The Character Coach

It’s CHARACTER COUNTS! Week! Time to recognize, celebrate and reflect on efforts across the country to positively impact the character of our children and youth.

I am honored to be a active participant in the character education field and to have watched almost fifteen years of growth as awareness, recognition and commitment to the need for character education have evolved.  Although for many the “proof” is fleeting, I challenge them to meet some of the young people I have met and schools I have visited throughout the country and tell me it hasn’t made a difference.  There are amazing stories of school climate change, increased motivation for both teaching and learning, reduced discipline referrals and active civic engagement of students by choice.  To listen to these students reflect on what they have learned not only about their curriculum but about who they want to be in the world is a tremendous gift.  Too often we rely only on numbers and forget that some of the richest data is right in front of us–the youth themselves; their stories, their perceptions and their dedication to not only living a life doing what is right but of sharing and assisting others to do the same.  As the youth say, “making a difference, one person, one decision at a time”.   

Still, there is so much work to do. Those in leadership of education and education policy still don’t seem to understand that skills and attitudes about issues of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring & citizenship; are the foundation of an effective learning environment and an effective learner. Failure to provide the needed time and purposeful focus on that foundation because of the push for test scores is a bit like asking students to remain hungry all day because eating doesn’t relate to academics. Yet we know that the brain stem will block learning if the learner’s basic needs are not met, like if they are hungry–the same is true if the child lacks a feeling of physical, social, emotional and/or intellectual safety. We know this, yet many schools still dismiss this critical foundation as trivial or not possible with the time needed for academic focus. True educational leaders understand the cause and effect of character education and academic achievement and have worked tirelessly–often against the politics–to do what is right for their students. Character education is a basic foundation of educational practice for successful students and for successful schools.

To learn more about how you can make character a foundation for achievement, contact me, or go to www.charactercounts.org.