Teaching With Character or Not

noreply@blogger.com (Manners of the Heart) — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 02:24:00 +0000

How is it that in one grade level in the same school there can be such a vast difference in achievement?What separates a high poverty, high achieving school from a high poverty, low achieving school?

In both instances, there are common denominators: the same curriculum, same schedule, same environment and same mix of kids.

The difference? Teaching with character or not.
Let me give you two examples:
In spite of the odds, a first grade teacher in one of the toughest schools in our district has a classroom full of achieving students. It didn’t take long to understand why, when I visited her classroom last week.

We were greeted at the door by one of her students. (Just standard classroom policy.) All of the students looked up and greeted us with comments like “Glad you’re here” and “Welcome to our class.” (First graders, mind you.) The students were engaging and inquisitive as they listened to the lesson. Our questions were answered with enthusiasm and eagerness for more. Another student walked us to the door as we exited. (Did I mention all of this was without prompting from the teacher?)

I complimented the teacher on her students’ behavior. Her reply, “They make getting up every day easy. I have little lives to shape and little minds to teach.”

Five years ago, a magnanimous principal took over a failing school in a rough part of town. Today, that school is a B+ school and continuing to improve. The teachers are much the same, the population of kids didn’t change. The difference? She raised the bar of expectation for her students and teachers. No longer were disrespectful attitudes and speech allowed. No longer were tests the only thing that mattered. The instructional time allowed for the teaching of manners. She made character the number one goal of the school. Character in the administration. Character in the faculty. Character in the students. And academics followed.

The definitive argument that character education and academic achievement have a direct correlation is right before our eyes. Teachers and schools who use character to teach character succeed. Those who don’t…don’t.
Why would anyone not use this simple formula for the education of children: “Little lives to shape and little minds to teach”…in that order?

From our hearts to yours,

Wise Ol' Wilbur's Blog

Teaching With Character or Not