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Character Education
Report on SUNY Cortland Charater Education Institute
Written by Sally Sayre, Director of Peer Educators, UPF
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
What follows is my report on the Summer Institute for Character Education at the State University of New York in Cortland June 30 to July 2, 2008. I highlight the key points of each session as I understand and remember them. I also include a book list and a brief reflection.Monday A.M.
This session was an introduction to the concepts and vocabulary of character education as well as to the goals of the Summer Institute. Much of the talk was devoted to breaking down A Report to the Nation: Smart and Good High Schools, Integrating Excellence and Ethics for Success in School, Work and Beyond.
Essentially, education has two goals—to help students become smart and to help students become good. Character is needed for both. Booker T. Washington’s assessment that “character is power” was referred to again and again in this session. One of the definitions of character is “moral vigor or firmness, especially as developed through self-discipline.” The muscle of character must be used and exercised in order to strengthen it, but a person of character has power to accomplish many things.
There is a new paradigm in character education which is really just a recognition of the fact that there is performance character and moral character which exist in a kind of yin-yang relationship. One needs a moral or ethical compass and one needs to be a compassionate, caring person, but without the performance characteristics of perseverance, diligence, hard work, etc. then success will not be complete.
We saw an extended video clip of Ron Berger speaking at a previous Summer Institute. He is the author of An Ethic of Excellence; Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students. After a break, the topic of peer cruelty was addressed. Dr. Lickona prefers this term as being more descriptive and encompassing than bullying.
Monday P.M.
For the afternoon sessions, both speakers were administrators who spoke about many effective practices to create a culture of character in your school. Although much of the presentation seemed more suited to school principals and guidance counselors, I tried to see how some practices could be used in the classroom alone. Throughout the conference there were many opportunities to discuss with fellow conference attendees how we would “adopt or adapt” the practices for our particular situation.
Speakers: Mr. Richard Parisi, former principal of Morgan Road Elementary and Wetzel Road Elementary, both in Liverpool, New York, and Phil Catania, former principal of Mount Ranier Elementary in Mount Ranier, Maryland.
Both spoke of creating a Professional Ethical Learning Community, which primarily deals with staff development, and an Ethical Learning Community, which includes parents and the wider community as essential participants. Both models include students as part of the community.
Tuesday A.M.
Dr. Matthew Davidson spoke on “The Four Keys to Maximizing the Power of Any Character Education Practice.”
This was one of the most useful presentations in terms of learning ways to work with existing lesson plans and turn them into character building opportunities. Dr. Davidson repeated that “Character is Power” and gave this succinct definition: “Character Education is the intentional integration of excellence and ethics—performance character and moral character.”
The essential questions: How can we get students to treat each other with respect and care? How can we get students to do their best work?
The Institute has looked at what successful teachers have done and extracted the Four Keys. They are, briefly:
- An Ethical Learning Community that supports and challenges
- Self-Study
- Other Study
- Public Performance/Presentation
What this means is that a lesson will be most successful if it incorporates some type of self reflection in the process of learning (self-study), some examination of others who have had success or failure with the subject at hand (other study), and some type of public presentation (even just displaying of papers in the classroom). All must take place in a community of learners where it is safe for students to reflect and offer suggestions to one another for improvement. Examples were given of these keys in action and rubrics were shown that will facilitate self-study and create a framework for a culminating performance. The four keys do not need to take place in exactly the order listed above.
Tuesday P.M.
Charlie Aboujilie spoke on “How You Can Have a Great Classroom and Great School: Tips From the Trenches.”
This session was applicable for administrators, counselors, coaches, and classroom teachers. Mr. Aboujilie says there are three things that motivate all children:
- An empowering, caring relationship
- Someone who expects something positive, something more from them
- Hope (based on certainty)
The entire presentation hinged on these three things: relationships, high expectations, and hope. He stressed things that hadn’t been touched on so much before like the quality of relationships amongst the adults in the school as being foundational for the ELC. Many practical ideas were presented including greeting students at the door or doing shout-outs to fellow educators when you note their efforts and success. High expectations need three steps:
- communicate expectation
- create a performance opportunity
- celebrate genuine achievement
Wednesday A.M.
