Building Character in Schools: Practical Ways to Bring Moral Instruction to Life [Hardcover]

Kevin Ryan (Author), Karen E. Bohlin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0787943444 | ISBN-13: 978-0787943448 | Publication Date: October 21, 1998 | Edition: 1st

Young people in America today face a crisis of character. Traditional role models continue to disappoint the public, falling short of expectations and fostering cynicism rather than idealism. As a result, many young people struggle to distinguish right from wrong and seem indifferent to whether it matters. It clearly becomes the task of parents and schools to re-engage the hearts and minds of our children in forming their own characters. In Building Character in Schools, Kevin Ryan and Karen Bohlin draw from nearly fifty years of combined field experience to offer a practical guide to character education -- designed to help children to know the good, love the good, and do the good.

Ryan and Bohlin provide a blueprint for educators who wish to translate a personal commitment to character education into a schoolwide vision and effort. They outline the principles and strategies of effective character education and explain what schools must do to teach students the habits and dispositions that lead to responsible adulthood -- from developing curriculum that reinforces good character development to strengthening links with parents. A useful resource section includes sample lessons, program guidelines, and a parents' list of ways to promote character in their children.

Building Character in Schools clearly defines the responsibilities of adults and students in modeling and nurturing character and sets forth practical guidelines for schools seeking to become communities of virtue where responsibility, hard work, honesty, and kindness are modeled, taught, expected, celebrated, and continually practiced.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The authors, respectively founding director and assistant director of the Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character at Boston University, clearly delineate the difference between the trendiness of current "values" education and the timeliness of moral instruction. "Socrates long ago stated that the mission of education is to help people become both smart and good. In recent decades the second part of that definition has suffered in American schools and colleges." Steeped in classical and literary references, the book opens with a convincing and inspiring argument advocating character education in the public school system. The authors move on to the roles played by parents, teachers and students in incorporating the tenets of moral instruction into the academic milieu. Too often character education is handled incorrectly, they say, offering elaborate examples of "personal relativism" and the dangers of teachers who fear imposing values on their students. The authors argue that there are moral precepts accepted by society as a whole, and that adults should have the courage to teach them. Numerous appendices offer lists and descriptions of important virtues and ways of inculcating them through example and curriculum. Without preaching, Ryan and Bohlin have written a book that is important, enjoyable reading for anyone concerned with contemporary education.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Clearly delineates the difference between the trendiness of current 'values' education and the timeliness of moral instruction....Without preaching, Ryan and Bohlin have written a book that is important, enjoyable reading for anyone concerned with contemporary education." —Publishers Weekly

"For those willing to take up the task of teaching ethics, the book provides a practical blueprint for teachers, schools, and parents." —Booklist

"A quiet, modest and sensible book that gently aims to nudge its readers toward the path of virtue. It's a book full of practical advice which should prove quite useful for any teacher struggling to make her school something better than just another rule-laden, amoral bureaucracy." —Washington Times

"Building Character in Schools offers American parents and teachers precisely what we need and so sorely lack--a moral vision of how we ought to live with one another and the heart of what 'character education' is meant to teach us: an ethics that is affirmed in our day-to-day engagement with our fellow human beings." —Robert Coles, professor of psychiatry and medical humanities, Harvard University

"Each day I become more convinced that the moral degradation of our society stems primarily from the lack of character development in both our homes and our schools. Henry David Thoreau taught, 'for every thousand striking at the leaves of evil there is one striking at the roots.' This book strikes at the roots. Building Character in Schools is a timely, well written, immensely practical, breakthrough book that will awaken our minds and hearts and remind us of our moral obligation to our greatest resource and our future: our children." —Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, NOTE: Per the Andorser's request, use only for book jacket.

"This is a book that is packed with practical and inspiring wisdom about what schools, families, and young people themselves can do to build good character. It should lift the nation's rapidly growing character education movement to a new level of maturity." —Thomas Lickona, director, Center for the 4th and 5th Rs (Respect and Responsibility)

"Character building is hard work. Teachers and principals are ready for the strategies that help them partner with parents in moral instruction. This is the book that will meet their needs." —Diane G. Berreth, deputy executive director, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

"A model of character education that will be embraced by both the 'Right' and the 'Left.' Ultimately, the book provides a plan of action for individuals and community alike and will go a long way in cultivating character in our nation's youth." —Jewish World Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1st edition (October 21, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787943444
• ISBN-13: 978-0787943448
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,133,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource for Parents, Teachers and Schools, June 23, 1999

By 

Margaret (Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building Character in Schools: Practical Ways to Bring Moral Instruction to Life (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful, easy-to-read book about character education. It provides coherent, *non-religious* arguments in favor of character education, and then provides some practical guidelines and resources for implementation. In the wake of Columbine, how can anybody question the need for character education, particularly in the public schools?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A strong move toward strong character education..., March 2, 2004

By 

Stephen Armstrong (Hadley, Ma USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Building Character in Schools: Practical Ways to Bring Moral Instruction to Life (Paperback)

This book discusses the shift in American education from "values-neutral" and "strictly content" education toward a different and necessary ideal: educating youngsters to live a "good life." (This is the goal that movie watchers saw in the final scene of "Saving Pvt. Ryan," where the older Ryan asks his wife and children, "Did I lead a good life?") Both authors are from the Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character at Boston University. They write primarily for educators and have teachers in mind. They promote the idea that education is in "its fullest sense is inescapably a moral enterprise" (p. 190).

I found the book to be well writeen and filled with many good examples. I particularly liked the Appendices (76 pages), filled with good advice. Ryan and Bohlin also discuss how character education is different from "values clarification" and "teaching a viewpoint." In character education, students discover the importance of (or lack of) virtues; that there are multiple answers to moral questions; that characters in literature and history "grow into" their moral positions, and that character education wishes to inculcate the importance of "knowing good, seeing good, and doing good."

This is the coming age in U.S. education. This book along with some others (William Damon, The Moral Child; Bringing in a New Era in Character Education; Thomas Lickona, Educating for Character) will provide a good theoretical background. Ryan and Bohlin warn us away from pre-packaged character education activities, and, as a result, I am not quite sure where to go from here (which is why I took off one star).

I hope you enjoy the book.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best resource to help your kid or student excell, February 3, 1999

By 

Ana Paula Tostado ([e-mail]) (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building Character in Schools: Practical Ways to Bring Moral Instruction to Life (Hardcover)

Few are the resources that leave parents and teachers both inspired and eager to continue in their task as educators. Engaging, practical and easy to read, 'Building Character in Schools' provides an uplifting view on how our children and young can become the great persons that they can be. A must read for anyone who cares about the young and our future society.