Comments on: Integrating Character Education Into the Curriculum

By: CEnovice

CEnovice — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:58:18 +0000

Thank you for the response, Dr. Berkowitz, however, I just don’t think I’m convinced. SEL is all about empathy and perspective-taking, right? We need to give our students some credit and assume they will be able to understand the motivations of teachers and administrators in preparing these sorts of lessons – “mining,” as you called it. If, hypothetically, I’m a student and I am sitting through such lessons, I can see myself responding with some serious pushback. I completely agree that service-learning and cooperative learning are powerful pedagogies. I also recognize that class meetings must be profoundly empowering for students. These things are all great. Integrating discussions of what motivates a storybook character, for example, just seems a bit cheesy, for lack of a better word. In my view, there’s got to be a better way of integrating character content without potentially losing students’ attention in the process.

By: Marvin Berkowitz

Marvin Berkowitz — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:48:20 +0000

Good question. The problem is that you are assuming that integration into the curriculum means lessons overtly about character traits. I personally don’t endorse that (although it is not a bad strategy; more the issue is what you have suggested). When I mean integration I mean “mining” the existing character ed content in the curriculum (motivations of characters in fiction; values of historical figures; the values messages in art and music; sportsmanship in p.e., etc.), and using character-building methods (e.g., service learning, cooperative learning).

By: CEnovice

CEnovice — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:05:32 +0000

Dr. Berkowitz, Ms. Stoodley – thanks very much for a great exchange. Very insightful. To take a slightly different approach, I almost think integration into the curriculum might hurt character dev’t more than it would help. For instance, whereas service-learning, respectful classroom interaction, etc., seem to me to be more comprehensive, integration into the curriculum (structured lessons on what it means to be responsible, etc.) may simply be overkill for students. As a student, it might be too easy to simply “tune out.” On the other hand, taking part in an engaging service-learning assignment may be truly transformative for a student, and she/he might not be as inclined to think, for example, “I’m being indoctrinated.” Thoughts?