Finally we heard from a woman! Dr. Usha Balamore spoke on “Bringing Out the Best in Teachers and Parents: How to Build an Ethical Learning Community that Gets Everyone on Board.” Dr. Balamore is the director of Character Education at Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She began by telling of her personal journey into her vocation for teaching which was really part of her personal spiritual life. Her presentation was centered on the twin goals of ethics and excellence. Usha’s particular strength is her child-centered focus. One example: She is the person children are referred to for misbehavior at the Lower School. She decided this year that she would try to get background on each student and then would begin her interview with them by saying something like: “I know you are a good boy/girl, but something happened today. What was going on?” Then she really listens to them and finds out what went wrong. She then asks them how they can make it right. Usually their consequences include making an apology to their teacher and then reporting back to Usha to let her know what they did to make things right. This puts the responsibility on the students to think about their behavior and make effort to change. She might also challenge them to find a better way to handle a similar situation in the future.
Dr. Balamore gave many examples of things that are working in her school. We also heard from Mr. Fred Speers, the PE teacher at Shipley, and he showed us some of the incentives he uses to motivate students to do their best.
Wednesday P.M.
The culminating speaker was Mr. Hal Urban, a pioneer in the field of character education and the best selling author of Life’s Greatest Lessons. He said the most important quality of a successful educator is enthusiasm. Some of what Mr. Urban shared was review since nearly all the previous speakers had quoted from him or borrowed practices from him. However, he addressed the necessity to create a nourishing atmosphere in your classroom rather than a toxic one. He also dealt with the students’ contribution to toxicity when they whine or complain or act disrespectfully. He basically encouraged being proactive in the efforts to create the atmosphere you want to have. Mr. Urban spent a bit of time talking about how the world views success (money, job) and what really constitutes success in life (happy, healthy relationships). Mr. Urban suggests we explore this reality with students and get them to reflect on their own hopes and dreams.
We had all been given a copy of his book, Lessons from the Classroom: 20 Things Good Teachers Do, so his presentation was primarily from this book and he made reference to it as he spoke.
Every day at lunch, we were invited to take advantage of lunch-time sessions. On Tuesday I sat in on Dr. Lickona’s session that dealt with talking to teens about sex. I found it empowering and it reinforced my own position on this topic. We need to guide students into looking at their long-term goals and how premature sexual experience can derail a child’s potential for true happiness and fulfillment in life. Dr. Lickona basically modeled a presentation that he would give to youth, even in handling challenging questions from the audience.
Personal Reflection
This conference was rich with content and inspiration. At first, I felt overwhelmed and also somewhat judged by the standards I was being shown for engaging and encouraging students to be and do their best. I could recognize many ways in which my teaching did not “measure up”. Then, once I got my ego under control, I was able to receive and learn. If I can put into practice even a fraction of what was presented, I will have a great deal more “power” in my classroom—the ability to help students realize their true potential while also creating a more joyful classroom environment.
The three days of this conference were instructive in another more subtle way. Absolutely everything at the conference was handled with a great deal of care and concern for the participants. Collectively we really did create a Professional Ethical Learning Community. There was a beautiful atmosphere of collegiality and fun whether we were sharing with principals or teacher aids. I would love the opportunity to attend this same conference again.
Character quotes were everywhere! My favorite was from Socrates: “Become the person you want people to think you are.”
Books
Every day one book was given to each participant. We usually were able to choose from at least two. Since both Rob and I were registered participants, we brought home a lot of books. There was also a bookstore with many more wonderful offerings. Books we brought home:
Abourjilie, Charlie, Developing Character for Classroom Success: Strategies to Increase Responsibility, Achievement, and Motivation in Secondary Students
Balamore, Usha and Goodman, Joan F. Teaching Goodness; Engaging the Moral and Academic Promise of Young Children
Berger, Ron. An Ethic of Excellence; Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students
Estes, Eleanor. The Hundred Dresses
LeGette, Dr. Helen R. Parents, Kids & Character: 21 Strategies To Help Your Children Develop Good Character
Lickona, Thomas. Educating for Character: How Our Schools Can Teach Respect and Responsibility
Lickona, Thomas. Raising Good Children From Birth Though the Teenage Years: How to help your child develop a lifelong sense of honesty, decency, and respect for others
Lickona, Thomas and Judith and William, M.D. Boudreau. Sex, Love, and You: Making the Right Decision
Pearmain, Elisa Davy. Once Upon a Time . . . Storytelling to Teach character and Prevent Bullying, Lessons from 99 Multicultural Folk Tales for Grades K-8
Urban, Hal. Lessons from the Classroom: 20 Things Good Teachers Do
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