CHARACTER COUNTS!: Character education has been around a long time, but you’ve said the work has only begun. How come?
Avis Glaze: Too many educators have allowed our focus on the domains of learning – cognitive, affective, and behavioral – to be eroded. With all the issues that plague young people today and the breakdown in ethical behavior in society, there’s a sense of urgency in ensuring that schools focus on character education. According to former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, “We are in a race for the hearts and minds of our young people – and we’re not the only ones.”

CC!: Does education have a moral purpose?
Glaze: Whenever our work affects the life changes of others, it has a moral component. Author and educator Thomas Sergiovanni said, “Whenever there is unequal distribution of power, the relationship becomes a moral one.” The interpersonal aspects of education, the ethic of caring, and the fact that the quality of the student-teacher relationship has an impact on learning are why education has moral imperatives. There’s a yearning in students to “be good and do good.” We need to capitalize on that desire – especially during the values stage of their development when they want to save the world.

CC!: Can teachers who have questionable character implement character education effectively?
Glaze: Children learn by example. Teachers who model good character have a greater opportunity to influence students. The sayings “Your actions speak so loudly, I can’t hear what you’re saying” and “I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care” are applicable.

At the same time, I don’t believe the majority of teachers have bad character. I have an abiding faith in teachers. Most enter the profession for the right reasons: love of children, wanting to contribute to humanity, wanting to make the world a better place, wanting to make a difference in people’s lives. I am by no means naïve. Teachers can become dispirited, cynical, and disengaged, but “if you scratch the surface of a cynic, you’ll find a frustrated idealist.”

CC!: You’ve developed programs for expelled and marginalized students because “there are no throw-away kids.” How can educators turn such children around?
Glaze: Bring back the ethic of caring. Demonstrate that you love them as if they were your own children. Have high expectations. Be demanding. Engage their parents. Be their mentor and coach. Teach them what it means to be human in our increasingly interdependent world. Constantly raise the bar, and they will soar to new heights of attainment.

If they live in poverty, your responsibility is greater. They won’t get ahead without you. You are the master key to their success. I used to meet with expelled students in coffee shops to let them know it’s not the end of the world. I wanted them to regain their dignity and to know they were not alone.

Society needs each and every student to have an education so they can be contributing, engaged, productive, and self-sustaining members of our society. Sandy McDonnell, founder of the Character Education Partnership, said: “We in the business world don’t want young people coming into our employment and communities who are brilliant but dishonest, who have great intellectual knowledge but don’t care about others, who have creative minds but are irresponsible. All of us in business and the community need to do our part in helping build young people of high character. There isn’t a more critical issue in education today.”

CC!: How can teachers get teens to strengthen their character when they’re rebelling against both parents and teachers?
Glaze: Regardless of how much they rebel, they’ll always remember their teachers, not so much for the content of their courses but the quality of their relationships. Many will eventually fall back on the values taught in the home and at school. Shower them with kindness and examples of what good character looks like.

CC!: You’re a strong supporter of parental engagement. Why is there so little parental involvement in some schools and too much in the wrong areas in others?
Glaze: I’ve never met a parent who doesn’t care about his or her children. The old saying rings true: “Parents send us the best kids they have; they’re not keeping the brighter ones at home.”

Many parents don’t have the required parenting skills. Some didn’t have positive experiences in school and don’t enjoy coming into school. Others feel intimidated by the system and don’t know how to participate. Still others, because of their cultures, leave the responsibility of schooling in the hands of teachers. They feel teachers know best. Ten strategies I use are:

1. Reach out to them. Go into their communities, churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques to meet them and let them know they’re welcome at school.
2. Put parents on the planning teams of school conferences so the topics will be ones they’re interested in.
3. Attend community events and put a face on public education.
4. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. But not two-way engagement – not one-way.
5. Public relations is about dialogue, access, and engagement. Create the conditions for this to happen.
6. Use parents who are engaged to bring others into the school.
7. Create a Parenting Center at school.
8. Call two or three parents each night. The word will soon get around that you don’t call only when something goes wrong; you call just as often about something nice a student did.
9. Respect all parents regardless of their background, religion, socioeconomic status, etc.
10. Ask opinion leaders in the community for help in engaging diverse communities.

CC!: What was your most unforgettable “aha” moment as a teacher?
Glaze: When we started character education in York Region 10 years ago, many people felt it wouldn’t work at the secondary level. But after I gave students a voice and the ability to plan conferences and activities, they embraced the concepts and led initiatives in their own schools – even harassing their administrations if they didn’t move fast enough.

Another “aha” moment came from a deputy principal: “One morning a grade six student came to the office to report that their teacher had not come. I went to investigate with a great deal of trepidation. How many students would still be there? What would I tell their parents? When I entered the classroom, the students were busy writing and barely looked up. One of them had read the teacher’s Day Plan, wrote the instructions on the board, and all were doing the work. When I congratulated them, one said, “What did you expect? We’re a character class.”