The Educating for Character Conference in Singapore yielded many worthwhile reminders on the need to have that one simple thing professionals keep forgetting: Have good manners.
Hal Urban's teachings mirror Stephen Covey's (the creator of the 7 Habits) in that he urges us to return to the hard journey of character ethics i.e. success is a function of deep change from the inside-out, not superficial performances (what Covey called 'personality ethics').
Hal Urban's teachings mirror Stephen Covey's (the creator of the 7 Habits) in that he urges us to return to the hard journey of character ethics i.e. success is a function of deep change from the inside-out, not superficial performances (what Covey called 'personality ethics').
Teachers with character will, among other things:
- start teaching at the classroom door (i.e. they won't wait until they're inside the class to being imparting good character lessons to their students)
- teach manners, especially the Golden Rule
- ensure that the atmosphere is rid of "toxic elements" (such as complaining, gossiping, back-stabbing, etc.)
- help students to own and honor the rules
- laugh with their students
- help students set lifetime goals
- find something to celebrate every day
- encourage students to write mission-statements
- improve their teaching (and their role as teachers) every year
Urban reminded his listeners about the important difference between being STRICT and being MEAN.
He also shared some NLP-related techniques in addressing student boredom and dislike for homework and hand-outs. He encourage students, each time they were about to get a hand-out, to exclaim excitedly, "OH, BOY! ANOTHER FANTASTIC HAND-OUT!!". Also, instead of asking, "Do we HAVE to do homework today?", students should say, "Do we GET to do homework today?!"
Delightful quotes from the conference include:
- "Goals are dreams with deadlines"
- "The Golden Rule rules"
- "No discounts - everyone counts"
- "No one ever went wrong by being polite"
- "Comfort Zone - NO PARKING"
TLC is glad to champion the cause of character education at KDU, to promote good manners, a healthy social environment (with less complaining!) for an even better and more fulfilling educational milieu in the college.
