For the past one hundred plus years in American schools, academic excellence has been viewed as the primary marker of success.  Feedback to parents has centered on test scores and grades as the key indicators of a student’s potential. During this time frame, the character development critical for personal fulfillment and societal contribution, has taken a backstage to academic knowledge.  It is no wonder that generationally, students (and adults!) are confused about the importance of good behavior.

Technology today has proven that there is always a tool in the room that can produce more information and more knowledge than the brightest student.  It is time for us to stop wallowing in the loss of information leadership and focus instead on attributes that humans alone can bring to every task: character.  It is not the information that is important, but what you choose to do with it.

Great teachers, the ones who praise children for their hard work and commitment independent of academic achievement, already do this.  But it is time we focused all educators on the importance of character development in an era of breathtaking technological growth.  We not only need to teach children what words like persistence, positive attitude and responsibility mean, but we need to elevate their presence in schools, by giving our children report card feedback.

Strong PE teachers already know this.  They do not grade for athletic ability alone, but for terms like, “shows up to class on time”, “brings PE clothes to class”, “participates enthusiastically”; “works well with others”.   In the same vein, teachers of other subjects must recognize that their job is not just to challenge the academically gifted few, but to challenge everyone to grow in character as a human being.

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.

Coming Next Wednesday– Stories from the Classroom: Darius

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.”

John Zurn began his educational career teaching fourth, fifth, and sixth grade children in K through 8^th grade independent school settings.   He went on to serve as Head of School for three independent schools over a twenty-eight year period.   John has written a book on a comprehensive school-wide character education program which was published in 2022 and updated in 2024.  He is currently working on a book directed towards teaching Traits for Success to students in grades 4 through 8.

#charactereducation #successtraits #parentingtips #homeschooling #teachertips