Article Readings # 19: CHARACTER: THE FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION

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Character: The Foundation of Education

Character Education | By: Raymond Gerson (05/15/13) Views: 1882

The purpose of education is to draw out the best from our students. It should be about more than just making good grades on bubble tests and making money after graduation. Education should teach students how to learn and to develop a love for life-long learning. Students need to learn to think for themselves. They need to be prepared to handle the problems they will encounter, to live purposeful lives and to learn the value of making a contribution to others and society.
Knowledge without character provides students with a weak foundation for facing the problems and temptations of life. There are many examples of intelligent and well educated people who ended up in trouble or in prison because of character defects . Humane values need to be the foundation of education. A good education should help students to develop character traits and qualities such as courage, integrity, compassion, self-regulation, honesty, resilience, humility and caring about others. Bertrand Russell put it this way, “You must believe that you can help bring about a better world. A good society is produced only by good individuals.” Our students need the skills, inspiration and character to live meaningful lives and to make a positive difference  in the world.
Copyright 2013. Raymond Gerson 


REACTIONS: 

"What is knowledge without character?" This is the common notion of people. Even how intelligent a person is, if the character is bad, that person would not live  meaningful life.

Character is the predisposition of a person when faced with a situation. They can either be good or bad. In this article, the author strongly emphasize the value of building positive character among children before the bombardment of information.

I strongly agree with the author, because in real life, memories and information are not enough for a person to adjust to life's realities. What is important is the character and attitudes of the learners that would equip him to live life and for him to have strong predispositions in life to face trials. Knowledge can be acquired even by just a click in the internet, but acquisition of good character and behavior is a life long process and is most necessary in order to live a productive life.