There are many divisions on
teaching ethics and character in school. Many struggle to define what it means
to teach ethics and character, how it should be done, if it should be done and
whose standard to use.
Linus Wright, in his 13th
and final point of “Restructuring Public Education for the 21st
Century,” calls for character education.
Intentionally
teach core values of respect, responsibility, honesty, self-discipline and
citizenship.
I don’t intend, in this blog post,
to get into the definition of teaching ethics and character. What I will say is
this. It’s essential for a classroom to function for children to learn respect
(in dealing with teachers, peers, administrators), responsibility (homework,
belongings, grades, learning), honesty (no, the dog didn’t really eat my
homework) and self-discipline (my parents weren’t home last night to make me do
my homework). How could a classroom function without these qualities?
Citizenship is an excellent practice (even if it evokes thoughts of the 1950s)
because it teaches students to look beyond themselves to something bigger – a
sense of unity and commitment to each other, to other community members, to the
nation and world as a whole (and plays in well with all of the aforementioned
character traits).
On this level, I
don’t disagree with, and even applaud, character education. What I will say
next, I haven’t always agreed with. But recently, I’ve changed my mind.
Anything beyond this basic ethics education might be too far. Teachers are to
teach students about academics. If a teacher takes the role of ethical trainer,
he or she is removing that role from the home, teaching state-approved ethics
material (which should raise red flags) and, possibly, influencing students to
think more like him and her, as far as ethics go. And while a teacher might see
this as a good thing (who doesn’t want others to think like they do), parents
certainly won’t agree with this, unless the teacher happens to have the same
values and ideals. It’s not the teacher’s job. As mentioned, teachers are to
teach academics, and only as much ethics as is necessary to successfully run a
classroom.
Speaking
of running a classroom (and moving on to a different subject), Wright’s 12th
point (and the last one I’ve yet to cover of those that I chose to) states
this:
12. Require each
school district to undergo an external evaluation every five years to determine
effectiveness of operation. Criteria for the evaluation and the personnel
conducting such an exercise would be approved by the Texas Education Agency.
As far as Linus Wright’s 12th
point goes, there isn’t much use looking at its many aspects because the crux
of it is flawed. Until you change the Texas Education Agency, any external
evaluation, every five years or every year, is going to be based on high-stakes
standardized testing. That’s how the TEA handles its schools, deciding which
ones should be closed and which ones should deserve more funding. As long as
the TEA continues to run schools like a business that bases its decisions on flawed
results, what will this five-year evaluation accomplish? Administrators and
teachers will continue to stress over test results they can’t entirely control
and that don’t reflect true learning or how well a teacher teaches. Student
achievement and learning will continue to decline as drop out rates continue to
rise. Wright suggests some good points, but until some of those things (and
some other things) are corrected, this evaluation is, essentially, a moot
point. What will it take for his idea to be a valid point?
Thanks for sticking with me over
the summer as I’ve looked at Wright’s plan. Now that the fall is sneaking up on
us, I’ll be looking at a variety of subjects, including ethics teaching, in a
less structured way. Hope to hear from you.
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