It’s been a while since I counted up the qualities on our list of character traits, but I had occasion to do so today, and discovered that we now list 66 traits. Imagine it. Sixty-six!
When I first began studying and teaching character, the list was not that long. With time, however, and with accumulated hours of research, the list has grown as we try to address the nuances of character building.
Gratitude, for example, was not on our early list. Appreciation was, and that seemed to cover the theme. After all, aren’t the two synonymous? They’re practically Siamese twins, aren’t they?
My study showed they were not. Appreciation stopped short of becoming gratitude. Appreciation involved approval and a positive reception of something or someone, but it didn’t go on to actively demonstrate thanks for that which was appreciated.
“You’re too particular,” some readers might say. “You must be a perfectionist.”
Guilty, as far as being a perfectionist, but I don’t think the separation of the two is a matter of being too particular. I think that character building is too important a matter to be anything less than fastidious.
You might, for example, appreciate reading this blog, but do you exercise gratitude and express that appreciation to the writer or the company? A student in a class might appreciate the character educator, but if that student never puts the appreciation into words, he or she has not exercised gratitude. The difference is clear.
Character counts in 66 ways, and each way is expressed by a distinct, important character trait. Integrity is not honesty, and honesty does not define integrity. Trustworthiness is similar to dependability, but not identical. Confidence and security may appear to be fraternal twins, but they are not identical twins.
Character counts in 66 ways, and it is important to help older students identify all 66 of them. It is important to help teenagers identify and understand all 66. We should challenge them to dig into the meanings, and grasp the important differences. What is it about meekness that sets it apart from submission? Ask a teenager to define the two, and see if he or she can distinguish between them. Younger students need not be able to do this, and will only need to focus on the clearer character traits, but we should not rob teenagers in our homes and schools of learning the particulars.
Why not challenge yourself right now? Without looking at any list of character traits, see how many distinguishing qualities of character – of moral excellence – you can list. Can you think of 20? Can you identify 30? Even if you think they are twins, can you list 40 or more character traits? If you are a teacher responsible for the character education program at your school, you should be able to catalog at least fifty traits.
When you are done, why not compare your list to the one we have? You can find it at http://www.character-in-action.com/character-traits.htm. If you identified some that we missed, I’d love to know about them. I want our record to be comprehensive.
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?