teaching moral values

[atula]

I was thinking with the morals of the society receding gradually is there a way of teaching children the basic good and evils and all the values of life not by making it boring and preachy , but in an interesting way...
something that helps them keep that value with them for life.....

[mollyL]

We've worked for several years with our middle school kids for them to trust us and know that we care for them, and we are there no matter what. Every week, no matter what the lesson plan is, we try to reinforce it. We have talked about some really "personal" and "heavy" subjects with them, and I think our work has paid off, because they listen to us without getting nervous or embarrassed, and are willing to discuss whatever we're talking about. No one to my knowledge has come to any of us teachers with a bad personal problem, but they know if they need to, we're there and will do whatever we can to help them. I guess after all these words what I'm trying to say that trust, trust, and more trust needs to be achieved.

[katharina]

We've worked for several years with our middle school kids for them to trust us and know that we care for them, and we are there no matter what. Every week, no matter what the lesson plan is, we try to reinforce it. We have talked about some really "personal" and "heavy" subjects with them, and I think our work has paid off, because they listen to us without getting nervous or embarrassed, and are willing to discuss whatever we're talking about. No one to my knowledge has come to any of us teachers with a bad personal problem, but they know if they need to, we're there and will do whatever we can to help them. I guess after all these words what I'm trying to say that trust, trust, and more trust needs to be achieved.

I agree that trust is a great start.  I think it needs to be proven with action and not just words.  (I'm sure that's a no-brainer, but I said it anyhow)  They have to know they can trust, not just assume it.

[atula]

what I meant was things like sharing...being kind to the poor..being compassionate about the world in general...loving nature...respecting elders....these are some things that I think every child should know...but somehow children are becoming more and more selfish...they are becoming angrier and impatient...which is sad and I need some way to help them know the rights and wrongs....

[SageMother]

This is going to be an unpopular position, apologies in advance.

It iis my job as a teacher to deal with factual knowledge.  I can provide the atmosphere necessary for cooperative learning but I do not go so far as to venture into personal moral outlook. 

What I teach should help students think through problems and decide how best to proceed based on the information at hand with each situation.  This isn't morals, though.  It is ethics.

[flowerhorn08]

Haven't you heard of teaching by example? Children will subconsciously pick up all those things that they see. So make sure the techers there show a good example in whatever they do in their daily teaching life.

[katharina]

Haven't you heard of teaching by example? Children will subconsciously pick up all those things that they see. So make sure the techers there show a good example in whatever they do in their daily teaching life.

I think that whether we're in the home or the classroom, showing by example is always a thing for which we
should strive.  It doesn't need to be outward "teaching" of those things because that could get iffy, but showing
by example, sure, all the time I'd think.

[Janice]

I know this is reply is about a year off but anyway...Our school has implemented the program Character Counts. It's a great program. You should loook into it.