Goals of Character Development Courses for Children

Many schools are in the practice of providing children with character development courses. While the argument can be made that teaching character development courses takes time away from academic instruction, the growing need to teach children character education can be seen in the numbers of violent incidents that occur and arrests that are made in the U.S. each day. There are many different goals that character development courses aim to reach.

  1. Teaching About Values

    • One of the main goals of character development courses is to teach children about good values. Many character development programs include activities that specifically focus on teaching kids about virtues like respect, integrity and responsibility. While they are engaged in reading, role playing and discussion activities about values, children are given opportunities to understand and apply them to their everyday lives.

    Building a School Community

    • Many character development programs use a holistic approach to character education as well as specific studies. The goal of these models is to encourage a strong school community in which students and teachers feel safe. Those who use a holistic approach to character development focus on developing caring relationships among the students and staff and emphasize social and emotional learning as much as academic learning. Often, students are given opportunities to practice what they learn about character development through service learning projects.

    Improving Academic Performance

    • There have been a number of studies done that show that the use of character development courses can be linked to improvements in academic achievement. In building classroom and school communities, character development courses allow students to feel safe. When children feel comfortable in their environment, they are able to focus all of their attention on learning. Character development courses also affect student behaviors. Through providing students with alternatives to bad behaviors, these courses give them a greater chance at staying in the classroom and learning instead of being sent to the principal or behavior specialist.

    Preparation for the Future

    • Character development courses are designed to help prepare children to be respectful, functional contributing members of society when they grow up. If adults teach children about good character and encourage them to practice it daily, these children are more likely to carry these values with them throughout their lives. Being educated about morals and values early on provides children with a model for how they should conduct themselves as adults. One of the main goals of all schools is to give student the tools they will need to be successful in the future. Good moral character is a valuable tool that all children can benefit from having.

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