MWSubstack 020: Character education

We explore the importance of teaching about character and helping students develop identity and cultivate integrity.

Welcome to MiddleWeb Substack. It’s a twice-monthly, two-topic, five-minute read for middle grades educators, featuring a selection of MiddleWeb’s most popular and influential articles, a book review, and a noteworthy 4-8 resource or project we’ve spotted. That’s it!

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►CHARACTER EDUCATION
Is it part of a teacher's mission today?

In this issue of MiddleWeb Substack, we're focusing on a single issue with multiple dimensions.

In Math: the Perfect Place to Teach Character teacher-coach Mona Iehl has a lot to share about character education and not just with math teachers. We boldface this (no shaming intended) because we've noticed a tendency for non-math teachers to scoot out the room when math seems to be the topic!

Here's some of what Mona writes:

Character education can be traced back to the 1700s when Benjamin Franklin said, “… nothing is of more importance for the public weal, than to form and train up youth in wisdom and virtue.” Flash forward 300-ish years to 2005 when the US Department of Education published this definition: “Character education teaches the habits of thought and deed that help people live and work together as families, friends, neighbors, communities and nations.”

The way I think about character education is seeing our students as whole humans, not just vessels for learning the curriculum. I see my job as a teacher to help my students be their best selves…to be the people that will go on to change the world, make a positive impact on the lives of others, and solve problems in ways that build us up as a community.

Character education and academics work together harmoniously when our work is driven by core values such as respect, justice, citizenship, and responsibility for self and others. The reality is we cannot open students’ brains and dump in the information. Our mission is greater than our delivering curriculum and students mastering standards.

How does "character education" connect to student identity, strengths-based education or social-emotional learning? To equity, integrity, kindness, empathy? And how does it connect specifically to kids in the middle?

"Tweens," writes MS guidance counselor Phyllis Fagell, "are relentlessly self-critical, their empathy is still developing, and they’re certain they’re being judged by everyone. All that insecurity can lead to insensitivity."

And former MS teacher and best-selling author Debbie Silver offers this insight:

Integrity and its component parts of honesty, respect, fairness, honor, authenticity, trustworthiness, responsibility, and courage to stand for one’s beliefs are fashioned from the social community. Middle grades students are at a pivotal time in their lives for developing significant patterns for future behavior. Adult role models at school can and should play a large part in shaping student choices.

These MiddleWeb articles also explore aspects of character development in the middle grades.

• How We Can Cultivate Integrity in Middle School (Debbie Silver)

• 10 Ways We Can Help Tweens Feel Included (Phyllis Fagell)

• It May Be Developmental and Still Not Appropriate (Jody Passanissi)

• Teaching Our Students to Value Their Strengths  (Chery Mizerny)

• Teaching Students to Love Their Individuality  (Valentina Gonzalez)

• Teaching Ethics Should Be a STEM Essential (Anne Jolly)

• How Wonder and Sticky Notes Built Character (Mary Tarashuk)

Book Reviews

• Learning Spaces That Affirm Students’ Identities (review by Katie Durkin)

• A Playbook for Student and Teacher Well-Being (review by Anne Anderson)

• How We Can Address Inequities Students Face (review & commentary by DeAnna Miller)

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Regie Routman “believes that we are most fully ourselves when ‘teaching, learning, and living are interwoven and seamlessly integrated.’ To show us this full self, she shares stories that might help us navigate our own worlds.“ – Read Sarah Cooper’s review of The Heart-Centered Teacher.

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►ELSEWHERE
A constructivist look at character education.

Progressive educator Alfie Kohn's exhaustive (11,000 words, including 60 footnotes!) dissection of character education appeared in the February 1997 edition of KAPPAN Magazine. Much has happened in American society and education in the nearly 30 years since Kohn's How Not to Teach Values: A Critical Look at Character Education appeared. But it is still a valuable read for anyone seriously interested in grappling with the puzzle of "how to teach character."  

►OUR BOOK REVIEW
Try It! Math Problems for All by Jerry Kaplan

Kaplan's book is just what math teachers want: a collection of offbeat, open-ended problems, riddles and brain teasers to engage the most reluctant student, says middle school math teacher Michael Hernandez. Read the complete review.

►REVIEW FOR US!
Browse our complete list of free professional books available for review.

►NEXT TIME

Ideas for better ways to teach grammar and spelling. And history! Lots of strategies, including project based learning.