{"id":31769,"date":"2021-06-25T08:14:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T04:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/?p=31769"},"modified":"2021-06-25T08:14:06","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T04:14:06","slug":"moral-education-and-character-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/moral-education-and-character-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Moral Education and Character Building"},"content":{"rendered":"

If we don\u2019t wake up now we will perhaps lose a God-sent opportunity to pull back our young from the brink of a civic catastrophe \u2013 a scenario of living in a dysfunctional society at odds with itself and nature<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

By Arvind Saxena<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society\u201d
\n<\/em><\/strong>— Theodore Roosevelt<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

The world is struggling with a once-in-a-century health crisis which has shown up the many weaknesses in the economic, social, health and education models we have adopted over the last half a century.\u00a0 Economic disparity, environmental degradation, crumbling health, education and social security systems all point to the failure of our socio-economic development models.\u00a0 Even the choice of democratic forms of governance is in question with democratic societies coming to realise that the institutions which were meant to act as conduits, as well as a bulwark, between them and their elected representatives have been gradually subverted.\u00a0 The masses have lost their voice and global neoliberal; social Darwinist interests have commandeered all power and control.\u00a0 Crony capitalism has replaced laissez faire and free market transparency.\u00a0 As they knowingly, or unknowingly, subscribe to the pull of global capital, people in power fail to realise that nature abhors disequilibrium and the massive disparities in the lives of the few and the masses can not last forever.\u00a0 Unprecedented crisis loom if corrective steps are not taken and power is restored to the masses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let us remember, however, that massive crisis which challenge the status quo also offer opportunities for taking tough decisions to undo the damage and find new solutions for a better tomorrow.\u00a0 Just like New York built its underground infrastructure of power and transit following the massive blizzard in 1888, visionary city leaders in London invested in an extensive public health engineering framework following the massive outbreak of Cholera in 1832, and the 1871 great fire in Chicago saw the construction of many skyscrapers, the COVID pandemic should be seen as an opportunity to accept our failures and set our models right.\u00a0 As mentioned earlier, this crisis has exposed and highlighted the many problems in practically all sectors of human existence.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this series of three articles I will talk about the falling standards of education and why we should review our policies on moral education in this critical field.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many studies have established that moral education and character building are not only necessary for a stable and constructive social order; they are also positively co-related to scholastic achievements.\u00a0 During the last quarter of the twentieth century, as schools neglected the moral dimension of schooling three things happened: achievement levels started coming down, discipline declined and behavioural problems increased.\u00a0 Students started shying away from the rigours of studying science and mathematics.\u00a0 We saw a decline in the quality of the study of fine arts and social sciences.\u00a0 Students started taking the easy option of studying management, software development, computer coding and developing Apps; which further disrupted traditional work models, which had social security and basic human rights considerations built into them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Inculcation of discipline, telling the truth, being sensitive to the feelings of classmates, respect for teachers, engaging in debates without grudging the contrary view, developing team spirit, graciously conceding defeat on the sports field, respecting the rules and code of conduct, cheering for the success of others have been an integral part of school life.\u00a0 Hard work, a sense of purpose, giving back to society, caring for the underprivileged and a scientific spirit of enquiry, which are part of moral education, build character and lay the foundation for a strong society.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, in our quest to keep school curriculum free from religious beliefs and mores, moral education got relegated to an ancillary status.\u00a0\u00a0 Yet, all schools do provide a modicum of moral guidelines. Teachers do insist on honesty and school sports teachers still emphasise that athletics should be seen through the lens of sportsmanship and team spirit, rather than winning and losing.\u00a0 Students learn that their efforts and difficulties, their successes and disappointments are all part of a larger process of growing up.\u00a0 Schools can provide the uplifting experience of extending an \u2018undocumented\u2019 helping hand to a needy person.\u00a0 I have seen teachers apologize to a child – saying \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d.\u00a0 For a child who has never seen this at home, the purifying experience of seeking forgiveness and recognizing that we all make mistakes soon becomes apparent.\u00a0 Interacting with teachers and peers teaches them compassion, sharing, choosing kind words when it would be easier to shout, and speaking up for the marginalized populations.\u00a0 Is anyone teaching them all this?<\/span><\/p>\n

School experience, in one form or another, also includes study of narrative tales and epic stories which carry moral lessons.\u00a0 They convey to the young minds vivid images of the kind of people our culture admires and wants them to emulate.\u00a0 They also show them how lives can be wasted or worse, how people can betray themselves and their communities.\u00a0 Lives of leading activists and legends , who showed strength of character to fight against wrong and champion the right causes to bring revolutionary changes, serve as role models that the youth can follow and look up to. A school\u2019s rituals, traditions, rules and procedures have an impact on the students\u2019 sense of what is right and wrong and what is desired and undesired behaviour.\u00a0 Community service in some schools gives their students opportunities, guidance and practice at being useful citizens.\u00a0 From keeping their class rooms clean, to devoting time at blind schools, hospitals or day care centres, or even walking for a cause,\u00a0 students do not just develop empathy with different types of people; they learn skills of problem solving, conflict resolution and innovation \u2013 which could eventually help in their professional placements.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The point is, are schools playing this role with the conviction and determination required to mould young minds who can build a stable society?\u00a0 Can we use the Corona crisis to look afresh at the significance of moral education and character building in our schools and colleges?\u00a0 Our actions and investment in the moral and ethical education of students will pay rich dividends for the world because we will create much more than knowledge; we will arm our young with the power of goodness and kindness. \u00a0Frankly, if we don\u2019t wake up now we will perhaps lose a God-sent opportunity to pull back our young from the brink of a civic catastrophe \u2013 a scenario of living in a dysfunctional society at odds with itself and nature.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the first of a three-part series of articles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arvind Saxena is an Indian civil servant and a former Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in India. <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

* Published in print edition on 25 June 2021<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If we don\u2019t wake up now we will perhaps lose a God-sent opportunity to pull back our young from the brink of a civic catastrophe \u2013 a scenario of living in a dysfunctional society at odds with itself and nature<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":31771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[23143],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musings"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SHAPING-THE-MORAL-CHARACTER.-Pic-Ambassador-News-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C727&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8QzSF-8gp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/398"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}