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Building character in schools: practical ways to bring moral instruction to life
316
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0
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2003
Year
Moral PhilosophyMoral InstructionEffective Character EducationEducationEarly Childhood EducationAmerica TodayElementary EducationTeacher EducationEducational EthicsEarly Childhood TeachingTeacher DevelopmentHealth SciencesYoung PeopleMoral DevelopmentPractical WaysAdolescent LearningCurriculumChild DevelopmentCharacter DevelopmentPerformance StudiesCurriculum & InstructionTeaching EthicEducational TheoryEthic Education
American youth face a character crisis, with disappointing role models fostering cynicism and a lack of moral clarity. The authors argue that parents and schools must re‑engage children’s hearts and minds to cultivate character. The book offers a practical blueprint for educators, outlining principles, strategies, curriculum design, and parent engagement to implement schoolwide character education. The guide establishes clear responsibilities for adults and students, providing actionable guidelines to create virtuous school communities that model, teach, and celebrate responsibility, hard work, honesty, and kindness.
Young people in America today face a crisis of character. Traditional role models continue to disappoint the public, falling short of expectations and fostering cynicism rather than idealism. As a result, many young people struggle to distinguish right from wrong and seem indifferent to whether it matters. It clearly becomes the task of parents and schools to re-engage the hearts and minds of our children in forming their own characters. In Building Character in Schools, Kevin Ryan and Karen Bohlin draw from nearly fifty years of combined field experience to offer a practical guide to character education -- designed to help children to know the good, love the good, and do the good. Ryan and Bohlin provide a blueprint for educators who wish to translate a personal commitment to character education into a schoolwide vision and effort. They outline the principles and strategies of effective character education and explain what schools must do to teach students the habits and dispositions that lead to responsible adulthood -- from developing curriculum that reinforces good character development to strengthening links with parents. A useful resource section includes sample lessons, program guidelines, and a parents' list of ways to promote character in their children. Building Character in Schools clearly defines the responsibilities of adults and students in modeling and nurturing character and sets forth practical guidelines for schools seeking to become communities of virtue where responsibility, hard work, honesty, and kindness are modeled, taught, expected, celebrated, and continually practiced.