FOR CHARACTER
creating schools and community for character!
July/August 2002
An electronic newsletter to help you make sure CHARACTER COUNTS!sm
Gary Smit
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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…
· Establishing a Community Coalition
· Ideas you can use
· School Safety Guide
How do you do it? What can be done to create a character education coalition in our community? I’m often asked how to establish a community coalition that has as its purpose the integration of CHARACTER COUNTS! as a way of life in the schools and community. Sometimes, I lead a workshop for community leaders who are interested in helping to establish a Coalition and to work with the schools to integrate CHARACTER COUNTS! only to face resistance from the educators. Or, I find schools that want to have the community involved but are unable to create the necessary framework to have this happen.
In this issue of the newsletter, I’d like to share a few ideas about establishing a Coalition for your community if one does not exist. Before I do that, let’s review what obstacles can be in the way of getting started. There are times I hear community leaders say that character education is something for the home and school to work on and really has no place for involvement on the part of community leaders. Or, some leaders are really afraid to get involved because cynical residents may later throw the phrase “character counts” back at them whenever it is a matter of convenience. A resident may look to leaders who publicly espouse the core values and strive to integrate them throughout the community as models of good character who will never struggle or slip. And when leaders fail to uphold the core values, the cynics can castigate the community leader for not being a person of good character.
Even if these obstacles exist, I believe there is an effective strategy to establish a Coalition in your community. I encourage you to globally and let key community leaders know your community will be a better place to live, work and learn when the core values of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and good citizenship are respected and recognized by business, youth service organization and governmental entities. Secondly, these values are really outcomes we would like to see in a community. When decisions are made, we would like community residents to believe what the leaders did was ethical. Respect for others was demonstrated and the leaders were responsible in fulfilling their duty. We must remember that living a life of character is not about perfection. Establishing a community-wide commitment to character does not send the message that we will always do the right thing. Making choices based upon these core values is not easy. But what we must demonstrate the courage to make the right choices even when it is difficult to do. John Wooden, former UCLA basketball coach, said it best: “I am not as good as I ought to be; I’m not as good as I want to be; I’m not as good as I’m going to be. I am just thankful that I’m better than I use to be.” What we are really doing when we take a public stand for character in our community is that we are striving to live a life based upon making choices that are ethically and morally right.
Here are some ideas to get you started in building a community coalition based upon three C’s – commitment, consensus and collaboration:
COMMITMENT:
C Assess the community’s needs. Tools used will include:
Surveys
Focus groups
C Build a Coalition that includes key community leaders:
1. Consider the possibility of using an existing network that focuses on the needs of the community. or
2. Form a new Coalition that will address CHARACTER COUNTS! as its primary mission
3. Think of key people who would be representative of your community who have the necessary contacts and influence with others.
NAME REPRESENTING
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CONSENSUS:
· Reach consensus on core ethical values.
· Determine if any obstacles will stand in the way
· Agree to be purposeful in your approach with clear objectives designed to influence values and behavior.
· Develop a vision and mission statement with a discussion on goals
COLLABORATION:
· Commit to training:
A) Schedule a one-day awareness training for your community. Involve key people representing various segments of your population
B) Choose key leaders who will be your "trainer of trainers" and send them to a three-day Character Development Seminar (CDS0
C) Host a community-wide CDS for up to 35 key participants (2/3rds educators; 1/3rd community)
· Create a common vision for your community. Determine what you would like to see happen in three to five years.
· Join the National CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition
· Choose one or two key projects to work on during the course of a year.
· Connect with existing school or community organization to co-sponsor activities that already may be happening.
· Involve students in the work of connecting schools with the community around the core values.
The following is a sample vision and mission statement for a community coalition
Our community character development coalition has been established by local educators and community leaders to:
· introduce a common language of character values in our schools and throughout our community;
· develop, through character education projects, an opportunity for our community members to demonstrate the traits and values of good character.
Our Vision: A community where all citizens embrace the principle that character counts -- at home, in school, in the workplace, and in civic programs and activities.
Our Mission: To provide leadership and coordination to promote and encourage character development in homes, businesses and professions, community organizations and faith communities.
If you have questions about establishing a coalition, please give me a call or drop me a note.
Gary Smit (630)827-4400
IDEAS YOU CAN USE:
COACHING YOUTH SPORTS
The Health and Physical Education Program at Virginia Tech sponsors an electronic newsletter that is a valuable resource for coaches of youth sports. "Coaching Youth Sports" presents information about the development of athletic skills and sports psychology focusing on children ages 6-16. The newsletter is available at
http://www.tandl.vt.edu/rstratto/CYS/
COMMUNICATION MAY HELP ASSUAGE SCHOOL VIOLENCE
A recent report suggests better understanding between adults and children could deter future acts of school violence. The report suggests a strong harassment policy, an increased adult presence in schools and routine mental checkups for students could help reduce potential risks. The Boston Globe (5/20)
COULD MENTORS HELP PREPARE COACHES?
Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times has a simple idea that may help young coaches, generally hired solely for their experience as players, learn the art of coaching. He writes: "School districts have mentor programs for young teachers, in which they are observed and trained by master teachers. The same idea can work with coaches. There's an endless reserve of mature, knowledgeable retired coaches who'd be willing to help if asked. Their wisdom is sorely needed. . . . Old coaches don't fade away and disappear. They keep going to sporting events as spectators, waiting and wishing someone would call for advice. It's time to make the call." [Los Angeles Times, 5/28/02]
QUOTES:
· “Our schools may be built with the bricks of English, math, and science, but character education certainly is the mortar.”
Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, from Teacher Magazine May 2001
· “Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.”
A sign that hung in Albert Einstein’s office
· “Many schools with successful character education programs have observed students who are more connected to school, have fewer disciplinary referrals, have improved school attendance, and have higher performance scores on standardized achievement tests.”
Wynne and Ryan 1997
· “Currently, talk about virtue, values, morals and character has emerged in the forefront of the movement for social change. However, it is important to understand that these traits must be taught rather than talked.”
Barbara Unell and Jerry Wyckoff in their book 20 Teachable Virtues
NEW SCHOOL SAFETY GUIDE
The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Secret Service have released a new guide titled "Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing Threatening Situations and to Creating Safe School Climates." This publication is available for downloading from the U.S. Department of Education web site in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) and Microsoft Word formats.
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/threatassessmentguide.pdf
THE SAGA OF WILL AND FERN: THE POWER OF ENCOURAGEMENT
A Michael Josephson radio commentary
Will and Fern were two frogs who fell into a deep pit. As they desperately jumped and jumped, trying to escape, a crowd gathered around the pit. The other frogs could see that there was no way they could get out, so they began to urge Will and Fern to accept their fate and give up. The more the trapped frogs jumped, the more the crowd yelled at them to surrender. Finally, Will fell back to the bottom, gave up and died. Fern kept trying as hard as she could. Finally, she made it out of the pit with one valiant jump.
Asked how she kept going despite the hopeless yelling of the other frogs, Fern was shocked. "What do you mean, 'hopeless'? I'm a bit deaf. I thought they were encouraging me and cheering me on."
A woman named Patty, a resident of a transitional housing program, gave a printed version of this story to my wife Anne. She was herself feeling hopeful after a long period of homelessness and drug abuse. She wanted us to understand that positiveness and support can really help people who seem down and out get up and out.
Patty said she got out of her own deep pit of despair because caring people at the housing program gave her the faith and confidence she needed to jump a little harder, and she wanted us to tell others about the gift of encouragement.
There are lots of ways to help others. We can educate them, feed them and house them, but if we want to really change their lives, we need to empower them.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.