Discussion 2

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Our final session is Session 8, Cultivating Character.

The problems with poor character are obvious: bullying, cheating, lying, in general an untrustworthy person. We could go on and on with the problems of poor character.

Let’s spend a few minutes examining how to encourage good character in our students.

In fact, let’s start with the word “encourage” because we want to encourage character. And actually, the secret to encouraging character is right in the word encourage. What’s the root word or a word within the word “encourage”?

Well, courage. Now, what’s the root work of courage?

Cour or heart. We talk about in Paris there is a famous church called the Sac Le Cour, the Sacred Heart.

Now how do you then encourage character by reaching into the heart? You recognize good behavior, and you praise the character it reveals. It goes beyond simply praising performance but looking at what the person has inside them in their heart. You are encouraging something.

When we say that somebody has “lost heart”, they’ve been discouraged. So discouraged is losing heart. Encouraging is bolstering someone’s heart, finding out what’s inside them and polishing it off and saying “Hey, look at this; look at this. This is great”. Praise just focuses on performance-- “atta boy; good job”. What exactly does that mean? Whereas encouragement focuses on the character. Let’s take a look at how that might work out in a classroom situation.

In their actions, your students may show things like being caring, or compassionate, dependable, enthusiastic, a hard worker, honest, goal-oriented, generous, loyal, persistent, resilient or responsible. You might need to even make a list of various character qualities that someone can demonstrate. Because I think sometimes we just don’t think about it. We like certain behaviors but we don’t take the next step and help them see what that says about their character.

Now, encouraging good character can be very easy to do. The first thing you want to do is identify a behavior that you appreciate. So, for instance, in a classroom environment, maybe a student gives a good second effort after doing poorly on a test. Alright, you can just say “Hey, good job; that was great”. That doesn’t really help them understand why was it a good job. What does it reveal about them? And so that is where you would then think about the character it revealed.

For instance, maybe they were resilient coming back. A hard worker, second effort. Or they were responsible in going that extra mile. And so these are character qualities that you can identify for the students and say “I really appreciated seeing that in you. You really showed resilience. You know you are a really hard worker. I think that was so good, and you demonstrated what a hard worker you are.” It’s saying something about who they are--not just what they did.

Now the great thing about this approach to encouraging character is you can do it at any time. You don’t have to do it at the moment it occurs. You could go back to a student and say: “You know last week when I saw you do x, y, or z, that really showed me what a generous person, thoughtful person, resilient person, caring person you are. And I think that is great.”

Now I want you to spend a few minutes thinking about someone you know. It could be a friend; it could be a relative. It could be a student. And I want you to think about a behavior that they did that you were pleased with, that you appreciated, and then the character quality that that behavior exhibited. And then, here is the hard part—make a point of commenting on it to them.

I’d like to take a few minutes and also address something that I think we may be doing that, inadvertently, is undermining the development of good character in students. What do I mean by that? Well, I think we need a better understanding of tolerance.

In too many cases we have a poor definition of tolerance. Too often we define tolerance simply as acceptance. The more things I accept, the more tolerant I am. And we view tolerance as a virtue in and of itself. Yes, we all need to be more tolerant. That’s how we convey it.

Except for, what if I see my classmate drinking and then getting in a car to drive and I tolerate that? Is that tolerance good? It is more accepting, but of course it is not good. Tolerance really derives its value from what it is we tolerate. So merely teaching tolerance as acceptance is a poor way of teaching students to develop character.

Too often students think of themselves as tolerant when actually they are just being indifferent. As in “whatever”. Or maybe they think they are being tolerant when really they are just being apathetic. “Who cares?”. Or maybe they think they are being tolerant when really, they are being reckless as in “why not?”

And so it is a lazy way of looking at tolerance. “Hey, just accept everything” when really it’s just being indifferent, apathetic, or even reckless.

A better definition, one that we actually live day-to-day by, is something like this:

Tolerance is the allowable deviation from a standard. Let’s take a look at that.

We’ve already seen how this works in mathematics with standard deviations. We have a standard, and then we have a deviation to the right or to the left.

Let’s look at how this might work out in society. We have a standard.

And we have an allowable variation from that standard.

It might be over here. And we call this the acceptable variation from the standard.

Beyond that we can be justifiably intolerant. And you say “Wait a second—is there ever a time when we can be intolerant?” Well, yes there is.

Let’s look at some practical examples.

For instance, at school I am sure your school has a dress code. It has a standard, and it allows a certain amount of variation from that standard. However, at some point what some students would wear would be justifiably intolerable.

Another example—conversations between boys and girls. The standard would be “We hope that you have uplifting, good, wholesome conversation.” The acceptable variation is you could have silly conversation. You can say dumb things to each other. But what is justifiably intolerable is sexual harassment.

Another example might be classroom discussions. Your standard in the classroom might be that you would like everyone to participate wholeheartedly in classroom discussions. However, the acceptable variation is you don’t have to say anything. However, what is justifiably intolerable is you won’t allow someone to fall asleep in class. And this is the way we really live our lives. This is the way our definition of tolerance really works out. The definition of “just accept everything” sounds good in school board declarations or speeches, but it’s not how we really live.

