CAN DO Character Education



The Definition of Character Education: Character Education involves teaching children about basic human values including honesty, kindness, generosity, courage, freedom, equality, integrity and respect. The goal is to raise children to become morally responsible, self-disciplined citizens. Problem solving, decision-making and conflict resolution are important parts of developing moral character. Through role playing and discussions, students can see that their decisions affect themselves, other people and situations. (Source: The Language of Learning: A Guide To Education Term by J.L. McBrien & R.S. Brandt, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, VA) President George W. Bush succeeded in tripling spending on Character Education – from $8.2 million to $25 million in the current budget cycle. Quote from Lindsey Kozberg, Department of Education: “The money will fund school programs that are geared toward teaching children “core values” like respect, discouraging hate, violence and cruelty.” Bush Speech (Jan. 16, 2000): Quote: "Our schools ought to expand Character Education. The federal government should encourage school districts to have Character Education that teaches children right from wrong, good from bad, basic values of life … programs that will say to our children, we care for you a lot, but in order to access the American dream there are right decisions to make in life and there are wrong decisions to make in life.” Bush Speech (CNN/Aug. 6, 2001) stressed: Character values, the need for improved education in the nation’s public schools and his pledge to build Character Education programs. He is quoted: “Character is often shaped early in life. In every family and in every school, we must teach our children to know and choose the good.”The Mission of Character Education Partnership (CEP), a non-profit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian coalition of organizations representing millions of members including the National Educational Association, American Association of School Administrators, American Federation of Teachers, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National PTA, and National School Boards Association, supports “the teaching and modeling of positive character traits within our nation’s schools and fostering in youth, core ethical values such as respect, responsibility, fairness, compassion and honesty.” “Character Counts!” Alliance, a coalition of nonpartisan, nonsectarian alliance of schools, communities and nearly 400 nonprofit organizations is dedicated to strengthening the character of America’s young people by teaching the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Education World, “The Educator’s Best Friend”: Education World is a resource for educators and a search engine for educational Web sites only. From this resource, educators obtain lesson plans, articles written by education experts, daily features and columns, teacher and principal profiles, practical information for educators, information on how to integrate technology into the classroom, and character education resources on the Internet. The founders and executive management of Education World have backgrounds in education. From a recent Education World newsletter: “As incidents of in-school violence become more common, and strict disciplinary techniques and increased security measures fail to control the problem, many parents, educators, politicians and social leaders are looking for reliable methods of prevention. A 1997 survey of teachers conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, more than half of the respondents reported perceiving a decline in student morality since they began teaching. Even among those teaching five years or less, forty-four percent said that have seen a decline in ethic values and an increase in illegal drug use among their students.” Linda Star, School Administrator, Education World Bob Chase, President, National Education Association: “I believe that a values vacuum exists in American society, and that teachers must not be casual or apologetic about confronting it. We must make an explicit commitment to formal character education. We must integrate character education into the fabric of the curriculum and into extracurricular activities. We must train teachers in Character Education – both pre-service and in-service. And we must consciously set about creating a moral climate within our schools.” Sanford N. McDonnell, Chairman emeritus of the former McDonnell Douglas Corporation: “We in the business world don’t want young people coming into our employment and into our communities who are brilliant, but dishonest; who have great intellectual knowledge, but don’t really care about others; who have highly creative minds, but are irresponsible. All of us in business and in the entire adult community need to do our part in helping build young people of high character. There isn’t a more critical issue in education today.” Character Education Partnership (CEP): “There is no such thing as value-neutral schools or value-free education. Schools teach values every day – by design or default. When schools do not teach values, they are teaching that values are not important.”
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The Definition of Character Education:
Character Education involves teaching children about basic human values including honesty, kindness, generosity, courage, freedom, equality, integrity and respect. The goal is to raise children to become morally responsible, self-disciplined citizens. Problem solving, decision-making and conflict resolution are important parts of developing moral character. Through role playing and discussions, students can see that their decisions affect themselves, other people and situations. (Source: The Language of Learning: A Guide To Education Term by J.L. McBrien & R.S. Brandt, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, VA)

President George W. Bush succeeded in tripling spending on Character Education – from $8.2 million to $25 million in the current budget cycle. Quote from Lindsey Kozberg, Department of Education: “The money will fund school programs that are geared toward teaching children “core values” like respect, discouraging hate, violence and cruelty.”

Bush Speech (Jan. 16, 2000): Quote: "Our schools ought to expand Character Education. The federal government should encourage school districts to have Character Education that teaches children right from wrong, good from bad, basic values of life … programs that will say to our children, we care for you a lot, but in order to access the American dream there are right decisions to make in life and there are wrong decisions to make in life.”

Bush Speech (CNN/Aug. 6, 2001) stressed: Character values, the need for improved education in the nation’s public schools and his pledge to build Character Education programs. He is quoted: “Character is often shaped early in life. In every family and in every school, we must teach our children to know and choose the good.”The Mission of Character Education Partnership (CEP), a non-profit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian coalition of organizations representing millions of members including the National Educational Association, American Association of School Administrators, American Federation of Teachers, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National PTA, and National School Boards Association, supports “the teaching and modeling of positive character traits within our nation’s schools and fostering in youth, core ethical values such as respect, responsibility, fairness, compassion and honesty.”

“Character Counts!” Alliance, a coalition of nonpartisan, nonsectarian alliance of schools, communities and nearly 400 nonprofit organizations is dedicated to strengthening the character of America’s young people by teaching the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

Education World, “The Educator’s Best Friend”:
Education World is a resource for educators and a search engine for educational Web sites only. From this resource, educators obtain lesson plans, articles written by education experts, daily features and columns, teacher and principal profiles, practical information for educators, information on how to integrate technology into the classroom, and character education resources on the Internet. The founders and executive management of Education World have backgrounds in education.

From a recent Education World newsletter: “As incidents of in-school violence become more common, and strict disciplinary techniques and increased security measures fail to control the problem, many parents, educators, politicians and social leaders are looking for reliable methods of prevention.

A 1997 survey of teachers conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, more than half of the respondents reported perceiving a decline in student morality since they began teaching. Even among those teaching five years or less, forty-four percent said that have seen a decline in ethic values and an increase in illegal drug use among their students.”

Linda Star, School Administrator, Education World

Bob Chase, President, National Education Association: “I believe that a values vacuum exists in American society, and that teachers must not be casual or apologetic about confronting it. We must make an explicit commitment to formal character education. We must integrate character education into the fabric of the curriculum and into extracurricular activities. We must train teachers in Character Education – both pre-service and in-service. And we must consciously set about creating a moral climate within our schools.”

Sanford N. McDonnell, Chairman emeritus of the former McDonnell Douglas Corporation:
“We in the business world don’t want young people coming into our employment and into our communities who are brilliant, but dishonest; who have great intellectual knowledge, but don’t really care about others; who have highly creative minds, but are irresponsible. All of us in business and in the entire adult community need to do our part in helping build young people of high character. There isn’t a more critical issue in education today.”

Character Education Partnership (CEP): “There is no such thing as value-neutral schools or value-free education. Schools teach values every day – by design or default. When schools do not teach values, they are teaching that values are not important.”