Character education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Character education - Essay Example Character education has been part of educational curriculums since long. Schools have played an essential role in passing on the cultural and ethical values of a society through the generations. It was seen as a moral responsibility of the teachers to involve and impart character education. But trends changes in the second half of the last century and character education completely disappeared from schools. Main reason for this is that teacher’s involvement in character development would infringe the right of the parents. Also the church/state debate added fuel to the argument. Martin Luther King said that â€Å"Intelligence plus character – that is the true goal of education† (Norris et al., 2004). Hence, it becomes the moral responsibility of the teacher to be involved in the character development of the students. And it also makes logical sense as children spend majority of their time in schools interacting with teachers, and hence teachers will have a long lasting impact on the children. Another reason why teachers must take an active part in the development of children character is that there is a decline in the family structure. Due to pressures of the 21st century work environment, majority of the parents are not able to interact with their children as they would desire to. Parents have not been able to share ethical values with the children. This is one of the reasons that youth character has seen a downward trend in the recent years (Ryan, 1993). Therefore it becomes the moral responsibility of the teacher to involve in character development. Research has shown that the learning environment makes an impact and has a positive effect on the social values and in turn the character of a child. That is, students who work in a cooperative learning group develop a character with mutual concern for one another (Johnson et al., 1981). Therefore, teacher is a critical part of the learning environment and hence needs to be actively and consciously