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 | The Missing Piece |
Franklin's Philosophy of Life
in His Own Words
312 Pages
Do You Make These Mistakes In
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The schedule is too full. There's not time to add anything else into the day much less time to prepare additional lessons |
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There is no money in the budget for additional curriculum resources. |
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There is not enough interest or support from parents for a character education program. |
While these are valid concerns, they are supported by invalid assumptions.
Assumption OneCharacter Development is of lesser importance than learning Math, English, Reading and other basic curriculum subjects. Two of the early advocates of Public Education, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson had the following to say on the subject. "It is said that the Persians, in their constitution, had public schools in which virtue was taught as a liberal art or science, and it is certainly of more consequence to a man that he has learnt to govern his passions in spite of temptation, to be just in his dealings, to be temperate in his pleasures, to support himself with fortitude under misfortune, to behave with prudence in all his affairs and every circumstance of life, I say, it is of much more real advantage to him to be thus qualified, than to be master of all the arts and sciences in the world besides." Benjamin Franklin's The Art of Virtue, page 21 In his notes on the State of Virginia published in 1785, Jefferson proposed that Virginia be divided into Counties and in each of them, establish a public school "for teaching reading, writing and arithmetic" and in which, "the first elements of morality too may be instilled into their minds: such as, when further developed as their judgments advance in strength, may teach them how to work out their own greatest happiness, by showing them that it does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed them, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation and freedom in all just pursuits. . ." |
Assumption Two: The teaching of character education and teaching reading, writing and arithmetic are competitive endeavors competing for scarce resources in both time and money—Not true! When employing the Character Based Learning strategies utilized in "The Seven C's of Thinking Clearly" students develop essential lifeskills at the same time as learning math, history, science or any other subject. |
Assumption Three: It is difficult to believe parents would not wholly support any efforts on the part of the school to improve student performance. You ask, "How does character education improve student performance?"
The fact is that teaching character education involves helping children develop essential lifeskills that can empower them to make choices that will improve every aspect of their lives. |
Mistake Two
Not Focusing on the Cardinal Character Trait Everyone Needs
but Few People Have
Because behaviors are readily observable to us, we tend to think of them as the problem when, in reality, they are merely symptoms of the problem. The root cause behind these behaviors lies in the mind, not in the actions of the individual. The most important character trait we can teach young people is how to think rightly. |
Charles Darwin provided some important insight on this when he wrote in
The Descent of Man
"The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts. . .What ever makes any bad action familiar to the mind, renders its performance so much the easier."
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The imaginative activities and examples make the teaching fun and that's when teachers and students get excited.
Media Specialist
Eden Prairie, MN
. . .by far the most creative social skills program I have ever reviewed.
School Social Worker
Terre Haute, IN
Extremely appropriate for my students. Skills they are lacking and need desparately. They stayed involved and were able to participate.
Elementary Teacher
Lindon, UT
The students were very attentive. They enjoyed the subject matter and were able to bring their own experiences into the discussion and relate to it.
Elementary Teacher
Highland, UT
I really liked them.
I think it was important.
I liked it. I liked it. I liked it.
3rd Grade Students
Eden Prairie, MN