Participants
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Character
Education |
Character education is the teaching of key social values to assist students in becoming responsible members of their school community and society. In Mount Laurel, we have adopted the following definition of character education: "... a lifelong developmental process by which children learn about and apply core ethical, or shared, values to their lives..." Kohlberg, 1984 "... such ethical values are defined as the standards or principles by which people 'judge' the rightness or goodness of aims or actions." Shaver and Strong, 1982 Character education is not a new trend, but it has come back into focus in recent years and is a major theme locally, nationally and worldwide. Character development is, first and foremost, a parental responsibility. However, developing good character becomes a shared responsibility between home and school as we all face the deeper challenges of raising moral and ethical children in our complex society. The Six Pillars of Character Education as adopted by the state of New Jersey are Respect, Responsibility, Trustworthiness, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship . These pillars are held by our society as ethical standards that support our democratic way of life. Professional school counselors believe students need to acquire certain character traits based on clearly understood, universal values. These values affirm basic human worth and dignity. By maximizing the opportunities to integrate character education with our existing school curricula, we can make a significant difference in behavior, learning and attendance (American School Counselor Association, 2002-03, Character Education-Mount Laurel, 2001).
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