It takes a little knowledge to dig a little deeper sometimes. This month, I am hitting the knowledge. Next month – I am digging a little deeper. What am I talking about? Character education! Let’s first get a little history…

A triad of men formed the genesis of what is called character education today.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was fascinated with both his own moral character and those of his fellow Americans. At the age of twenty, he set out to develop his own moral character in a systematic way and devised a way to evaluate how well he was adhering to his top thirteen traits of character. He wrote about these same traits as being excellent tools to derive moral answers to the questions of every day life for children. Some of these same traits (such as resolution, industry and justice) form the backbone of today’s character education programs. I wonder what app he would develop in today’s world to self-monitor his character?

Horace Mann (1796-1859) did not think the schools of his era were lacking in the ability to teach academics, but was lacking in something far more imperative to society; moral reasoning. He was of the mind education should not only include moral instruction, but that it should be mandatory. Mann’s home state of Massachusetts became the first state to require that children attend classes in 1852. The law stated every child must attend school to learn read and do math. If parents refused, they were fined large sums of money and if they still refused, their children were removed from their homes and their parental rights were severed. Wow-times have changed! Part of this severity was due to the importance Mann placed in having all children raised with having been taught moral reasoning.

William McGuffey (1800-1873) had an equally strong impact in the formation of early learning. He became a teacher at the wise, old age of fourteen. He began to see the importance of have a unified approach in schools to moral learning and developed the most popular curriculum in history; the McGuffey Readers. These schoolbooks were laden with Biblical stories and moral lessons. In this way, the prevailing social norms of the time were established for the students. These lessons became the foundation of moral development for early American children for many generations.

Let’s really condense history now! During the 1950s-1960s, there was a shift in education away from using education as a vehicle for disseminating moral lessons and in turn, character development. This was in part due to a demographic shift in religious practices, a burgeoning interest in philosophies of logical positivism and humanists beliefs and a change in the moral code under which many American began to operate. The shift continued for many decades and schools began to shy away from anything having to do with moral education.

Yet, when the United States Congress authorized the Partnerships in Character Education Program  in 1994 it renewed an interest by schools in character education. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 went even further and provided states with a means of financial support for re-examining character education. When Department of Education (DOE) rewrote their Strategic Plan almost a decade later, it included the goal of promoting “strong character and citizenship among our nation’s youth”. Although it is no longer a targeted goal of the DOE, its intent has since gained ground nationwide with thirty-six states now having mandated or encouraging character education. That’s a lot!

Where does our state stand in all this? In 1993, the Basic Education Act required the state of Washington to provide students with the opportunity to become responsible citizens. In 1994, the Basic Education Act was amended to include character education an integral part of public education. There were a few stipulations added, such as it being left up local school boards how this would be implemented. This was with intention that local communities have the responsibility for determining how these values and character traits are learned as determined by consensus at the local level. These values and traits include the importance of:

(1) Honesty, integrity, and trust

(2) Respect for self and others

(3) Responsibility for personal actions and commitments

(4) Self-discipline and moderation

(5) Diligence and a positive work ethic

(6) Respect for law and authority

(7) Healthy and positive behavior

(8) Family as the basis of society

How does the concept of teaching these values and traits impact us as teachers in the classroom? That is where the really good stuff is and will be the subject of my next blog(s)! Any one of the above eight would be incredible fodder for discussion. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences before I dive in come April!