America’s Schools Need Character Education Essay -- Education Reform Es

A question that often finds itself as the focus of syllabus debates and school planning discussions is that of moralistic and character development. Does character development eat up a place in our schools? Should public schools take the responsibility of educating students on morality? The answer is complex and has a multitude of sides and opinions. In a way, however, schools already educate students on what to believe and how to behave. By excluding the history of the other(a) Americans, such as people of color, women, and homosexuals, and focusing instead of the failures and successes of those of European descent, our schools already instill a distinct vision of who and what we are supposed to be. The sporting Protestant males vision of history and view of the being tends to be placed into the text -books and overall teachings of public schools in the fall in States. A very real example of this bias can be seen in the teaching of Thanksgiving. A holiday celebrated universal ly through and through all religions gives educators in public schools the opportunity to discuss and rejoice in the day with classroom activities and parties. Neglected from the Thanksgiving lesson, however, is the plight of the Native American who lost land and life when the Puritan settlers landed. Although moral education differs from multicultural education, they have points that intertwine. To me, the goals of character and moral education are to open up the minds of children and encourage an acceptance of others different from themselves. One of the most important pieces to moral education is fostering respect. Through development of respect and understanding of leaving and humanity in general, perhaps much of the hate and intolerance that occurs in our society pres... ...dence Institute on-line. http//i2iorg/Publications/Op-Eds/ development/itselementary.htmPetrovic, J.E. (1999). Moral Democratic Education and quirkiness Censoring Morality.Electronic Copy Journal of Moral Education 28, 201-210. Pierce, K. (1999). Its Elementary The innovative Gay Public Education Outreach. NLJ On-Line. http//www.liberty.edu/chancellor/nlj/July1999/Gay1.htm.Simonds, F. (2001). CEE Strategy. Citizens for Excellence in Education on-line. http//www.webcom.com/webcee/ceestrategy.htm.Stoltenberg, J. (1989). Refusing to Be A Man Essays on Sex and Justice. London UCL Press. command Tolerance Project. (1997). Starting Small Teaching Tolerance in Preschool and the earlier Grades. Montgomery, Alabama Southern Poverty Law Center. Teaching Tolerance. (2001). Ten shipway to Fight Hate. on-line. http//www.Tolerance .org/10_ways/teach/index.html