You have probably heard of character education. For much of history, educating for character was deemed far more valuable than scholastic training. Philosophers from Plato to Dewey, and educators such as Horace Mann, saw the development of the virtuous person as the highest goal of schooling.

Character Education Works

In 2017, William H. Jeynes published, in Education and Urban Society, a meta-analysis of character education programs. Based on the studies he examined, he concluded that character education programs resulted in higher educational outcomes as well as more communication related to core values such as honesty and compassion.

He found no difference in results by race, but did find higher effects among high school students which he hypothesize might relate to either more concern among teens when faced with challenges to their value or to longer exposed to character education curricula.

Effective Character Education

In 1993, Brooks and Kahn in Educational Leadership listed a number of elements of successful character education. Restated here, in TPN’s active formatting, these include:

1. Direct Instruction – Values must be taught, especially when they are not readily apparent in the society around us.
2. Common Meanings – We must share common definitions of what values are important and discuss why.
3. Positive Expectations – We must encourage positivity and self-development over negativity and punishment.
4. Practice Opportunities- We must make our values visible and put them into operation in our homes, our schools, and our communities.
5. Reinforcement – We must point out positive values in action wherever we see them.
6. Wholistic- Our values must be practiced in all parts of our lives.
7. Curriculum Relevant – Character education materials are an integral part of classroom teaching, our home life, our community, and should reinforce learning in all areas.
8. Flexible – Teachers and parents can adapt lessons and curriculum activities to best meet their individual children and students.
9. Encourage Involvement – Routine communication is established and maintained with all people in our lives.
10. Evaluation – Regular assessment identifies what works best.

Character Education in 2021

But those ideas were proposed in 1993 when character education was surging in the schools. Today there are many character education curricula and lessons available. This website Teach Peace Now is an example of one.

But how relevant are they in a country where rudeness and dishonesty have swamped social media and politics, and a pandemic has shown the horrible inequities’ in our system by class and race in terms of access to medical care and justice? How relevant are feel good positives when 1 in 1000 people in the United States have died of COVID this year? Is it enough to say words, acclaim values, and then watch those who should be role models lie and cheat?

“… imagine a future where our leaders, media, and cultural influencers have convinced us that all people are inherently manipulative, selfish, and petty. Acts of compassion are for losers. And worst of all, a nation where fellow citizens do not trust each other because we have been taught that everyone is an unscrupulous liar or cheat who cares only about themselves.”

Arthur Schwartz, president of Character.org, a national character-development organization Education Week

Ten Years of Teach Peace Now

We think nurturing values through character education is even more relevant and important than ever.

Some times we may feel like a very small voice, heard by a few, and making a a slight difference. But we keep trying. Because that is what we do. We persist.

Over the last 10 years, spanning from Teach Peace Now‘s first amateurish website to today, we have attempted to do all the things on Brooks and Kahn’s list, but in an online environment with a particular focus on both personal and world-wide peace.

It is time for us to assess what we have accomplished, and the direction we plan to head in the next ten years. Looking at our most popular posts, we have decided to focus more exclusively on reviews of children’s picture books. These are our most returned to pages.

To provide focus, each month in 2021 we will hone in on a value. The 2021 chart is below. We hope these values will be as important for you during the coming year as they are for us.

Each month we will review books that illustrate that word and suggest activities to accompany them.

If you would like to download a copy of our 2021 value words bookmark CLICK here

Thank you for your support all these years.

We leave you with the hope for a more civil and peaceful year to come.