I like to stay in touch with friends I made in New Zealand during my terms as school principal there, and this sometimes brings news of interesting changes. One of these changes appeared in the “Wairarapa Times-Age” newspaper on February 23.
Wairarapa College, a secondary school on New Zealand’s North Island, put out a warning recently […]
Last week, I did something I rarely do. I read a lecture on character that was given by a psychologist. I rarely do this because I believe psychologists are too often prone to offer explanations that relieve people of responsibility. They frequently open broad escape routes that allow us to avoid the exercise of authentic […]
With Italy in the news, thanks to the Winter Olympic Games, I was thinking about the possibility of character lessons we can glean from Italy. I don’t mean lessons from the athletes themselves, since I already wrote about that. I mean lessons from the Italy of days gone by – the Italy that boasted the […]
If you’ve been watching the events at the Olympic Games, you’ve undoubtedly heard the word “character” mentioned by reporters. I know I have. Certain character traits are indeed exhibited by many of the athletes: determination, commitment, and persistence are perhaps most visible. Whether these are well-developed character traits that permeate the individuals’ lives, or qualities […]
Imagine this. You are a parent – or you are a teacher. You have the privilege and responsibility of teaching character to one or more young people. They may be toddlers, teens, or betweens, but they are yours for character education. How do you make them want to build character?
Secret: All young people want to […]
You’ve heard “The Sound of Music’s” Maria sing about her favorite things, haven’t you? I have many favorite things, but I have a few puzzling things also.
It puzzles me that some educators don’t seem to see the huge benefits of top notch character education – benefits for everyone concerned. They don’t seem to recognize the […]
Today, in the U.S.A., is the federal holiday celebrating George Washington’s birthday. Many people think this federal holiday was renamed “Presidents’ Day” to celebrate the February birthdays of both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. This common misunderstanding is probably due to the commercialization of the day as “Presidents’ Day”, and the official celebration under that […]
We need teachers who know character personally, and not merely by hearsay.
Experience has taught me that the best educators, professional or parents, build character well when they build first in their own lives. They study character first for themselves. That is, they do not study character primarily to get words and ideas to teach others. […]
My thoughts are still on personal relationships. Specifically, I’m thinking about a man I met in college.
David worked in the school dining hall, as did I, and our paths crossed there. My job was to stack dirty dishes on serving tables, and set up diners’ tables for the next meal. His task was to take […]
Thinking yesterday about Japan and Valentine’s Day, I remembered the matchmaking that was common when we lived in Japan. I thought about a twenty-six-year old girl in one of our English classes – whose parents used a matchmaker to find Chieko a husband.
Each side supplied the “go-between” with full medical, ancestral, and financial data. […]