Character Ed. Works

PROOF – Character Education Works!

Character Education has been in American schools for many years.  In some instances Character Education programs rely on a daily class, some only once a week values instruction.  We now know that such an approach will not fundamentally affect children’s behavior.  Those educators who have adopted a more integrative approach and teach values within all school activities have achieved slightly higher results, but have relied primarily on anecdotal evidence to prove the advantages of such inclusion.

During the last few years however research in this field has enabled educators to learn significantly more about what does and does not work, based on scientific results. A recent report in Journal of Research in Character Education provides sound evidence indicating the effectiveness of including the teaching and modeling of values into all aspects of the school experience.

Many districts have implemented a wide variety of programs to address specific issues such as bullying, disrespect, stealing, and many more challenges facing educators today. We are now learning that a broader approach is needed, an initiative that provides a positive, practical and cost-effective approach to improving school climate and preparing students for “life after school”.

Building Good Citizens for Texas does just that. The values message in this K-12 Character Education program is integrated in the classroom as well as in all other activities of the school day. The program involves entire school staffs, families, churches and entire communities.

The report from the Character Education Journal concludes, based on “many well-designed and conducted studies that this more comprehensive approach, that is promoting the positive development of young people not just academically but also emotionally, ethically and socially could be a much more efficient and cost-effective approach to prevention than the adoption of a multitude of individual programs, each of which is focused on a particular social problem.”

The study concludes that “The scientific evidence in support of this viewpoint is now sufficiently broad and convincing that practitioners and policy makers should seriously consider the merits of this broader approach to helping our youth avoid the many pitfalls of life, and to developing their fullest capacities as caring and competent people, and as responsible citizens.”

Again, Building Good Citizens for Texas is the perfect vehicle for the “broader approach” as called for in this recent report.  This K-12 Character Education Program emphasizes one character trait each month.  In such a program design, other concerns mentioned above, i.e. bullying, disrespect, etc. are naturally addressed as a part of the values approach.  This is the “more comprehensive approach” suggested in the Journal report.  With such strong evidence, it is incumbent on educators to adopt such an approach.

SOURCE:  Journal of Research in Character Education, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2008