GU School of Education marks a decade of character education
Published: October 09, 2024
Author: Dave Bell
For the past decade, Greenville University School of Education graduates have launched their teaching careers with a certification that few other newly-minted teachers possess. They are certified to teach a character education curriculum in public school classrooms.
“We’ve empowered our education majors to go into the public schools and teach their students about positive character qualities,” said Paul Alvord, interim director of the GU School of Education. “These future teachers are very excited about this program because it ties in so well with GU’s mission of ‘empowering students for lives of character and service.’”
When it was launched 10 years ago, the character education training program – Character Plus – was offered as a stand-alone course on Saturdays. In recent years, however, it’s become a three-week segment in a course called “The Learning Environment,” which all face-to-face education majors must take. More than 150 GU education graduates have been certified as character education teachers.
“Teaching character education classes allows our graduates to teach values that parallel Christian values, but still do it in a public school setting,” said Alvord (pictured above). “We feel that teaching about positive character qualities will help create a society that is more caring and respectful. Additionally, schools that use the Character Plus curriculum report that they’ve seen an increase in their students’ academic performance because it helps to create a better academic environment.”
Character Plus was founded in 1988 in St. Louis by Sandford “Sandy” McDonnell, then the chair of the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, because he recognized the need for better character qualities among his employees. Several federal research grants allowed Character Plus to develop, study, implement, and measure the impact of character education in school settings. The organization’s mission is “to promote positive character development in young people by partnering with schools, families, and communities to provide character education.”
According to the organization’s website, schools adopting the Character Plus program experienced improved educational performance, fewer discipline problems, and higher scores on standardized tests.
Carol Knight, a 1975 Greenville College School of Education graduate, has championed character education in the Bond County Community Unit School District for more than two decades. Her advocacy started when she read about the program in 2003 and decided to launch it locally that fall.
“I believe God opened doors for us to do this here,” said Knight, who serves as director of the county’s character education program. “As a teacher, I had seen the need for schools to reinforce the importance of good character because too many of our students weren’t getting that modeled at home. The Character Plus program provided a structure for character training by emphasizing four ingredients of good citizenship: respect, responsibility, compassion, and integrity.
A decade ago, she approached then-President Ivan Filby about including character education training in Greenville College’s teacher certification. Filby and the GC School of Education faculty embraced her recommendation.
“We are the only school I know of with a formal character education program in its curriculum,” Alvord said. “It’s a great thing for our graduates to have on their resumé when they interview for jobs. They will stand out among the other candidates. And once they’re in the classroom, they will be able to change the trajectory of their students by teaching the value of good character qualities.”
