Teaching 'Character' To Kids And Why It Matters

27:23

January 08, 2013

The effort to improve public education over the past decade and a half has been about standardized testing. Ever since No Child Left Behind became law, students and schools have been under significant pressure to meet academic benchmarks.

Once upon a time, character education was one of the guiding principals of American education. From Thomas Jefferson to Horace Mann, the country's earliest intellectual leaders saw public education as a means to foster values like civic engagement, self-discipline, perseverance and compassion.

Today, as schools try to do a better job teaching the basics, character education has been pushed aside.

Along with reading, writing and math, should schools also teach character? One Harvard professor of education guest says the answer is yes — and that at least three schools in Boston are leading the way in the effort.

Scott Seider is an assistant professor of education at Boston University where his research focuses on the civic and character development of adolescents and emerging adults. (Aayesha Siddiqui/WBUR)

Guest:

Scott Seider, assistant professor of education at Boston University and author of "Character Compass: How Powerful School Culture Can Point Students Toward Success." Read the book's introduction (PDF), courtesy of Harvard Education Publishing Group.

More:

Harvard Education Letter: 'Grit' And The New Character Education

This segment aired on January 8, 2013.