Lecture
5
Character Education: Teaching Respect and Responsibility
Introduction:
Virtues can be treated pedagogically like any other content.
That is, there are curricular, instructional, management, and various
other decisions to make if one is to teach virtues. One of the
differences in teaching virtues is that they are best taught through
modeling. The rest of this lecture seeks to sketch effective methods
to both model and provide direct instruction in two virtues—respect
and responsibility. Respect is defined as showing regard for the
worth of someone or something. It is the restraining side of morality;
it keeps us from hurting what we ought to value. Responsibility
is the active side of morality and includes: caring for self and
others, and in general, building a better world.
A comprehensive approach to character education:
As mentioned in the introduction, character education requires
modeling as well as direct instruction in virtues. To accomplish
this end and effectively teach respect and responsibility,
both class wide and school wide strategies must be employed.
First class-wide
and then school-wide strategies will be considered.
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Developing
class-wide strategies for teaching respect and responsibility:
Within
the classroom, a comprehensive approach to character education
for respect and responsibility calls on the teacher to act
directly in several areas.
(1) The first step is to act as a caregiver, model and mentor themselves. Teachers
must treat students with love and respect. They must set a good example themselves.
Beyond that, they must mentor by supporting pro-social behavior and correcting
hurtful actions.
(2) Teachers can create a moral community by helping students know each other,
respect and care about each other, and feel that they are a valued part of the
group.
(3) Moral discipline is another aspect to the teacher’s role. Teachers
can foster moral reasoning, self control and a generalized self respect for others
through the creation and enforcement of rules.
(4) Fostering a democratic classroom atmosphere can be accomplished by involving
students in decision making and sharing responsibility for making the classroom
a good place to live and work. (5) Finally, teachers can teach values both directly
and indirectly through the curriculum. That is, they can use academic subjects
as a vehicle for examining ethical issues as well as teach directly what the
virtues of respect and responsibility mean.
Notice
that four of the five aspects of the teacher’s role involve
modeling. This highlights again the importance of employing persons
of good moral character who know what respect and responsibility
are, have strong inclinations to be active in showing respect and
responsibility, and habitually exhibit those characteristics.
Developing
school-wide strategies for teaching respect and responsibility:
Class-wide
strategies for developing respect and responsibility carefully
employed by a caring teacher can be very effective in
fostering respect and responsibility. Maximum efficiency
in developing these virtues occurs when the class-wide strategies
are linked
and aligned with school-wide strategies. There are at least
six specific school-wide strategies for fostering respect and responsibility
that we will consider.
Just as the teacher must provide leadership to the class, the principal
or headmaster must provide leadership to the school. This is accomplished
by articulating a clear vision of the school goals, making sure that
all school staff know the goals, and share and model them. The principal
or headmaster is also the key liaison with the community in recruiting
parent support and participation in the school effort. Finally, school
leaders must model the virtues in their interactions.
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Effective school-wide discipline is created by clearly defining
rules and consistently and fairly enforcing them. Discipline problems
provide an opportunity to foster moral growth. Of course, ensuring
that the school rules and values are upheld in all school environments
and that abusive behavior is not tolerated wherever it occurs is
paramount.
A sense of community is fostered through encouraging members of
the school to show care for each other, creating opportunities for
students to know each other and school staff in non-school settings,
and by getting as many students and staff involved in extra-curricular
activities. Upholding good sportsmanship, using school assemblies,
and having each class contribute something to the larger life of
the community are other ways schools can work to foster community.
The inclusion of students in school government can promote citizenship
development and shared responsibility for the school. Use of tools
such as student councils to provide a systematic voice in school
governance for students can provide dramatic evidence of the potential
impact personal involvement can have.
Fostering moral community among the adults in a school is accomplished
by providing time for school staff to work together. In addition,
school staff should be involved in a collaborative fashion for making
decisions that will directly impact their work.
Finally, schools can foster development of respect and responsibility
by highlighting it as a value area. That means that time for moral
development must be provided. Academic achievement must not take
so much time that none is allocated to moral concerns.
Conclusion:
Both classroom and entire school strategies can be effective
in teaching respect and responsibility. Educational leadership
of teachers and principals are crucial in modeling these virtues
as well as in direct teaching about them. Modeling the virtues
sets up an atmosphere communicating respect and responsibility.
Direct teaching of the virtues insures that all community members
are aware of these virtues as goals.
Discussion questions:
- 1. What class-strategies do you think would be the easiest
to implement? What could you start this year?
- What school-wide strategies do you think would be easiest
to implement in your school? Which could you start this
year?
- If you were to choose the most important strategy presented
what would you choose and why?
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