Character Education and Segregation Practices

Character Edu

Case Reflection #1

First come up with three qualities that constitute being a "Good Citizen." Your group members must agree on three qualities.

Trustworthiness

Respect

Civic Virtue

What are the three qualities? What factors did you consider in order to agree on these qualities? How difficult was it to agree on three qualities?

When considering which three qualities constitute being a "good citizen," we considered all of the six pillars of character, and the Boggs success skills. While we believed that all of these qualities are important, we determined collectively that trustworthiness, respect, and civic virtue were the most important to being a "good citizen." It was relatively easy to agree on the importance of these three qualities, although we had a good debate over which qualities to pick.

Do you consider yourself a "Good Citizen?" Why?

If I measure myself against the three qualities that our group has selected, then I would consider myself a good citizen. I try to remain as trustworthy as possible and not let people down. If I say I will do something, or say I will be somewhere, I follow through. Given that trustworthiness is one of the core parameters of being a good citizen, I measure up on that account. Respect is something I similarly try to cultivate. I try to listen to others' opinions when they are different from my own. Perhaps my biggest weakness is civic virtue. I could do more in terms of contributing to the community, volunteering, and generally participating in the political process.

3. If so, how did you obtain the appreciated qualities; through school or parental influence?

I received most of my appreciated qualities from my parents and my peers. My parents had the most meaningful influence on my character development, as they taught me the importance of honesty, dependability, trustworthiness, and respecting others. The way they punished me when I did not live up to their ideals helped me to develop character, and likewise, when they rewarded me for being a "good citizen," I remembered that. My teachers and peers have reinforced these values. Similarly, I have been inspired by public figures who have since become my role models. Character development is a complex process.

4. Is it the role of education to produce "Good Citizens?"

If the role of education is to produce good citizens, then it is not doing a good job. I think education now has become less concerned with producing good citizens, and more interested in creating people who conform to certain standards and norms. Ideally, education should be dedicated to producing good citizens, by encouraging people to care about more than just grades.

5. How can the idea of "Good Citizen" be measured and who are the stakeholders in this issue?

It is difficult to measure the idea of "good citizen." One method would be general happiness factors that relate to overall quality of life. The countries that score high on happiness like Denmark have certain quality of life measures. Stakeholders in good citizenship are all people, including the individual actor because acting justly, honestly, and with respect for others generally produces happiness for the self. When it comes to measuring the idea of "good citizen" on the individual level, a person can keep a journal documenting behaviors, actions, and reactions. There are other ways of quantifying behaviors but none would be extremely useful.

Case Reflection #2

Article "Identity Development in Adolescence"

From Why are the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?

1. What are the reasons stated in the article why students, especially Black students, choose to self-identify groupings?

When students are young, they do not have conflicts socializing with people who are from different backgrounds. During puberty, the individual becomes more self-conscious and starts to ask, "Who am I?" The question of personal identity leads someone to question ethnicity, race, and gender. This is one explanation of why Black students choose to "sit together." However, the author points out other reasons more related to the social construction of race. The rest of the world tags the students as "Blac," and so they come to tag themselves as Black. This works on the individual level too, as people will reflect an identity to a child and that child will internalize the comments made about him or her.

2. In your classroom and/or workplace do people choose to self select grouping? What factors cause this to occur?

People do self-select in the classroom and in my workplace. However, the self-selection is not as extreme as the situations in high school. In college, it is assumed that everyone is pretty much equal intellectually and so we tend to relate to each other more on what our common interests are than what our racial background is. However, due to the factors of identity formation mentioned in the article, there is a tendency to already have a strongly formed identity that is rooted in race. For people with a large contingency of their ethnic community on campus, it is much more likely to see self-selection grouping. There are many Asian kids who socialize with whites and blacks, but there are also those who stick to their friends from the Asian student organization. I think that it is because of prior experiences in identity formation that cause this to occur. The person develops an oppositional identity or an identity that comfortably fuses ethnic pride with a sense of belonging to a greater human community.

3. What can you do in the classroom or workplace setting to foster community and collaboration yet also include individual choice in grouping preference?

For me personally, I can actively recognize who I can relate to regardless of race. Gender ends up being a greater barrier, as there is a sexual tension if I strike up a friendship with the opposite sex. When it comes to ethnicity, though, it is incidental. If someone is interested in the same things, then I know that we would probably get along. To foster community collaboration requires a lot more effort. It is one thing to meet people and share stories or have meals together. It is quite another thing to get whole communities together to collaborate. When group interactions happen, problems often arise, as individual stereotypes or miscommunications can impede the collaborative process.