Научная статья на тему 'The implementation of character education program in American public schools'

The implementation of character education program in American public schools Текст научной статьи по специальности «Науки об образовании»

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Ключевые слова
MORAL EDUCATION / CHARACTER EDUCATION PROGRAM / AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL / METHODS OF MORAL EDUCATION

Аннотация научной статьи по наукам об образовании, автор научной работы — Olishkevych Svitlana

He concept, purpose, content, methods and ways of Character Education program in American public schools are analyzed in the article. The importance and geography of its use in the schools of the USA are revealed.

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Текст научной работы на тему «The implementation of character education program in American public schools»

The implementation of Character Education program in American public schools

Section 6. Comparative and International Education

Olishkevych Svitlana The National University of Ostroh Academy,

Postgraduate student, the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy E-mail: svitlana.olishkevych@oa.edu.ua

The implementation of Character Education program in American public schools

Abstract: The concept, purpose, content, methods and ways of Character Education program in American public schools are analyzed in the article. The importance and geography of its use in the schools of the USA are revealed.

Keywords: moral education, Character Education program, American public school, methods of moral education.

Moral education in the United States has been an integral component of studying process since the foundation ofAmerican public education and on. It was taught on the basis of Christian values common to all religions of the country. The scheme seemed to work successfully in the United States until the 1960s, the year when a number of American students’ parents refused to use biblical values within the school process in public schools. In response, in 1962-1963 the US Supreme Court had forbidden prayers and Bible use in American public schools. Since mid 1960s moral education in US schools began to develop in three areas: 1) moral education based on Christian moral values (practiced mainly in religious and private American schools); 2) so-called programs of moral education, free of moral values, which meant mostly that students were to solve moral dilemmas in the classroom under the guidance of a teacher as a supervisor of discussions on moral subjects (established by public schools); and 3) Character Education programs in US public schools that were aimed at instilling traditional moral values in American society.

Analyzing the reason why character education is vital for modern American public schools, first of all, we must mention weakening of the role of the family and the church in youngsters’ education; aggravated cases of early sexual experience

of young Americans; students’ alcohol and drugs abuse; violence and the use of weapons at school; growing disrespect towards authority, police, laws and regulations; significant loss of civic and patriotic engagement, etc. Deviant behavior ofAmerican students has become extremely threatening and the statistics that confirm this information are described as a burning issue of public concern. For example, the number of murderers in the US aged between 15 and 25 is seven times higher than in Canada, and in 40 times — than in Japan. The country leads the list of teenage pregnancy, abortion and drug addiction among the developed world. Over the past 30 years, teenage suicide has increased in 3 times. The findings of the study among students of Rhode Island showed that one out of three boys and one out of two girls (6-9-grades) find acceptable to force the girl to sex if the couple met six months or longer [5]. According to the report of the National Research Council in 1992, the USA is the most vital country among developed countries in the world [2]. All this makes American scientific community intensify efforts that are aimed at teaching character for youngsters in modern public schools.

Character education was guided by two main objectives throughout the American history: to help the younger generation to develop mental abilities and improve mental capacity. Regarding these objec-

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Section 6. Comparative and International Education

tives, the main task of character education in early American schools of the 19th-early 20th century was guided by educating students on a personal example of the teacher and the curriculum, which was based on biblical values. The Bible was the major source of morality and religion for students and teachers in public schools during the first centuries of American public education. At the time when arose the question which Bible to use and what doctrines to follow, there appeared ‘McGuffey Readers’ The author included in the reader favorite Bible stories, added poetry, and heroic tales. Within the Writing, Reading and Maths classes American pupils were also learning the life lessons of honesty, love to surrounding world and people, kindness to animals and civil service [1].

Character education program is a technology that involves instilling of traditional American values in the class and in the extra-curricular activities using mainly games and role-play techniques. It provides necessary knowledge how to be a devoted family man, a skillful worker, leading a healthy lifestyle and a true citizen — the patriot of the USA.

