How do we provide opportunities for students to develop their

character? History can provide great opportunities to explore character

development with its many wonderful examples of interesting people, issues,

and conflicts. Some say we study history to support and safeguard democracy

for the individual and society, others say to learn to respect diversity or

to learn from past successes and failures. Regardless of the many valued

approaches, I believe there is one simple aspect that dramatically enhances

any style. In history, this vital and often overlooked aspect is to

encourage students TO LEARN TO MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

Learning to make good choices is a part of character development and

children not only need character development, but also they actually crave

it. As a teacher, it is a daily task to help students who are struggling to

sort out issues of fairness, justice, and clarification of wrong versus right.

Learning about history is helpful, but it MUST go one step further by

allowing the students the chance to place themselves in historical

situations. The students can then weigh the options and figure out the best

choice. They must justify their choice and support it, then follow up on how

it relates to current or personal issues. This vital and overlooked step

increases learning three-fold; it promotes interest by making things more

relevant, sharpens decision-making skills, and helps builds character.

It is easy to lose the emphasis of character development in history by

becoming absorbed in the teaching of an abundance of information. Without

giving the students the opportunity to process the information and make it

relevant to their lives, the data is like seeds on hard dry ground – never

taking root and quickly blowing away. However, teachers can improve the

interest and relevancy by allowing students “to walk in the shoes” of

historical characters, face challenging problems, and learn to make smarter

choices. Along the way, students will make a little history by learning to

choose more wisely, and as a result, build their character.

– Glen Hallback