CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

WORKSHOP:

Copyright Intellitots Learning Pvt Ltd 2014

WHAT DO WE ALREADY

KNOW ?

What is Character Education ? Why do we need it

?

- Character education - a historical perspective

- 7 Key focus areas of character education

How do we teach it ? How do we track it?

- Macro Structures

- Micro Moments

- Character Growth Card

CHARACTER EDUCATION – A

HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE

Down through history, education has had 2 great goals to help people gain knowledge

help them become good

Character education has been around for 1000s of years. In India – through gurukuls

In the Christian world – through the bible

DECLINE OF CHARACTER

EDUCATION

17th to 18th Century - Scientific

revolution – people started to

distinguish between facts (that could

be scientifically proven) and values

(seen as a more personal domain,

not a subject to be transmitted

through schools).

Character education saw a decline from the 17th to early 20th century

19th Century - Darwin and evolution – led people

to see all things including morality as being in

flux.

18th to 19th Century - Industrial

revolution – changed what was

required from people coming out of

the education system.

WHY TEACH CHARACTER?

In the 20th century we started to see signs of societies in moral trouble

- Breakdown of the family

- Deterioration of civility in everyday life

- Behavior of the youth

- Rampant greed

- Violence…

“To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society” – Theodore Roosevelt

AND IF THAT WASN’T REASON

ENOUGH…

Ask yourself or anyone you know “To what do

you credit your success?”

S

U

C

C

E

S

SGETTING INTO

THAT COLLEGE

?

Or the PERSEVERANCE

that got you there and kept

you there ?

DOING

CALCULUS

WELL ?

Or the TEAM WORK /

SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE

you displayed on the job ?

THE RETURN OF CHARACTER

EDUCATION

Now we are seeing a new character education

movement. A scientific approach to character

education. Now supported by 50 years of

empirical research.

How do we teach character ?

“Children have never been very good at listening

to their elders but they have never failed to

imitate them”

Important for us to self evaluate, self reflect and

learn as much as we can about character

education

Identify your Character

Strengths

EXERCISE

REFLECT !

YOUR TOP 5

CHARACTER

STRENGTHS

WHAT YOU THINK

YOUR STUDENTS

TOP 5 SHOULD BE

WHAT RESEACH

PROVES AS MOST

PREDICTIVE OF

FUTURE SUCCESS

Perseverance / Grit

Finished whatever s/he began

Stuck with a project or activity for more than a few weeks

Tried very hard even after experiencing failure

Stayed committed to goals

Kept working hard even when s/he felt like quitting

How do we know it’s important? – There are NO counter examples of someone succeeding without Grit!

1. Educate students on the AMOUNT of practice required to

master a skill

2. Help them understand the role of failure in mastering a skill

3. Reward and praise them for the struggle

Zest

Actively participated

Showed enthusiasm

Approached new situations with excitement

and energy

Self Control (Hot Vs Cool systems)

School Work

Came to class prepared

Remembered and followed directions

Got to work right away instead of waiting until the last minute

Paid attention and resisted distractions

Interpersonal

Remained calm even when criticized or otherwise provoked

Allowed others to speak without interrupting

Was polite to adults and peers

Kept temper in check

Optimism

Believed that effort would improve his/her

future

When bad things happened, s/he thought

about things they could do to make it better

next time

Stayed motivated, even when things didn’t go

well

Believed that s/he could improve on things

they weren’t good at – GROWTH MINDSET

Gratitude

Recognized what other people did for them

Showed appreciation for opportunities

Expressed appreciation by saying thank you

Did something nice for someone else as a way

of saying thank you

Social Intelligence

Was able to find solutions during conflicts with

others

Showed that s/he cared about the feelings of

others

Adapted to different social situation

Curiosity

Was eager to explore new things

Asked questions to help s/he learn better

Took an active interest in learning

Teaching through

Macrostructures

Any intentionally created structure, system or routine that, explicitly or implicitly, is designed to teach character.

Characteristics

1. Recurring – Daily / Weekly

2. Proactively Planned – Before problems happen

3. Active – Student involvement

4. Aligned – Have a good fit with what is happening during the rest of the day

Many ways to achieve this ! Eg: Co-curricular, Separate period, Dual purpose lesson

Dual Purpose Lesson Plans

-Write a letter expressing gratitude to someone

who cares for you

-Work in a team on a science project on

transport

- Lesson on life of Mahatma Gandhi to bring

out the value of perseverance

Teaching through Micro

Moments

Character Behavior Language

Constructive Responding

Growth Mindset

The moment to moment interactions with

students. Aim should be to have as many such

positive moments in a day as possible.

Micro

Moment

s

Triangle

PASSIVE ACTIVE

CONSTRUCTIV

E

DESTRUCTIVE

TEACHER RESPONSES

TEACHER AS A COACH

Engage students in Positive Emotional

Attractor state

Help them develop a vision for themselves

Get them motivated about achieving that vision

Measure Character Growth

Card A macro structure

Based on the premise that feedback is useful.

Used to facilitate a conversation. Should encourage growth mindset.

Caveat : Ratings are subjective based on each persons own personal standards

Process

[1] self

[2] teacher

[3] collate

Effective Strategies

[1] Use an asset or strength based approach

[2] Choose one to two areas of growth upon which to focus

[3] Create effective goals and plans for after the conference

Character Growth Card -

SAMPLE

TRAFFIC LIGHT

A multi purpose tool for improving

children’s social and learning skills.

FINDING THE RIGHT

BALANCE

FOLLOW THE GOLDILOCKS PRINCIPLE

SHARING OF IDEAS

Please share what thoughts this

discussion has triggered and what

you would be trying out in your own

organization.

THANK YOU