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Character
Education for Middle Schools
by
Edwin Mathewson, junior high teacherCharacter
education for middle schools is, sadly, not a popular topic in many middle
schools. I can understand that. We carry an incredible burden as it is, and character
education threatens to be the straw that would break the camel's back. We are
not too eager to have that straw thrown on us. There is one thing I learned about
character education, though, that made me willing to accept it. That is the benefits
that it offers me and every other teacher in middle schools.
One
immediate benefit of character education for middle schools is that it yields
safer schools. Safe schools are the subject of great discussions nationally and
internationally. Many ideas of how to achieve safe schools come out of such discussions.
Character education may be the best idea. It yields safer middle schools, and
in turn, safer high schools as well. |
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In
spite of that, character education
for middle schools is the stepchild in many school districts. Our schools
list a character theme of the month or of the quarter. We tack up a few character
posters in classrooms, but we paper the hallways with banners about the 6th grade
dance. There is
a better approach to character education for middle school students. There has
to be. We teachers need to make character education a priority. We need to infuse
it with excitement. We need to make students anticipate character education activities
nearly as much as they anticipate that 6th grade dance. Character
education for middle schools becomes exciting when we bring it out of the
shadows and polish it. We can work character education activities into every course
we teach. We can make available to our students books that are written specifically
to teach character. Without lecturing, of course. Middle school students resist
lecturing on character. But I found at least one publisher that offers early teen
fiction that teaches character without lecturing. Students have gotten so engrossed
in these books that they don't want to put them down. I really wonder if they
know they are gradually building character. We have found, in addition to such
purpose-written books, that character education is made exciting by working it
into art classes. Many students who learn best with tactile expression approach
character crafts with eagerness. The results can be displayed, becoming a 24/7
reminder of character. Character skits can be worked into an otherwise boring
health class if you think about it: drugs, sex, overeating, and smoking.
Bottom
line? We must have character education, and we reap safer schools if we use it
well. We use it well when we weave it into every part of school life, and infuse
it with excitement. See you at the Character Dance! | |
