by Seana Murphy Dorich

This past January educators across Japan welcomed Dr. Bernice Lerner and Dr. Karen E. Bohlin as advisors and lecturers on character education.  As Senior Scholar and former director of the Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character (CAEC) Dr. Lerner has worked with Japanese colleagues over the past several years.  (In 2008 she lectured and visited schools in Japan with Dr. Linda Wells, dean of the College of General Studies at Boston University). Dr. Bohlin is the Head of Montrose School, a National School of Character. Former executive director of the CAEC and assistant professor of education at Boston University’s School of Education, she is also a Senior Scholar at the CAEC.

Scholars from Japan invited Dr. Lerner and Dr. Bohlin to speak with teacher educators and school leaders to share their expertise on character education after reading Dr. Bohlin’s book (with Dr. Kevin Ryan), Building Character in Schools. Japanese professors of education collaborated with school officials at the Setagaya public school district outside of Tokyo to create a speaking circuit for Bohlin and Lerner, including public lectures at the Universities of Hiroshima and Reitaku in Tokyo and participation in academic roundtable discussions with faculty from the University of Doshisha in Kyoto, the University of Okayama, and Reitaku University.

Dr. Bohlin and Dr. Lerner also visited two schools in the Setagaya School District: Yahata Junior High School and the Funabashi Elementary School. The schools are both participating in a new Setagaya District character education initiative. Central to the character education effort is a community wide focus on a specific virtue each month. 

Students at Yahata Junior High School are taught to see themselves as stewards of their community. Every student is a caretaker, responsible for the school’s physical and spiritual upkeep. Cleaning the school is a task students commit to for a period every day. Student-created art adorns the hallways, and visitors are met with a welcoming smile and respectful bow. They are instructed to greet visitors “with heart.” Notions of hard work, respect and reflection permeate the school experience, and academic subjects serve as a springboard for character education.

“There is a lot of time set aside for reflection throughout all subjects,” Bohlin observed.  At the Yahata Middle School, Dr. Bohlin and Dr. Lerner visited an eighth grade class where students were examining the question, “What is the meaning and purpose of work?” The class was large—approximately forty students sat in rows facing the blackboard, where the instructor, a social studies teacher, carefully recorded their responses. Students responded with “To live; to support our family; to make money; to use our talents; to fulfill our destiny; to make our country better; to have a better life; to have time off afterwards; to become well known…”

Then the social studies teacher directed their attention back to the text, where the author observed that work also “helps us to see our weak points.” He asked the students to reconsider in small groups “What is the real purpose of work?”  Without any disruption or clamor, the students moved their desks into orderly groups and began an animated discussion.  They were apparently well practiced at this kind of transition and needed little coaching or additional direction to contemplate the question’s deeper meaning.

At Funabashi Elementary School, Dr. Lerner and Dr. Bohlin arrived to find students enthusiastically cleaning their classrooms. When asked, “Is it hard work, sweeping?” one boy answered, “It is enjoyable.” 

“Such efforts,” said Dr. Lerner, “which help to maintain their school, teach children that they are capable and needed.  They learn, too, respect and responsibility for property, and joy in work.”

The result of their “enjoyable” work is a pristine environment that matches the bright and clear architecture of their school building. Ample natural light and wide open spaces give room for innovative teaching, while a commitment to order and respect produces a calm and peaceful atmosphere for learning. At Funabashi, a deep respect for environments, both natural and man-made is the catalyst for practical applications of the monthly character lessons. Teachers consistently lead their students to make connections between the virtues they study and the work they do for their school community. In this culture of practiced virtues, students easily develop the habits of good character.

Both schools understand the crucial role parents play in character education. At Yahata Junior High, parents are encouraged to read the moral education texts that their children are studying.  Building a character curriculum based on Japanese philosophies offers a bridge between familiar traditions and the new initiative. At Funabashi, the school holds an open arm policy to parents. Families, and even members of the larger community, are invited to use the school on weekends.

While the academic research in character education is well underway at Japanese universities and the schools in the Setagaya School district have just initiated a character theme a month program, these educators and scholars wanted to learn more about practical ways to implement character education.  Dr. Lerner and Dr. Bohlin encouraged the schools to direct more attention to the adults implementing character education – teachers and parents.  

 “Teachers need time away from their regular routines to reflect on their ultimate professional goals….Toward this end, district administrators and principals ought to consider allowing time for teachers to study relevant philosophical principles, to dialogue with one another, and to plan how they will use existing curricular materials to educate for character,” said Dr. Lerner. They also recommended that teachers learn how to integrate the monthly virtue themes into their subject lessons. The Building Character in Schools Resource Guide (Bohlin, Farmer and Ryan) and Great Lives Vital Lessons (eds. Bohlin and Lerner) offer practical guidelines and examples of how teachers can integrate character education into their lesson planning.

To involve parents more, Dr. Lerner and Dr. Bohlin recommended developing a list of books about character development. They suggested the formation of a parent reading group and the establishment of a parent resource library.