CHARACTER EDUCATION
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN EDUCATED PERSON?
BEST PRACTICES IN CHARACTER EDUCATION The modern character education movement emerged in the 1980s as a consequence of growing parental and public concern for moral drift. Two decades later, it is time to ask, What are the successes of the character education movement? What do best practices look like? This essay by Paul J. Dovre explores these questions through the study of character education in six schools. His conclusion: So far, character education programs that are carefully designed and implemented appear to be succeeding. Undeterred by philosophical disputes on the one hand and the preoccupation with academic achievement on the other, character education finds its strength at the grass roots, in those individual schools and communities where teachers, administrators, and citizens initiate programs designed to improve civility and citizenship -- legitimate goals in their own right. If research continues to show that comprehensive character education has positive effects on student achievement as well, then the movement may in time gain more robust political and financial support from education policymakers.
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TEACH TOLERANCE
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SONGS
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BOOKS FILM
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BULLYS
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DEFINE COOL
- IDEALS
- PROM NIGHT
LEARN AND TEACH ABOUT THE CULTURE OF HATE
IT'S HISTORY AND SOLUTIONS.
TEACHING TOLERANCE WITH SONGS AND BOOKS.
Many of the Hate songs being sung by "folk groups" at "folk music events" show the Intersection between Cultural Identity and Racist Ideology.
TEACH ABOUT CHARACTER THROUGH HISTORY
TEACH RESPECT AND TOLERANCE SONGS
Teach Kind Free classroom materials and humane education resources from various nonprofit organizations and ideas on how to implement humane education in the classroom
International Institute for Humane Education, which provides training and resources for teachers and others.
National Association for Humane and Environmental Education, the youth education affiliate of The Humane Society of the United States
Elementary curriculum that introduces students to the amazing lives and feelings of animals, discusses our society’s changing perspectives on animals, and describes compassionate choices that students can make to help animals every day.
Just Choices encourages students to explore new ideas and reevaluate old ones while developing a strong understanding and appreciation of historical and contemporary social justice movements. Through this program, students will learn how their everyday choices affect others in society and will be inspired to take on issues with passionate civic engagement. Humane education encourages students to make the connection between the environmental, animal protection, and human rights movements and other social justice movements. It inspires students to live examined, intentional lives so that what they do today helps the planet, animals, and all people tomorrow.
Below is a list of sites that promote humane education and offer classroom resources to encourage critical thinking while empowering students to make a difference.
"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study matematics and philosphy, geography, natual history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture . . . . ."
TEACH ABOUT CHARACTER THROUGH HISTORY
CHARACTER EDUCATION
TEACH RESPECT AND TOLERANCE SONGS
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Culture of HATE - Learn about the connections between charivari, rough music and forerunners of the KKK in American Southern history. Find out about Wassail and the Mummers in Philadelphia, PA. Many of the Hate songs being sung by "folk groups" at "folk music events" show the Intersection between Cultural Identity and Racist Ideology.
- "Operation Respect" "Don't Laugh at Me" song school curriculum, music, videos, teaching ideas--all revolving around teaching respect.
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WAR SONGS AND WOODSTOCK
"But the songs of a nation are probably the last things which are committed to writing, for the very reason that they are remembered" -
From the Bard who knew songs with 2500 verses down through time to the minstrels who knew maybe a hundred verses to end up being sung by the women who were paid to come to funerals and cry.
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LEARN YOUR STATE SONGS and through them your state history.Classroom Music: Why don't teachers teach our state songs in our schools?
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The First References to Santa and the Jingle Bells Dance
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Learning from Lyrics by classroom teacher Johnathan Chase
Books, Film, have always been windows into culture and history.
- Forever praised and forever controversial, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has been pulled from classes in Taylor because of complaints about its liberal use of common racial slurs. In a move that's sparking debate that's dogged Mark Twain's classic since its 1885 publication, Taylor School District officials halted instruction of the book some consider the Great American Novel after at least one African-American parent complained about the racial epithet that's repeated more than 200 times on its pages.
- "Complaint Leads School To Drop `Pick a Bale of Cotton' From School Concert" Comment from From: Shantae Williams Detroit, USA Subject: A_bale_of_trouble
"Well, I am an African-American woman, and I think it is pathetic that these parents cried foul over something they did not take the time to understand. . .] "The song is a piece of history. It was written by African Americans, For African Americans, to be sung to make the day of work go by faster. By not keeping these songs alive, it will be much easier for the masses to forget how African Americans, though enslaved, still managed to create a distinct culture of their own. By a very diverse choir coming together and singing this song, it brings forth a wonderful message of racial equality, not of discrimination. The fact that we can all enjoy African American songs together, is a step in the right direction toward complete equality. I believe strongly that we are all equal and by singing this song together, we show that we have moved past a horrible event in our history, but we aren't forgetting it either. Slavery must never be forgotten and never be repeated."
Pick a Bale of Cotton also see this one
"Pick a Bale of Cotton" from the recording entitled Get on Board: Negro Folksongs by the Folkmasters, Folkways FP 2028, provided courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. ©1952. Used by permission.
