Bridging the Gap between Character Education and Conduct

Don Martin, Ph.D. Chair, Counseling Department, Youngstown State University

and 

Maggie Martin, Ph.D. Consultant 

There is a lack of literature discussing how to incorporate character education and emotional intelligence into creating a school climate where positive pro-social behaviors are evident. Through our research and training, we have discovered that teachers are not taught nor are they skilled in teaching pro-social behavioral skills to students. Their students continually dialogue with each other in hurtful ways or do not know appropriate methods to care and help each other. Schools have become a symbol of society in general where people are alienated, lonely, angry, and yet both students and staff desire intimacy and connection with others. Unfortunately, urban school districts suffer from a significant disconnection from the community to the local school. Norms and values barely co-exist and often do not agree. Poverty separates schools into a caste system that defines opportunity in America and can relegate children, particularly of minority status, to a life of despair and generational hostility. So how do we help these children? It is our contention that children respond to a "relationship" with a teacher, and this connection is critical with children of poverty. The following authors support this view:

• In a national survey, parents identified teachers' ability to motivate children to learn as the characteristic most prized, while children most desired teachers' respect, care and concern (Boyer, 1995). 
• Our aim should be to encourage the growth of competent, caring, loving and lovable people (Noddings, 1992).
• The purpose of a caring curriculum would be to learn not only about caring, but to engage in it (Bronfrebrenner, 1979).
• We grow morally as a consequence of learning how to be with others and how to behave in this world (a learning prompted by taking to heart what we have seen and heard) (Coles, 1997).
• Building a caring classroom relationship is the key to creating a successful learning community. Integrating caring opportunities into our academic programs and into the life of the classroom throughout the year is a major goal (Dalton & Watson, 1997).
• In his research on children's moral development, Piaget pointed out that children can often reason at a higher level when they focus on their own experiences instead of hypothetical situations (DeVries & Zan, 1994).
• Moral principles are not arbitrary rules. Instead, they are rooted in the universal ideas summarized by the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (DeVries & Zan, 1994).
• The Golden Rule does not provide direct solutions to problems of missing pens or truant children. It provides an ethical or moral point, a place to begin the search for different ways to act (Charney, 1991).
• Respect and responsibility are the fourth and fifth rules that schools must teach if they are to develop ethically literate persons who can take their place as responsible citizens in society (Lickona, 1991).
• "If we can't find time for character development, even when children are zero to eight years old, what hope is there that we will make time for it later" (Greenberg, 1992).
• "Being told you can't play is a serious matter. It hurts more than anything else that happens in school, and distractions no longer work very well. Everyone knows the sounds of rejection" (Paley, 1992). 

As consultants and researchers, we are most concerned about the urban child who is being disenfranchised from mainstream culture and society. Teachers appear unable to make the "connection" with these children who display problematic classroom behaviors such as disorganization, loose papers or assignments, frequent excuses for no homework, physical and verbal aggression, lack of self-monitoring behavior, laughter or back talk when disciplined, or lack of common courtesy. 

Although it sounds simple, we are asking schools to take a revolutionary approach. Teachers, administrators, counselors, staff and community need to understand the dichotomous nature of poverty-the world students live in and the world they need to enter to be successful and to leave poverty.

What does this process entail? First, schools need to focus on emotional intelligence that encompasses emotion, cognition and behavior for all involved. The district needs to be committed to a "discipline as learning" plan; they need to create a world of structure and choice. To accomplish this, staff development and commitment is critical, with an emphasis on diagnosis, expectations, insistence, support, and caring involvement. New thinking is critical to changing misbehavior and aggression. 

What stops progress in urban poverty districts? Too many systems are dysfunctional. A system is a group in which individuals have rules, roles and relationships; a system is dysfunctional to the extent to which an individual cannot get needs met within a system. All systems are dysfunctional to some extent. Urban school systems are often some of the most dysfunctional systems in the U.S. Poor districts are the most dysfunctional because they resemble the structure of poor families: 

• They lack social status and self-respect. 
• Members constantly leave or fight. 
• Everyone thinks they are the parent; no one leads or everyone is the leader.
• Members disregard social rules and are more likely to yell and be abusive to each other. Boundaries are constantly tested and broken because "we have no choice".
• Members blame each other and don't take self-responsibility. A value of "I have to take care of me" is prevalent.
• Staff in poor districts are often less educated and more inexperienced than suburban districts. New members are placed in positions to fail and they do Members are pushed to leave, especially those who are most talented. Prevalent attitudes include:
• Life is unfair and "we need and deserve more money" are an excuse for lack of standards.
• Staff sees themselves as invisible.
• We are surrounded by suburban opulence and they ignore us.
• Members are on survival mode so all resources are geared to everything but the needs of children. They are the last in line.
• Members are surrounded by detrimental behavior and accept it. Behaviors that would be disavowed in a suburban school district are normalized in a poor district. Pessimism and defeat are common values. 
• And then the helpers appear. They divide the problem into sections and lose the big picture. Agencies are created for welfare, children's' aid, corrections, counseling addictions, shelters, food banks, drop-ins, and on and on.

How to recognize a dysfunctional school:

• There are no leaders. Instead, there are communicators and group decisions.
• All decisions are judged according to the political climate, not morals or values.
• There is no consistent discipline plan at the school and certainly not at a district level. If there is a plan, it is ignored.
• Look for an adolescent viewpoint on the part of the staff, administration, and parents. Signs are constant bickering, hiding in rooms, no mentoring or caring of younger staff, lack of responsibility such as running out of school with the children, no one wants lunch duty, a "you owe me" mentality. 
• Boundaries are crossed constantly. Older males leer at young adolescent girls, teachers attempt to replace parents, adults talk in adolescent vocabulary and dress like teenagers. There is a value that everyone is equal. 
• There is lots of talking but no listening. Tough subjects are avoided and standards are low. Students, staff and parents are not close and can't depend on each other. There is loneliness and isolation. 
• School board members are over involved and make important decisions without input.
• There are constant crises, and a lack of flexibility and stability. 
• Autonomy is not fostered and people do not take responsibility for their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
• Change is viewed as loss and real loss is ignored and not grieved. 
• New ideas are belittled and criticized. Negotiation is rare. Conflicts are not solved and wounds are easily opened and remembered. A common occurrence is recalling incidents from 5 or 10 years ago.
• Warmth and caring promotes anxiety. It is impossible to admit pain or loneliness. Coercion is the main means for compliance. Stereotyping is clearly seen and accepted. People are disappointed in each other and have an "I don't care facade". 
• Open conflict and hostility define the school. 

If these statements describe school districts you know, then the need for change is obvious and fearful. Creating and supporting the organization so that it can adapt is more difficult and substantial in focus.