| |
Teaching
Character Traits
by
Pamela Martin, secondary coach
Teaching
character traits is a vital part of all teaching done, at every level of formal
education and beyond. I cannot accept the premise of many that this discipline
is reserved to those who teach children under the age of eleven, since those are
the formative years. Yes, I will agree that those are more formative years, but
they are not the only formative years. We continue to be formed throughout life.
The molding becomes more difficult as we harden with years, but we can be molded.
Teaching
character traits to teens, for example, is not less possible than the teaching
done by their peers in convincing them to take that first smoke or the first alcoholic
drink. Preteens, teens, and adults are still molded by many influences, and are
not beyond learning character traits. So, character traits should be taught at
every level of life, whether taught by others or self-taught. |
| | |
As
a coach, I have realized that teaching
character traits is like teaching new movements to the muscles. Young children's
muscles are softer and impressionable perhaps, but older muscles are stronger,
have greater coordination, and can be trained to do greater things. I believe
that we must teach character traits the way we train athletes. There are warm-up
exercises, drills, practices, repetitions, etc. on a daily basis. These adhere
to objective standards, not to what the student thinks is right. We don't let
athletes stop until we know with certainty that they have so thoroughly learned
the skill that it will be there when the test comes. Then, they compete - they
put their work to the test.
We
teach character traits in many ways. One of the most important, and necessary,
is by modeling them ourselves. To do otherwise is to be as the grossly overweight
doctor who exhorts the slightly obese patient to diet or die. We invalidate our
words if our actions do not match them. Students need to see our character in
action, not just hear it in words. They need to know that character counts for
adults as well as for children and teens.
Teaching
character traits begins by selecting a good list of traits. The wise adult
then seeks how-to books at an adult level to get a firm, personal grasp on the
trait. Next, the adult selects quality books and materials that are age-appropriate,
written specifically to teach that trait, and based on objective standards. Finally,
supplementary materials are added, giving daily opportunities as in athletic endeavors:
warm-ups, drills, practices, repetitions, and tests. Teaching character traits
is vital - train for the Character Olympics! | |
