This was posted on November 18, 2011
Last month, there was a phenomenal article in the New York Times, What if the Secret to Success is Failure? We’ve been talking about this one, and thinking about it, a good deal since. The article — which, we warn you, is lengthy — featured two totally different schools and their respective approaches to character education.
Character education is something we all take seriously at Pine Cobble. But what, you might ask, is it? How do we do it? Why does it matter?
We’d rather start by saying what character education isn’t — at least not here, at Pine Cobble School. Character education isn’t a bunch of platitudes. It’s not a collection of vague, half-considered ideas about “being nice.” Character education is about challenging kids, and ourselves, again and again and again. It’s about providing a clear lens through which they can view their own actions in the world. It’s about providing a road map for them that they can use when the going gets tough, when next steps aren’t exactly clear.
It’s about rising to one’s personal best, even when — especially when — it’s hard.
It means something at different ages. For younger students, self-control might mean taking a deep breath and cooperating with a friend on a castle made of blocks, even though she’s making it look different than you wanted. For an older student, self-control is about about taking that extra half-hour to rewrite an English paper, because you know, deep down, that it could be better. It’s about refraining from gossip, stepping out of your comfort zone, and striving for something that matters.
Often, character education is about failing; about learning how to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again — with integrity, grit, and a positive spirit.
What the New York Times article makes clear is that when done right — when taken out of the realm of vague notions and made tangible for students in specific moments that define their day — character education can be deeply, profoundly meaningful. It’s what challenges students to learn that their personal best lies beyond what they might have imagined. It’s what helps them try, maybe fail, then try again harder the next time. It’s what sets children onto a path of a purposeful life. It’s what teaches them to be leaders.
That’s exactly what character education is all about here. And that’s why we do it.
