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| Leaders Nurture the Soul |
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"Leaders Nurture the Soul," by Dennis
Sparks, as first appeared in Phi Delta Kappa, February
9, 2009. Reprinted with permission from the author.
Schools possess "souls," an awareness that struck
me recently when I heard someone describe a school she obviously
admired as "a place with soul." Soulful schools
are places that members of the school community experience
as authentic, profound, personally meaningful, and emotionally
stirring. Schools with soul have a uniqueness and integrity
based on the principles and moral imperatives that guide their
efforts. A soulful school's aspirations, commitments, and,
as Mary Pipher expressed it, "passion for the good,"
are both informed by and expressed in its symbols, rituals,
ceremonies, and spirit.
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| America's Crisis of Character |
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"America's Crisis of Character - And What to Do About
It," by Sanford N. McDonnell, as first appeared
in Education Week, October 8, 2008. Reprinted with
permission from the author.
"Day after day, we are bombarded with stories of greedy
corporate leaders, corrupt politicians, and sports stars using
drugs. Indeed, every sector of our society is confronted by
a crisis of character, most tragically among young people,
all too many of whom are plagued with problems of a poor work
ethic, drug abuse, sexual activity, violence, lying, cheating,
stealing, and bullying."
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| Academics |
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"What can schools do?," by Charles C. Haynes
and Marvin W. Berkowitz, February 2007, USAToday.com.
"After the endless headlines involving corrupt politicians,
corporate cheats, doped-up sports stars and Internet predators,
you might think that the American people would be demanding
more character education in schools. Think again. . . . And
then we move on to more important things. Test scores, for
example."
"Character
and Academics: What Good Schools Do," by Jacques
S. Benninga, Marvin W. Berkowitz, Phyllis Kuehn, and Karen
Smith, February 2006 edition of Phi Delta Kappan.
"Though there has been increasing interest in character
education among policy makers and education professionals,
many schools hesitate to do anything that might detract from
their focus on increasing academic performance. The authors
present evidence indicating that this may be misguided."
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| School Improvements
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"Smart and Good Schools - A Paradigm Shift for Character
Education," by Matthew Davidson, Thomas Lickona,
and Vladimir Khmelkov, November 2007, Education Week.
"Throughout history and in cultures around the world, education
rightly conceived has had two great goals: helping students become
smart and helping them become good. They need character for both."
"Character
Education on the Cheap," by Peter R. Greer, November
2007, Education Week.
"Schools have a primary duty to educate students on what
good character means and how to develop it . . . . Schools
serious about helping students form good character rely heavily
on the Character Education Partnership's
'11 Principles.'"
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"The Project Wisdom resources have become an important part
of our school ... especially as we have grown in size over the past
several years. We see the daily readings and other resources as
a means of humanizing and infusing our students and staff with a
positive spirit."
Dr. Thomas Neagle, Assistant Principal, Glastonbury, CT
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