Character Education

Students need to develop positive character attributes and appropriate behaviors in order to achieve high standards in school and be good citizens as adults. In recent years, however, many schools have moved away from programs that deal with behavioral issues and character education to avoid divisive community debates about whether schools should be teaching anything beyond the three Rs.

The International Center believes that the development of a child's character and appropriate behavior is first and foremost the responsibility of the family, but schools can play a strong supporting role in reinforcing the efforts of parents. Successful schools - those with the highest levels of student achievement - do not sidestep the issue of character education. They embrace it. In fact, these schools acknowledge that their success is due in large measure to their attention to guiding principles, through which they have been able to create the supportive learning environment that is absolutely essential for students to achieve high standards.

Character-Centered Teaching

Character-Centered Teaching is the International Center's approach to developing a comprehensive character education program in a school or district. It provides a framework for integrating guiding principles into the curriculum and the fabric of school life. It is based on the idea that developing character in students begins with the teacher modeling positive character attributes and actively coaching students to learn and practice the guiding principles which form the basis of sound character. Character-Centered Teaching also rests on the knowledge that there is a clear relationship between sound character and academic achievement. While this relationship is both intuitive and demonstrated through research, there has been little emphasis on using character education programs to promote academic success. Character-Centered Teaching makes a clear statement that promoting sound character leads to high academic standards.

The approach of Character-Centered Teaching acknowledges that teachers are an important source of social influence for students. Social influence is based primarily on the style of interacting that occurs every day, both in and out of the classroom.

A character-centered approach to teaching is a systematic method for providing academic instruction through a teaching style that emphasizes positive character attributes. In the classroom, the approach is practiced by using specific methods and strategies to integrate guiding principles naturally into instructional lessons and class activities. The goal is to help students develop positive character attributes and achieve high academic standards.

Guiding Principles

Through research by the International Center, 12 guiding principles have been identified as key principles upon which to base character education. Collectively, they are referred to as the Twelve Guiding Principles of Exceptional Character. For more information, please visit our Guiding Principles page.

Resources

The International Center has a variety of resources available to assist schools in developing or improving a character education initiative.

• Character-Centered Teaching Resource Kit - A cost-effective kit designed to help plan and implement a character education initiative tailored to the needs of your school or district.
• Workshops and Consulting Services - Dr. Daggett, Senior Consultants and Master Teachers are available to assist schools and districts with character education.