Character and Citizenship Education: Teaching Our Children To Be Human.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper examines the development of character education requirements in New Hampshire public school curricula and the education of teachers to be certified to teach character education. The research literature is reviewed and examples of programs for character development are described. Several observations provide helpful insights on the topics of citizenship and character education including: (1) character and citizenship education is not easy and schools must join in the humanizing process begun by parents in the home; (2) character and citizenship education is a partnership between the schools and the larger community; (3) character and citizenship education requires building community; (4) character and citizenship education should teach, not preach; and (5) character and citizenship education should inspire hope. (EH)