Methods of Character education program are particularly aimed at instilling traditional moral values common for Americans. The key and most effective method is the project method that is realized in public life and student’s behavior. This method provides the chance to fully implement practical and theoretical knowledge in the real surrounding. Another popular method is a game. It is also actively used in American educational system. The game provides students with the most suitable surrounding for a vivid demonstration of the gained knowledge concerning moral values.

Moreover, teaching students character education effectively also means employing highly professional teachers. American scientist Thomas Lickona believes that school teachers themselves must adhere to certain moral rules and educate students on their own example. The researcher pointed out several requirements for good collaboration between teachers and students: a) tolerance to students, which means caring and supportive attitude towards them, readiness to help o get rid of negative communication experience (the use of communication and dialogue is highly recommended); b) the use of team

educational influence, that is understood as creating a moral educational community, help students get to know one another and reveal each other’s personality, teach students to respect and feel responsible for each other; c) discipline maintenance in the classroom through the development and implementation of codes of conduct, that can be a model for students to obey the laws and respect the legislators; d) acting in accordance with the democratic principles and accountability, the creation and support of democratic atmosphere in the classroom, engaging students in the process so that they can feel responsible for the changes in moral behavior of the class; d) building the educational process on the principles of humanism in order to instill moral values to students using the curriculum and ‘morally enriched subjects’ (history, literature, etc.) as well as the principles of science programs, which contain basic information regarding moral values and their meaning (‘Facing History and Ourselves’ and ‘The Heartwood Ethics Curriculum for Children’); g) training in groups to teach students to appreciate the work of others that provides the ability to see themselves as team members who try their best for the common good; c) promotion of students’ moral reasoning as a part of educational process, working on essays, reading, conducting surveys, debates and discussions in the class; e) teaching students to resolve conflicts and learn relevant skills of courtesy and morality. In addition to compliance with the above-mentioned requirements for moral education during the educational process at school, American educators pay a great deal of attention to the moral education of children outside the school, consequently they actively involve parents in this process, so that they learn how to develop the best features in their children and help them morally develop [3].

According to American scientists K. Ryan and A. Winn there are other methods of character education and teaching children morality: definition of the content and nature of the values and skills that are necessary to develop in children; creating the situations that allow children learn moral values and use them in action; compliance to determined moral values and norms as well as age and individual needs of students; development and usage of rewards system for educational achievements; systematic verification

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The implementation of Character Education program in American public schools

of the results of the educational work; analysis of moral education, introduction ofrelevant changes [6, 57].

There are a lot of various training tools that were developed to teach students character education. They are programs, textbooks and manuals on character education. In this regard, the most valuable learning tool is the development of codes of education and pupil’s compliance to the Code in real life. The Code in this context is seen not only as a teaching tool but also as a motivational system which is central in the educational value of character education.

Since the 1980s, a large number of communities from different US states have launched the revival process of Character Education programs in their local schools. For example, in Baltimore County, Maryland, teachers and school administration initiated discussion aimed at distinguishing the values that are common to all local residents that must be necessarily taught to students in public schools of their state. In St. Louis, Missouri, business leaders were concerned with the sharp decline of the teaching effectiveness of high school students and manifestations of their behavior were less likely to be called socially acceptable. Consequently, the leaders of businesses founded ‘The Association of Business Schools and Communities’ in order to promote effective studying and education of students at the school, contributing to their quality and decent education.

In July 1992, The Josephson Institute of Ethics hosted a summit conference in Aspen, Colorado. A diverse group of ethicists, educators and youth-service professionals convened to find ways to work together and boost their character education efforts. ‘The Aspen Declaration’ that concluded this meeting would outline eight basic principles of character education. According to it, education had to be

characterized as character education of children, aimed at the development of positive character traits and values [4].

