Character Education and NCLB

Last week in class, we read Westhaimer and Kahne’s Educating the “Good” Citizen: Political Choices and Pedagogical Goals; in it, they described three models of good citizens. They are, in short:

• Personally Responsible Citizen – Displays good character, obeys laws, acts a certain way simply because it is the right thing to do.
• Participatory Citizen – Is knowledgeable about social issues and problems; actively participates in government (in groups) and takes leadership roles in “established systems and community structures.” (NOT activism)
• Justice Oriented Citizen – Gets at the root of problems in those systems and structures by asking questions and seeking change.

Some important questions raised by the article include: What is good character? Who makes the distinction between right and wrong? What happens when children receive conflicting messages about these distinctions?

The US Department of Education defines character as “a set of qualities, or values, that shape our thoughts, actions, reactions and feelings. People with strong character show compassion, are honest and fair, display self-discipline in setting and meeting goals, make good judgments, show respect to others, show courage in standing up for beliefs, have a strong sense of responsibility, are good citizens who are concerned for their community, and maintain self-respect.” According to the NCLB website, character education focuses on instilling “ethical values, moral values, virtues, character traits, or principles” such as “honesty, courage, perseverance, self-discipline, responsibility, integrity… caring, respect, empathy, trustworthiness, fairness, tolerance of diversity… good citizenship, patriotism, [and] justice.”

After doing some reading, I think No Child Left Behind reflects the first model of citizenship – the personally responsible citizen. As stated in the Aldridge text, in Title 1 of NCLB, there are provisions for preventative programs for children who are neglected or at risk and for school drop out prevention; Title 3 provides for smoke, gun, and drug free schools. These programs are part of an effort to instill good character, as defined by some of the values listed above– self-discipline, good judgment, courage in standing up for beliefs, honesty, integrity, responsibility, and trustworthiness. The AYP stresses the importance of attendance – the implementation of this is an example of teaching children to follow rules. There are so many more in schools: raising your hand, asking permission to get up or leave the room, etc.

Of course, many school programs are implemented to cultivate strong leaders (ex. National Honor Society, Peer Leaders, Teen PEP, etc.); still, the focus seems to be mainly on self-motivation and individual action. There doesn’t seem to be any effort to encourage children to question the world around them, they are simply encouraged to do their part to help.

I believe there is much room for improvement in NCLB’s stance on educating for citizenship. The framework present is a solid foundation from which to work; however, students need to be taught to go beyond what is outlined in NCLB. Rather than teach students to do the right thing, why not teach them to spot injustice and to work to change it? Sometimes it is not enough to simply acknowledge that there is a problem, or to minimize it – we have to eliminate it! In my humble opinion, a justice oriented citizen is a true democratic citizen, someone who unafraid to make progress and to be the voice of the oppressed. When public schools can make students thoughtful, courageous, and deliberate independent thinkers, that is when they will truly have produced “good” citizens.

References:

Aldridge, Jerry, and Goldman, Renitta. Current Issues and Trends in Education. Pearson, 2006.

Helping Your Child Become a Responsible Citizen

Character Education Abstract