies breach trust and undermine credibility.

Once someone lies to us, even on a small thing, we always think, "What else have you lied to me about?" How many times do you get to lie before you are a liar? How many times does someone get to lie to you before distrust sets in?

Being honest only when it suits our purpose isn't honesty at all.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.