Today, character education is an integral part of American secondary public schools in most states. Thus, in the schools of Virginia, Utah, Tennessee, South Dakota, New York, Nebraska, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, California, Arkansas, Alabama and Alaska character education is mandatory. Reporting high level of crime and violence in New York in 2000 Project ‘SAVE’ — ‘Safe Schools against Violence in Education Act’ was approved, in Alaska — created ‘Alaska Character Education (ACE) Partnership’ and in 2006 the Alaska Code of Charter was adopted. Particular attention should be paid to section 14.33.200, which requires all schools to prevent harassment, violence and bullying and implement teaching moral values (Alaska Statute Section 14.33.200). As for West Virginia, Connecticut, Hawaii, Missouri, Montana and Vermont public secondary schools are encouraged to teach character but there is no legislative approval. In all other states of the USA, there are certain documents, projects, statutes or regulations by which character and moral education are encouraged and funded by the state.

To conclude, it is necessary to mention that Character Education program has demonstrated its effectiveness in American public schools so far. This program is based on objectives, principles, methods, forms and means of training activities, and provides a tight connection between school and family, school and community. Teachers and parents have to demonstrate their personal example how should a decent citizen and family member behave. In such a way, American education system has valuable experience for Ukrainian education system concerning character education implementation.

References:

1. A brief history of character education in America. [Electronic source]. - Mode of access: http://www. waarden.org/studie/concepten/history.html

2. Lickona T. 10 Reasons WhyWe Should Teach Moral Values and Develop Good Character. - NY, 1991. - 132 p.

3. Lickona T. Educating for Character: How our Schools can Teach Respect and Responsibility. - New York: Bantam Books, 1991. - P. 20-22.

4. The Aspen Declaration on Character Education. [Electronic source]. - Mode of access: http://charac-tercounts.org/ overview/ aspen.html.

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Section 6. Comparative and International Education

5. The Return of Character Education. November 1993 |Volume 51| Number 3 Character Education Pages 6-11. [Electronic source]. - Mode of access: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leader-ship/nov93/vol51 / num03/The-Return-of-Character-Education.aspx#ref5.

6. Wynne E. & Ryan K. Reclaiming our schools: A handbook on teaching character, academics, and discipline (2nd ed.). - New York: Merrill, 1997. - 148 p.

Yllka Mullai, Lecturer “Eqrem Cabej” University Department of Social Sciences Gjirokastra University, Albania Email: yllkamullai@yahoo.com

Increasing teacher candidate responses through the teaching as a team sport

Abstract: Education research literature is often viewed to not put enough emphasis on two particular and crucial ideas:

1. Student achievement is mostly affected by an effective teacher rather than all other factors combined.

2. When teachers get together to talk in concrete, precise language about instruction and student work, their teaching dramatically improves and student achievement rises [1].

This paper investigates the importance of teaching as a team sport in order to gain a deeper understanding of shared learning experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on 352 teacher candidates. The results indicate that the development and implementation of teaching as a team sport increased student reflective response and engagement.

Introduction

Despite the importance that historians have placed on teaching and collaboration, this partnership almost does not exist among teachers. The reality is particularly frightening and problematic in Albanian schools. Albanian teachers are aware of the significance of team sport in theory, yet they exhibit resistance towards this innovation in teaching. Although this collaboration is required amongst students, teachers fail to establish the same environment and relationships with their colleagues. Changing forces continuously require teachers to hone their skills, through attending seminars of professional development for eight hours. Nonetheless, these events rarely describe the reality since teachers work in isolation and do not collaborate with each other. Hence, each classroom represents its own ‘microcosm’ [2].

Literature Review

Richard Dufour brought has referred Data Teams and Professional Learning Communities as “professional learning communities” (PLCs). Weekly

meetings were organized among teachers in order to offer them the opportunity to create common assessments, analyzes and discussions of results and strategies to improve lesson plans. These meetings focused on three questions [3].

What’s working with our students?

What isn’t working with them?

Which students need extra help?

This transparency and effective collaboration have turned professional learning communities, or, as they are also called, data teams, into the most promising strategy for improving instruction and student performance. Today, professional learning communities, or, as they are also called, Data Teams, are thought to be the most promising strategy for improving instruction and student performance [4].

Always is raised the question: What makes these teams so powerful and empowering?

It’s this simple fact: you do not become an extraordinary teacher alone. Taking this journey is less about attaining perfection and probably more

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