# Educ 7620 Weekly Reflection 3 Jethro Jones ## Assignment Directions ## Assignment I appreciate how Berkowitz (2021) describes soft and hard skills. A term we have greatly struggled with defining in our current era. These organic vs. mechanical ways of describing is powerful. ![[PRIMED for Character Education#^4cfca5]] If we want society to change, that starts in our homes, for "as David Brooks, the New York Times columnist and author, wrote, 'Social transformation follows personal transformation'" (Berkowitz, 2021, p. 6). If we want society to change, we need to focus on changing ourselves, then our families! We cannot overcome the culture taught in the home, whether that is taught directly or indirectly. This change will not happen quickly, though we may want it to. it's a topic that has been discussed for thousands of years. Heraclitus is quoted as saying by Berkowitz (2021, p. 22), "Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character." Good character is developed over time. Often, it is the mistakes we make and the times we did not show up how we would like to that are our greatest teachers. This is one reason it is important to show up every day. These lessons cannot be sped up, only learned over time, day by day and little by little, which is why getting a little bit better every day is so important. Furthermore, these lessons are being taught whether we choose to teach them explicitly or not. No matter what we do, whether by action or inaction, we are teaching character, as highlighted by Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtue (p. 2): > Some form of character education will always be taking place in school. The sensible question to ask about a school’s character education strategy is not, therefore, whether such education does occur, but whether it is intentional, planned, organised, and reflective, or assumed, unconscious, reactive, and random. Regardless of our intention, we are always going to be teaching it in schools. Furthermore, according the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University (p. 8): "Character Development is the life-long process of constructing character." Not only does character education happen in schools, it also continues throughout life. So, it would be beneficial for more schools to take the approach of keeping tabs on student development through more of their lives than when they are just at the school, as does the Greater Dayton School (Jones & Stich, n.d.). **References** - Berkowitz, M. W. (2021). _PRIMED for character education: Six design principles for school improvement_. Routledge. - Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtue - Jones, J., & Stich. (n.d.). _Whole Child Education with AJ Stich_ (582). Retrieved January 30, 2024, from [https://transformativeprincipal.org/s12/582](https://transformativeprincipal.org/s12/582) - Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College