If we teach students, or even imply to students, that tolerance itself, in and of itself, is a virtue and that tolerance really means acceptance, then what we’ve really said is even though you have a moral judgment about something—you know right and wrong—the higher standard is to set that sense of right and wrong aside and simply just accept whatever you see in front of you. And so it’s really saying an absence of moral judgment is better than having moral judgment.

And I think that undermines character in the long run. However, just because you can justifiably be intolerant of something, doesn’t let you off the hook from being a person of character. Instead, in your intolerance of something, you still need to show kindness, thoughtfulness, self-control, courtesy, patience, and humility. These are all wonderful character qualities.

So you can disagree with someone, but you still need to extend all of these character qualities toward them.

So when it comes to moral decision-making, helping students think more clearly about their standards and the acceptable variation from that standard can be incredibly powerful. And, of course, encourage them to filter their standards through their family’s religious beliefs. At the same time thinking about, “If I won’t tolerate something, am I reflecting good character even in my justifiable intolerance?”

Download and read this student handout called “Promoting Tolerance”. It explains for students the ideas that have been expressed in this unit. You can use this when you are teaching in class.

Another thing you’ll find helpful is a resource we’ve put together in collaboration with the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Doing the Right Thing (for Public Schools) is a free collection of online videos and lesson plans designed to help students and teachers think deeply about the practical application of ethics.

The 17 lesson plans break the videos into bite-sized segments with 20 worksheets and handouts you can use as much or as little as you would like depending on the amount of time you have. Each session includes a set of vocabulary words related to ethics. A lot of students don’t even understand the vocabulary of ethics. The handouts and worksheets will challenge students to contemplate the topic of ethics and apply it to their own lives.

The topics include: (1) The basis for your ethics, (2) Can you always follow your conscience? (3) The vocabulary of ethics, (4) Understanding MLK, Jr. ethics in his religious faith and how it played into his actions, (5) Rationalizing wrong choices, and how easy it is to do that and how we need to avoid it, (6) Taming our passions, and (7) Being an employee in your community and the importance of ethics in the workplace.

The topic of ethics can apply across the curriculum. It relates to Civics/Government, Language Arts (as in the motives and actions of characters in novels), History,

Economics, Current Affairs, Science (as in ethical research and bioethics), Sociology, and Health.

The lessons are designed for high school students. However, teachers of all grades will find them helpful for their own thinking about ethics and can adapt many of the concepts and questions for their students.

So, if you’d like to download that and access the videos, simply visit www.GoGateways.org/DTRT

In summary, remember:

Many of your students come from families of faith. And you can:

Encourage the students to live by the moral dictates of their religious upbringing.

It’s not just about the head; it’s also about the heart.

So what do you do next? How do you implement the things that you have learned in this program?

Well one is, begin thinking about collaborative planning. Get with other educators who feel the same way you do—maybe who have gone through this e-learning course. And begin thinking about how you can incorporate some of the ideas you have learned.

Review your existing curriculum, and see whether there are points of intersection between what you have learned in this program and your current curriculum.

Be intentional with the outcomes. Think about what do you want students to walk away with and how you address the issue of religion in your curriculum and in your culture.

And then, create supportive policies. Review your policies. Do you have a good policy regarding holidays? Do you have a good policy regarding students’ religious liberties?

So these are four areas I would recommend that you focus on.

If we look at those areas of collaborative planning, reviewing curriculum, having an intentional outcome, and supportive policies, you can apply those to five general areas:

One. Include them in your lessons. Remember, you are the keeper of civilization. Students aren’t born civilized. They need family; they need institutions around them to know what it is to be a civilized person.

Secondly, recognize the holidays in your community. These are teachable moments about the culture.

Create a climate of character intentionally encouraging character in your students. And for those who do come from religious backgrounds, letting them know that it is appropriate and encouraged that they live their faith in your class and in your school.

Connect with faith-based organizations. That is allowing a place for the whole child. So you may want to open your classroom up, or in some way, help students connect appropriately with faith-based organizations—after-school programs and religious- release time programs, student clubs, and so forth.

And then enact policies that promote freedom. We’ve looked at Religious Freedom Day, holidays, student expression, release-time programs, and after-school clubs.

Make sure that your policies are welcoming to religious liberty.

Now I encourage you to stay connected to us—to receive creative ideas on an ongoing basis.

As part of your enrollment in Faith, Freedom & Public Schools you will receive Gateways to Better Education's e-Newsletter. It provides you with education-related news, teaching strategies, commentary, and timely lesson ideas. (If you don’t want to receive it, you can unsubscribe at anytime.)

Another way to stay connected with us is to “like” our Facebook page. Just go to Facebook and type in Gateways To Better Education (you’ll find us) or go to our full address: www.facebook.com/GatewaysToBetterEducation. And there you will get all kinds of news items and updates linked to good stories and good ideas as well. And join in the conversation.

And you can find more resources at our website: www.GoGateways.org (or use our initials: gtbe.org)

Well, that concludes all eight sessions. Thank you for taking this instructional module on Faith, Freedom & Public Schools.

I look forward to continuing to provide you with ideas you can use in your classroom through our e-newsletter and our Facebook page.