1. Chapter 3
Character Education and the Development of Attitudes, Values, and Decision-Making
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

2. Looking Ahead
What role does character and values education play in the elementary social studies curriculum?
What are appropriate ways to teach character and values education at the elementary level?
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

3. Can You –
Explain why character education is important for today’s schools?
Describe your own values and tell how they were formed?
Identify or describe some specific decision-making skills?
Think of some activities in which students could have experiences in determining alternatives?
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

4. Do You – Know and understand the meaning of character education?
Know what values to teach?
Understand why it may be necessary to deal with values related to living in a pluralistic society in school?
Understand different ways of teaching about values?
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

5. Focus Activity
Following is a list of 20 different descriptions of students identifying both a desirable and an undesirable quality.
If you were given the choice of having students in your class who fit 10, no more or less, of the 20 descriptions, which 10 would you choose?
Use the list as the basis of discussion. You might also like to generate additional descriptions.
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

6. Focus Activity A student of average abilities whom you can trust
A student who is brilliant but who often tells untruths
A student who is hard working but slow in his or her work
A student who is respectful and polite but has severe learning disabilities
A student who is high-achieving but rebellious
A student who always does his or her homework but asks bothersome questions
A student who is a leader but often challenges your authority
A student who always has an excuse for failing to do the right thing
A student who gets along well with others but seldom contributes much
A student who volunteers for every task or job but needs constant supervision
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

7. Focus Activity
A student who has to be coaxed to volunteer but works independently
A student who constantly talks out in class but is usually on task
A student who constantly whines and complains but does good work
A student who takes advantage of others whenever it serves his or her ends but always acts respectful toward authority
A student who is always a winner and will do anything to win
A student who is very messy but seems to always do his or her best
A student who is a tattler and who does everything to make the teacher like him or her
A student who is emotionally needy and whom other students seem to dislike
A student who always follows the rules of every activity but cannot deal with ambiguities or situations where there are no rules
A student who is always copying the work of others and cheating in other ways but who has great ability when he or she does the work
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

8. Character Education and Citizenship
Do you believe that you have a clear responsibility and duty to teach character and civic virtue? Why or why not?
Should the community have any say in the virtues that schools teach?
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

9. Character and Values: A Worldview Perspective
What are the goals of character education?
What is a “conserving influence” and how are schools guilty of it?
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

10. Decision-Making Skills in Relation to Values
Why are decision-making skills so important?
What relationship exists between one’s values and one’s ability to make decisions?
Which examples do you feel you could easily accomplish?
Which example do you feel would have the greatest influence on students?
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

11. What Values Do You Teach?
How would one teach values related to living in a democracy?
How would one teach values implicit within a multicultural society?
How would one teach values that relate to school success and to the functional classroom?
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

12. Developing Values What are the five ways of developing values?
Pronouncements, rules, and warnings
Examples and models
Stories with morals or lessons
Examining personal actions of self and others
Problem solving
How do you think you could incorporate these approaches?
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

13. Looking Back
Teachers need to be involved in developing the value systems of their students as values have an impact on decision-making ability.
There are five ways to appropriately teach values
Pronouncements, rules, and warnings
Examples and models
Stories with morals or lessons
Examining personal actions of self and others
Problem solving
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

14. Extension
Your first nine weeks of your teaching career have flown by. It is Friday afternoon and the weekend is almost here. You have one final parent conference of the nine weeks.
The parent conference is moving along smoothly, when a concerned mother asks you, “Do you teach values? If so, how and which values?”
Write down how you would answer the concerned mother. Think of all the direct and indirect ways values can be taught.
Share your response with peers/instructor.
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

15. Self-Test What does character education mean?
Why is there a need for multicultural education?
How are values taught indirectly?
What are some different ways of modeling values?
What are some stories that you know that teach values?
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013

16. Resources
Berkowitz, M., and Bier, M. (2005). What Works in Character Education: A Research-driven Guide for Educators. Washington, DC: Report from the Character Education Partnership.
Kohlberg, L. (1966). Moral Education in the School, School Review, (74), 1–30.
Raths, L., Harmin, M., & Simon, S. (1966). Values and Teaching: Working with Values in the Classroom. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.
McClellan, B. E. (1999). Moral Education in America: Schools and the Shaping of Character from Colonial Times to the Present. New York: Teachers College Press.
Essentials of Elementary Social Studies By Turner, Russell, Waters Copyright 2013