Whenever I go for a job interview, one of the questions I used to always dread was “Is there anything you want to know about us?” and I always shy away to ask only the direction of the school. I’m really particular about where I work at, in a way that I really take time to research everything online before even submitting my resume. One of the common things they post is their mission and vision. This got me thinking, if only I asked the right questions, I would have avoided some disappointments I had when I find myself working somewhere where I don’t fit.  I should really be asking the interviewers about specific actions they are taking to live out their mission and vision. Many would really write excellent ones that you kind of wonder how they are realistically implemented. Such situation is this.

Character building—often viewed as a subject that isn’t as important as the academics.

This

is

the sad world

we live in.

When I was a new teacher, I imagined all the subject areas as books inside a shelf. All the “serious” subjects like Math, Science, Language all belong in one case and all the other subjects like Music, Art, Health, and Values would be in a different partition. On another partition would be special subjects like Computer, Home Economics, etc. As I grew in my career and call to teach, I reimagined that all these subjects are in the same bookcase, and this bookcase I would call Character Development or Values. Character Development holds all the subjects together. It answers why we learn what we learn.

Although it is notable how many schools claim to deliver values-centered education, the implementation hasn’t really been as smooth. There is little, if any, integration of values within the subject areas in many schools. Character Development is treated as a separate subject which talks about different attributes one should long for but is only given thirty minutes on one day within the week for discussion, then not talked about the rest of the week. There could be more opportunities for exercising these values  if they were discussed within the subject areas instead of having it as a separate subject. I think curriculum designers should always have values connections when writing topics so that children know that these are not merely just knowledge presented to them but these can be used to help people’s lives better.  I think actual opportunities for application of the values is better than just being presented as a concept. Thomas (1991) said schools should have more than a list of values but a concept of character. Schools should have more than concept of character but to develop a culture of character  needs to be more natural or more organic.

Aristotle’s definition of good character was right conduct in relation to others and to oneself. I think children are put into so much competitive mode that they no longer have time to mind others, or to even reflect on oneself if what they are doing is still causing them any good. It isn’t that I have a problem with competition or with standards but I think too much of it can cause us to lose focus on what education is really all about. When we care too much about being the best school we forget that each learner is a unique individual therefore has individual strengths and needs. They shouldn’t be treated all the same. We can ask, are the children really conscious that what they possess in them is good?

Some schools mention a strong partnership with families. I find this really good to consciously have it as a mission or a goal. But then comes the hard truth. Students who come to us really have gaps from the home. Sure they may have everything you could ever imagine to have financially, but some kids are really emotionally malnourished that they do not know who they are and so devalue themselves over grades and stamps on the hand. If we talk about home and school connection, there are parents who are really involved and there are many with whom I almost feel like I need to beg for them to care about their children.