Teacher efficacy, that is an individual’s belief in his or her ability to act in a manner that will produce desired outcomes, has been shown to differ significantly between elementary and secondary educators. According to the Journal of Research in Character Education, Vol. 1, Number 2, 2003,

Dr. Andrew Milson concludes that the rationale for character education may resonate more strongly with elementary and middle school teachers who tend to view character formation as an important component of their jobs.

High school teachers, however, are more likely to view their primary role as the delivery of content knowledge from an academic discipline.

There are at least three explanations for this: “1) high school teachers do not feel confident implementing the activities associated with high school level character education, 2) high school teachers do not feel that character education is part of their job, and 3) high school teachers doubt their ability to have an impact on students’ character.”

According to three different studies cited in this Milson article, “The results indicate that teachers who have received staff development training or who have attended conferences in which character education issues were presented have higher levels of efficacy than those who received coursework through their undergraduate or graduate programs.

More intriguing is the finding that those who received university-based coursework do not differ significantly from those who received no training at all.”

While this discussion covers only a fraction of research results, it is enough to allow us to draw several conclusions:

Staff development sessions in character education should be offered

to current staff members, as well as teachers-in-training.

These sessions should include specific implementation strategies demonstrating how character traits can be integrated into the curriculum.

Identify, especially for secondary teachers, successful character education models in their area to help these teachers increase their efficacy for the character education message.

Provide opportunity for staff to discuss character education issues

relevant to the local situation, and design activities to address

those issues consistently across campus/district.

In conclusion, teachers who experience staff development opportunities focusing on integration of character education into all activities of the school day are more likely to experience a positive classroom environment, as well as increased academic achievement.

Find out how Building Good Citizens for Texas can easily implement an integrated Character Education Program in your High School by contacting Evelyn Weilert at eweilert@txchared.com.