The Effect of Character Education on Student Behavior in Kindergarten

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The Effect of Character Education on Student Behavior in Kindergarten

Introduction

This may not be a globally established fact, nevertheless, the importance of character education for individuals of all ages cannot be denied. However, the character education is undoubtedly the most beneficial for children of young age. This is simply because children learn and adapt several different values much more quickly in the early stages of life as compared to in their teens and adulthood stages. In this context, character education for altering and improving the behavior of students in Kindergarten can be very effective. Although, the character education has been around since 1950s and its role and importance in students behavior modification is now openly recognized. Nevertheless, besides some of the discussed methods, not a lot has been to done to discuss of how to plan and implement a proper system or program in order to implement this form of education.

Intellectual Moral and Civic Character

Effectively implementing a useful character education program or system will not be possible until the goals to be achieved are explicitly identified. Therefore, it must be noted that the basic aim of the character education is to teach and inculcate in the kindergarten students such reasoning and moral values that will play an important part in evolving their intellectual, moral and civic characteristics. Academic learning is important, of course. It is important to note that education's academic must be associated more with the development of intellectual character in the children as opposed to the accumulation of particular genre of knowledge (Shields, 2011). An intellectual character can be defined as overarching conglomeration of the patterns of thought, habits of mind, and the general dispositions toward considering that both direct and indirect ways have the ability to develop and motivate the thinking-oriented pursuits in children. A child with strong intellectual character will be truth-seeking, skeptical, strategic, reflective, open-minded and curious. Hence, in order to develop all these aspect in a child, it is important that the curriculum he is provided in his schools is not only limited to fields such as engineering, Math, Science and so forth (Shields, 2011). In fact, it is essential that subject areas like literature, arts, music and so on are included and emphasized in the school curriculum.

The moral character, at its core, reflects the act to seek the right and good. However, the development of moral character through character education is rooted in the desire for goodness. Hence, the aim of character education will be to teach and practice good values that will develop the disposition in the young minds to seek goodness. Moreover, the program must not focus on inculcating only a specific and rigid list of the preferred virtues. Moreover, the Educators within a character education system or program must not dictate which of the moral virtues the children should prioritize while in their time in school and in their personal life.

However, they are certainly responsible ...