Building a Strong Moral Fiber

The moral development of students does not depend on class room sessions of moral science and value education. Rather, moral education efforts are greatly influenced by the maturity and ethical standards of the adults with whom children interact – parents, teachers, coaches, extend family and friends. It is often presumed that parents have the onus of fostering moral behavior in their children. However, parents alone cannot take on the responsibility of building moral character.

Once they are in school children spend a lot of time with their peers and teachers and their personalities can be changed or shaped into healthy character traits. In school a child learns more than just academic lessons. They learn to play, share, socialize, and resolve conflict. And it is in these situations that educators play a crucial role in helping students develop a strong moral compass.

Teachers influence moral behavior not only by being good role models but also in what they bring to the relationship with their wards on an everyday basis. Do they appreciate the perspectives of the student, even though it may be different from their own? Do they admit and learn from their errors? Do they handle a child’s moral quandary with sensitivity and generosity of spirit? And finally do they display moral courage and idealism in helping the child develop his/ her own code of moral behavior? All of this makes being a teacher in a school a challenging task. It also means we can build moral character in children only if we as adults don’t shy away from the task of developing and strengthening our own moral and ethical capabilities.

At TAO we, the management and teachers strive to be positive role models and caring adults that young children need. We impress upon our staff that they may become a child’s notion of an exemplary adults. We lay great emphasis on honesty and hard work. During staff meetings or staff seminars we help our teachers understand the idea that they have great influence on a child’s moral development. And that children will imitate their behavior and follow in their footsteps. We encourage our teachers to attend courses that allow them to reflect on their own moral standards and strengthen core belief systems. Living as we are in an era where most values are relative, watching their teachers call out clearly that something is good or bad or right and wrong can help students define their own moral systems more clearly.

Besides imitation and learning from their teachers, at TAO, we also follow a few simple steps to develop a sense of virtues in our students. Research has shown that inspirational stories have a strong impact on the minds of young children. We have story telling sessions, enactments of mythological or true life inspirational stories. We also give children an opportunity to put into practice attitudes of good moral behavior. In team activities and group play we encourage them to show fairness, respect for each other and the ability to work together as a team and learn leadership skills.