What Does Character Education Look Like for  High School Students?

For high school students, character education is absolutely vital as they prepare for adulthood, higher education, and entry into the workforce. At this stage, they are confronting complex societal issues and making choices that will significantly impact their futures. Character education reinforces critical values such as integrity, critical thinking, global citizenship, leadership, and resilience, empowering them to navigate ethical dilemmas, stand up for what is right, become responsible members of their communities, and develop the collaborative skills highly valued by employers.

Tips:
Teachers can effectively integrate character education by facilitating discussions on real-world current events and their ethical implications, encouraging participation in community service projects that align with their interests, and providing opportunities for students to lead and mentor younger peers. Incorporating ethical case studies into subject matter, modeling consistent ethical behavior, and creating a safe space for open dialogue about challenging moral questions are also essential for cultivating strong character in high schoolers.

Suggested Lesson Plans

Recommended Units of Study

• Kids Making a Difference: Garden Edition
  From iCivics, this lesson examines three periods in American history when young people made a difference during times of food shortage, using primary sources and imagery.

• Cooperation
  This lesson from the Oklahoma City Memorial analyzes the response to the Oklahoma City bombing by dozens of agencies, groups and organizations. 

• Resilience
  The Oklahoma City bombing, intended for destruction, instead brought citizens together, demonstrating the quality of resilience.

• Creating Character: Citizenship
  A lesson from the Shoah Foundation analyzes the role of citizens' responsibilities within the context of World War II's events. 

• Creating Character: Courage
  Students examine the meaning of courage and apply their understandings to remarkable examples of courage as they explore the events of the Holocaust.  

• Creating Character: Justice and Fairness
  From the Shoah Foundation, this lesson analyzes the differences between justice and fairness, using three individual's experiences during World War II.

• Philanthropy Timeline
  From Learning to Give, this History of US Philanthropy Timeline features stories of individuals and organizations who have used their time and resources to make an impact on the world. Young people can examine the ways philanthropy has created lasting change and changed itself.  

• Decision Making
  A module from Overcoming Obstacles.org, in which students learn how to start the decision making process, gather important information, explore alternative decisions and consider consequences, and make and evaluate decisions.

• Goal Setting
  Students learn how to identify a goal, set priorities, develop a positive attitude, access resources, and be assertive. 

• Resolving Conflict
  The module provides an overview of effective conflict resolution strategies, including identifying conflict triggers, the role of emotions in conflicts, and ways to reduce conflicts.

• Bill of Rights in Action
  A collection of lesson plains from Teach Democracy which explore how citizens of world and national history exercised character traits of good citizenship to make a difference in their time and place.

• Positive Good News Stories
  A collection of lessons and videoclips from Pass It On, highlighting the remarkable impact of highly ethical and caring individuals in world and American history. 

• CharacterStrong High School Curriculum from CharacterStrong.

  This organization offers a research-backed and vertically-aligned curriculum for grades 9-12, with lessons designed to teach self-management, stress and coping techniques, and relationship skills, among other character traits crucial for high school students.

• Character Education & Social Emotional Learning Resources from GoodCharacter.com.

  This site provides various resources focused on character education and social-emotional learning, with topics like responsibility, conflict resolution, and relationships, all relevant for high school students.

•  Leadworthy Character Education Grades 9-12
  From Capturing Kids Hearts, is grade-level specific, progressive, and easy to use suite of lessons that can become a monthly focus on specific character traits.

Multimedia Resources

Teacher References 

• Sense of Belonging-Eva
  A documentary from PBS Learning about Holocaust survivor Eva Kor who circled the globe to promote hope, healing and humanity.
  

• Civility: Pass It On
  A brief videoclip from The Foundation for a Better Life to help students contemplate about the importance of respect. 

• Character: Pass It On
  A short example of how character impacts our daily choices and the lives of others. 

• Gratitude: Pass It On
  Brief but powerful example of simple gratitude taking unexpected forms. 

• Determination: Spirit of America- Pass It On
  Videoclips and music to inspire class discussion about the qualities of determination and sacrifice. 

• Service Learning Handbook, from Overcoming Obstacles.org
  Students are introduced to the project, taught how to design an action plan and get it approved, and then take action and assess the project.

•  Evidence-Based Character Education Programs, an article from Positive Action.
  This resource offers practical advice for implementing character education, emphasizing self-reflection, understanding values, and building meaningful connections, which are highly relevant for secondary students.

•  The Power of Character Education: Instilling Values for a Brighter Future from Positive Action:
  This piece discusses how character education empowers students with values like respect, honesty, and responsibility, leading to increased confidence and better communication.

•  Character Education Programs for Middle and High Schools, Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
  This resource highlights the importance of character education in shaping thoughtful, responsible, and compassionate individuals. It specifically references how lessons around values like courage, sacrifice, and integrity can be taught.

• Getting Up to Speed on Character Education from the Walton Family Foundation.
  This article discusses various frameworks for character education and identifies six overarching concepts relevant to secondary students: mindfulness, curiosity, courage, resilience, ethics, and leadership. 

• Character and Academic Attainment: Does Character Education Matter? 
  from the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues.

  This paper explores the link between character education programs and academic success, finding stronger positive associations for middle and high school students compared to younger children. It also highlights indirect benefits like increased self-control and reduced disruptive behavior.

• The Importance of Character Education for All Ages from TeachHUB.
  This article touches upon the development of specific character qualities like optimism, self-control, and gratitude, which are increasingly vital for high school students as they prepare for independent lives.