"Pick a Bale" has been classed as a work song but it also was used frequently during slave times as a dance tune or reel. As a work song it has a "John Henry" twist in that the lyric speaks of picking a bale of cotton a day, an impossible task for one person. This version of the song is credited to the late Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter and is more of a joyous dance interpretation than a work lament. Sonny Terry sings the verse over and over with the other two singers filling in a low chanted background.
- Born for Hard Luck: Peg Leg Sam Jackson A film portrait of the last Black medicine-show performer, Arthur "Peg Leg Sam" Jackson, black harmonica player, singer, and comedian who made his living "busking" on the street and performing in patent-medicine shows touring southern towns. Footage includes excerpts from one of his last medicine shows, videotaped at a county fair in 1972, and material filmed near his home in South Carolina in 1975. The performance includes harmonica solos, songs, a parody of a chanted sermon, folktales and reminiscences, and three buck dances.
- Ms. Shirley Temple sings Polly Wolly Doodle and Shirley Temple dances with Bill "Bonjangels" Robinson on her way upstairs to bed in The Little Colonel.
SAFE SCHOOLS: Learn how to stop Bullies in your school.
LEARN AND TEACH ABOUT THE CULTURE OF HATE
IT'S HISTORY AND SOLUTIONS
TEACHING TOLERANCE WITH SONGS AND BOOKS.
Many of the Hate songs being sung by "folk groups" at "folk music events" show the Intersection between Cultural Identity and Racist Ideology.
Just Be Your Own Person that is the definition of cool.
American School Counselor Association (ASCA). [1]
Guidance counselors are called school counselors now. ASCA recommends no more than 250 students per counselor, the ratio in Florida is closer to 500 to one. School Counselors are responsible for three domains: academic achievement, personal and social development, and college and career planning."
- Elementary school counselors work primarily on character education, self-esteem and conflict resolution.
- Middle school counselors assist with career identification and options,
- High school counselors must make sure students have completed all the requirements for graduation. That includes coordinating standardized tests.
Adolescent Character Development - struggling with Social Pressure in the online and offline world.
Adolescent Empowerment: Teach, Discuss, & Learn to recognize the different kinds of pressure techniques.How do you get manipulated? Learn to recognize when you are being manipulated.
1) If you feel manipulated.
If you feel pushed by anything that doesn't feel right to you, Don't do it. You are not obligated to do anything they asked you to do.
2) When you are given something and you feel you have to give something back. You don't have to.
3) You have been told to trust someone or think you have to trust someone. You don't. Think for yourself. If it doesn't feel right then don't trust them.
4) They tell you that you have to do it.
You don't have to do it.
They manipulate you by saying you said you'd do it. You can change your mind and say no anytime you want.
5) Everyone thinks so or is doing it.
Think for yourself.
You can do what you want you don't have to do what everyone else does or think what they think. You decide for yourself.
6) Telling you what to do or think.
Don't worry about what they think.
Are they an expert? Who are they anyway? Why should you believe what they are telling you? Who are they to tell you anything?
You do what you think is best for you.
7) You can't have it.
They make it hard to get on purpose making you think it is something great. Don't get fooled into thinking it is valuable when it isn't.
WHAT STUDENTS SHOULD BE
(1) Readers of literature;
(2) Poets whose words envision new ways of being;
(3) Writers who reflect thoughtfully;
(4) Problem solvers who can use mathematics;
(5) Observers who sense the wonder of science:
(6) Citizens who study history and take action;
(7) Speakers of at least two languages who cross cultural borders;
(8) Workers who can create with their hands and use technology;
(9) Artists who sculpt, draw or paint;
(10) Musicians who sing or play an instrument;
(11) Athletes who exercise for a lifetime; and
(12) Leaders who recognize the moral dimension.
Recasting the definition of a successful learner from one whose achievement is measured solely by academic tests, to one who is knowledgeable, emotionally and physically healthy, civically engaged, prepared for economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond formal schooling.
Moral Flexibility, Spin, Damage Control, how can you learn to determine what the truth is?
The answer to the question guides curriculum and instruction in powerful and lasting ways. Charles Slater outlines twelve educational ideals worth pursuing. They become powerful when we apply them not only to students but to everyone in a learning community of students, teachers, parents, administrators and staff.
PROM NIGHT
FASHION - Low Class vs. High Class.
Why do the runways of Europe and the US take the low class street culture for Haute Couture? What it means to be emotionally healthy.
Two Long Island high schools that canceled their senior proms after years of burgeoning excess that included limos and weekend house rentals in the Hamptons announced a cut-rate compromise Tuesday that will involve bus rides and other more modest arrangements. Instead of hiring chauffeurs, students will takes buses to a Manhattan pier for a dinner cruise. Instead of tuxedos and fancy ball gowns, the dress code will be jackets and ties for boys and dresses for girls. The cost is expected to be about $100 per student -- a fraction of the cost of the wild parties of the past.
Principal Kenneth M. Hoagland sparked a national debate about the ostentatiousness and debauchery that accompany many senior proms when he said last fall that his school would no longer sponsor a prom. Hoagland sent a 2,000-word letter last fall to Kellenberg students and parents, decrying the "bacchanalian aspects" of that schools prom.
