From the earliest days of the American experiment, leaders such as Thomas Jefferson envisioned education as a means of developing both talent and virtue. In practice, however, schools became very good at one half of that equation. Over the last century, American education perfected the art of measuring intellect through grades, tests, transcripts, and enough report cards to wallpaper a small house. Character development was largely outsourced to churches, families, and community institutions. The arrangement worked reasonably well when those institutions occupied a central place in American life. Schools taught students how to solve equations; someone else was expected to teach them how not to be jerks.
The problem is that many of those traditional institutions no longer play the same role they once did, while schools have largely continued operating under the assumption that someone else is handling the character piece. As a result, students receive constant feedback about the value of intellectual achievement but far less encouragement to develop qualities such as resilience, responsibility, courage, and generosity. The message can become surprisingly clear: if it raises your GPA, it matters; if it helps you become a better human being, that’s nice too. Meanwhile, students are navigating a world of competing influences, endless information, and enough social media opinions to make even adults question their sanity. In a society that celebrates individual freedom, we have become remarkably hesitant to discuss the common values that help freedom function.
This leaves schools with an opportunity—and perhaps an obligation—to step forward. They remain one of the few institutions that reach nearly every child and can unite families around a shared purpose. The goal is not to impose a single worldview or eliminate diversity of thought. Rather, it is to identify the qualities most people already agree matter: terms like generosity, grit, responsibility, resilience, and courage. America once accomplished something many considered impossible when it entrusted ordinary citizens to govern themselves through democracy. Reimagining education to develop both talent and character is a far less radical undertaking. If schools can teach children to master calculus, they can certainly help them learn how to keep a promise, overcome adversity, and contribute to something larger than themselves.
We welcome you to the conversation. Please let us know that you care by liking comments, forwarding posts, or joining in our dialogue at johnzurn.com. We would love to hear your own “Stories From the Classroom….”.
From our first posting:
“As parents and teachers, we need to reclaim our traditional role as influencers of our children – not by shouting louder than the influencers our children discover online, but by stressing ideas that are more important than fancy shoes and snappy TikTok tunes. We need to emphasize traits that everyone agrees children will honor. We need to convince our children that the people who are most important to them have a better understanding of what it takes to be successful in life.”
#charactereducation #successtraits #parentingtips #homeschooling #teachertips