| |
Character
Education - Compassion
by
Margaret Coppin, preschool teacher
Character
education compassion. I was told to use the three words together. Sounds strange,
but we preschool teachers know the importance of obedience. We know the importance
of compassion, too. We teach this straightaway in preschool. Children have got
to learn to show compassion before they can spend happy time together. They have
got to learn to share toys and be kind. They have got to learn not to be mean
or insensitive. They have got to respond to other children's needs.
Character
education compassion is actually the character trait of compassion in different
words. It goes by the name caring also, but as Shakespeare observed about roses,
it would be just as sweet by any other name. Compassion is one of the traits that
makes any relationship sweeter. It improves relationships among children, adults,
or between children and adults. |
| | |
I
looked up compassion in a child's dictionary the other day. It was not there.
I wish it had been. I would put it there. I would use a picture of a child tenderly
helping a friend brush dirt from a wound. Beneath the picture, I would write,
"Compassion means that I feel what you feel and I help make it better. Tyrone
is showing compassion to Latitia." Character
education compassion calls for keeping your eyes open. It calls for looking
inside others. Before you can use it, you have to know how others feel. What makes
them feel sad or happy? Once you know that, you feel the same way. Don't stop
there, though. It isn't compassion yet. Compassion has to go another step. Once
you empathize, you do something to help them. That is compassion.
Character
education in compassion has got to start early. It has got to take place often.
It has got to be consistent. Let the teacher show compassion everyday in actions,
and teach it everyday in words. |
|
