Wanted: Character education
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character; that is the goal of true education. — Dr Martin Luther King Jr, civil rights leader
While the two big Cs — COVID-19 and crime — continue to ravage this island nation, it is timely that its leaders, both in the private and public sectors, take a serious look at another C — character.
In its bid to tackle the crime monster, the Andrew Holnessled Administration has placed much of its hopes on the declaration of states of public emergency (SOE) as perhaps the best solution to that crisis. In the meantime, the recent spikes in the cases of the novel coronavirus have demanded an emergency response from the Government and health authorities. But, in my book, everything boils down to character — the character of our leaders and the character of our people. And, in this context, what we desperately need is a state of urgency to deal with these national challenges.
What is character?
This human attribute has been described as the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of a person. Such a feature may be referred to as a trait or characteristic. Some well-known and desirable character traits are: being caring/compassionate, sympathetic, empathetic, respectful and understanding toward the needs and feelings of others; cooperation/good sportsmanship; courage; diligence/perseverance; honesty/ fairness; loyalty; and citizenship.
Undoubtedly, these traits can be encapsulated in the expression “values and attitudes”, which came to the fore of national consciousness in 1994 when then Prime Minister P J Patterson initiated and launched a values and attitudes project aimed at tackling the perennial problems of indiscipline, incivility, and violence. But this move attracted a lukewarm response, and was even pooh-poohed by his detractors. Unfortunately, the well-meaning Patterson should have realised that any such initiative should have been left to civil society, as narrow, partisan sentiments have always played a deleterious role in most actions that require national consensus.
In recent times, a national newspaper in its editorial called for a revival of the values and attitudes programme, and it is instructive that both Patterson and a former prime minister of Jamaica Labour Party vintage, Bruce Golding, have supported this view. In 2018, perhaps very mindful of any partisan pushback, Patterson declared, while urging that the programme be reintroduced, that he did not mind if it were to be repackaged and given another name: “What Jamaica needs now is a crusade to restore the wholesome values and positive attitudes which are the important legacy as a people, and which are essential to our progress as a nation.”
It must be noted, too, that during the period 2001 to 2002, then Opposition Leader Edward Seaga envisioned the introduction of what was dubbed character education in the school system should he return to power. And, with that in mind, he set up a committee that he invited me to chair. That body was tasked to come up a with an action plan, which it did, after many meetings and deliberations. Unfortunately for Seaga, he lost the 2002 General Election, but it is important to note that the committee was not a partisan one, but comprised professionals and business people from various organisations. I suspect that blueprint is somewhere in the late prime minister’s archives.
Against this background, it is advisable that any attempt to reintroduce Patterson’s values and attitudes programme or, perhaps, more importantly, to push forward with the idea of instituting character education as a permanent fixture in the curricula of the nation’s educational institutions, should be pursued in the same way that the national consensus on crime was conceptualised and led by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ); ultimately bringing on board such organisations as Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), National Parent-teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ), National Students’ Council, professional bodies, churches, service clubs, among other civil organisations, so that in the long run the general citizenry would be sufficiently persuaded to embrace this effort, which must be seen as being in the best interest of the nation on the way forward.
This means, therefore, that character education has to be our shared responsibility if it is to succeed. As a Greek philosopher once said, “Within the character of the citizen lies the welfare of the nation.” So, parents, teachers, and members of the community must come together to support positive character development.
In the United States, one of their great education reformers, Horace Mann, as far back as in the 1840s, sought to improve instruction in classrooms nationwide, advocating that character development was as important as academics.
According to the American Department of Education, “Character education teaches the habits of thought and deed that help people live and work together as families, friends, neighbours, communities, and nations. It is a learning process that enables students and adults in a school community to understand, care about, and act on core ethical values such as respect, justice, civic virtue and citizenship, as well as responsibility for self and others. Upon such core values we form the attitudes and actions that are the hallmark of safe, healthy, and informed communities that serve as the foundation of our society.”
In this vein, for character education to be successfully implemented, schools should be encouraged to take a leadership role to bring the staff, parents, and students together to identify and define the elements of character they want to emphasise.
One of the tragedies of modern-day Jamaica is that, although corruption is rife in the society, many citizens do not see anything wrong with such a practice. “A nuh nutten” is the usual response, which is why our politicians and public servants have managed to get away scot-free, for the most part, after pillaging the public purse. This is one good reason character education should become an integral part of our educational system from basic school level right up to university.
As Jamaica approaches 58 years of political independence, it behoves our leaders to face the irrefutable fact that, if we do not treat the positive development of our citizens’ character as an urgent matter in the same way we have been treating with crime and the novel coronavirus, then to put it bluntly in plain Jamaican parlance, “Dog nyam wi supper!”
Lloyd B Smith has been involved full-time in Jamaican media for the past 44 years. he has also served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the house of Representatives. he hails from western Jamaica, where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.