Although our primary functions as teachers are to impart knowledge based on the given curricula of a course as well as help students develop academic skills, another critical component of our profession-I contend- is to help our students develop character through the educational process. This may be a contentious issue for many teachers (Althof & Berkowitz, 2006). Given the finite amount of time we have with our students in a course, three, four, five, seven, or eight weeks respectively, branching outside of the requisite material we need to cover may seem like a herculean task. However, this task can have a significant effect on how the student operates both in academic and real-world realms and is one worth our attention. Teaching character can prove problematic in the online environment where we often have a tangential and transactional relationship with our students. The lack of face-to-face interaction and limited understanding of our students we glean from their biographies, posts, emails, et cetera, increases the difficulty in teaching character development and presenting real-world situations where character matters. Althof and Berkowitz noted some crucial aspects of teaching character in the classroom. Among the most pertinent are presenting concrete situations where students can apply good character, developing targeted outcomes based on the situations the individual student will face in the real-world, and emphasizing historical precedence where good character made a fundamental difference in resolving conflict. This might require we move beyond the prescribed curricula and bring in outside recourses to elucidate to students the value of character, and the applicable benefits character can have in academic and professional settings. By making the concept of character development and integration palpable, we can help develop students who understand the concepts we teach as well as understand the effect their decisions will have on their academic and professional lives.

What are your thoughts about teaching character in the classroom?  

Reference

Althof, A. & Berkowitz, M. W. (2006). Moral education and character education: Their relationship and roles in citizenship education. Journal of Moral education, 4, 495-518. doi:10.1080/03057240601012204