Program expected to reduce need for discipline
By:Vanessa S. Holt
FLORENCE – The three "R’s" of "reading, writing and ‘rithmetic" will be joined by "respect" and "responsibility" this year, as the district begins to incorporate character education into the curriculum.
A resolution to move forward with a character education program was adopted at the board’s meeting July 24.
School board Vice President Jaime Fauver said the Curriculum Committee strongly supported character education in the schools, and that the program would include Values of the Month to be emphasized in classrooms.
The program, to involve grades K-12, is expected to develop over time with input from teachers, staff and the community.
Board member Richard Brown described the program as a "simple proposal, with no cost to the district," but one which would save money because it could reduce the classroom teachers’ time spent disciplining students.
He said approving the resolution was a "no-brainer" because of its potential to cut down the amount of money spent on discipline.
"How it would be introduced would be up to each individual classroom," said Susan Bassett, a sixth-grade teacher in the district who has researched character education for several years.
"We’re just trying to begin something," she said. "We’ll introduce the values and it’s up to the classroom teachers how to deal with the value in their classrooms."
The program will include a two-year cycle of Values of the Month for every month from September to May.
The values for the first year in the cycle would be: respect, responsibility, compassion, faith, commitment, love, wisdom, health and humor.
For the second year, the value cycle would consist of: honesty, cooperation, humility, peace, patience, courage, creativity, environmental awareness and freedom.
The idea for this cycle of character values came from a book titled "Character Education" by John Heidel and Marion Lyman-Mersereau, said Ms. Bassett.
This is a starting point," she said. "It’s very basic, something we can build from, but we will develop our own program."
Classroom discussion would be appropriate for sixth-graders, she said, while for younger students the concepts might be best illustrated through stories or fables.
"For respect, I would look at the golden rule and how it’s addressed in all different cultures," she said. "I’ve found that in all cultures, the concept of the golden rule is there."
In the middle and high school building, which houses grades six through 12, the golden rule of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is especially important, said Ms. Bassett.
"It’s really just about getting kids to be cooperative with each other and try to work as a community," she added.
There are no strict guidelines for the character education curriculum, Ms. Bassett said, which will give teachers a great deal of flexibility as they introduce the concepts to their students. In most classrooms, the material is already being taught in one form or another, she added, but it is not pointed out and grouped under one heading.
Character education may be introduced into the curriculum as early as September.