Character formation is a partnership including students, parents, teachers, administrators and community leaders. That partnership has one goal in mind: to build a more effective learning environment for every classroom, teacher and student. When we raise the character quotient in the lives of students we are investing not only in their minds but also in their hearts.

Communication in any context always chooses between a perspective that is based on the indicatives or on the imperatives of our language. The indicative can describe who we are as a statement of fact (being). The imperative is always reminding us of what we must accomplish (doing). Much of the educational agenda is appropriately focused on the imperative.

Character education, on the other hand, begins to build a foundational understanding of who we are (indicative…being). It is not so much “pouring in” new information as it is “drawing out” what is already within each student. Spending time on universally shared character qualities gives value to those qualities creating a common vocabulary for the shared language within an educational community.

Transformation in the culture and climate of a school occurs when character awareness and character valuing is internalized into life skills that are applied to everyday life situations. At Changing Lives we believe that it translates into the attitudes, the words and the behaviors of students. Moral people move beyond knowing the good and desiring the good to actually doing the good. Being generally leads to doing. Positive character is the foundation for doing what you know to be good and what you desire that is good.

Dr. Dick Daniels
President, Changing Lives
dickd@mark1.org
800-932-7235