Character Development

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM DESCRIPTION DEFINITIONS

Professor David Isaacs…Training children in Human Virtues

Character development can be considered mainly about instilling virtues, and virtues can be described as theological, cardinal, etc.

Theological virtues are threefold – faith, hope and charity. According to Thomas Aquinas, these are infused virtues, that is, they are received directly from God, with God as their object, and operate on a “supernatural” level.

Acquired virtues, on the other hand, are aimed at improving a person on a “natural” or “human” level. Four of these are called cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude; and around them hinge all others, being a subdivision of, or related to, a cardinal virtue.

THEMES

The CDP will be structured around monthly themes, and the themes will align (where possible) with the liturgical calendar, so as to provide a readily understood plan for the children and to allow them to exercise practical aspects of their faith at appropriate times during the year. The monthly themes will be drawn from a list of 12 virtues, starting with the new school year in September and progressing through August. The themes for June and July will involve mostly parent-led activities during the summer break, and will be less structured than the activities held during the 10 months of the school year.

The themes for each month of the year are listed at "CD Schedule", starting in September to align with the school year.

ACTIVITIES

Activities give practical effect to the CDP and for convenience they have been sorted into four broad types:

Each of these activity types is lead by a member of the CDC as shown at "Activity Plan". The activities themselves are listed at "CD Schedule". "Activity Plan" contains a sample individual Activity Plan, which contains (usually on one page) detailed descriptions of each activity, including the Activity Leader, the Theme it is most relevant to, the Activity Type, how to manage the activity, the participants, and the resources involved. These detailed plans are designed to assist the parents and teachers to lead the activities, and will be updated with experience of what works best for the children.

ANNUAL SCHEDULE

An annual schedule of activities is being developed that sets out the months, themes and activities to be conducted in each month, and the date the activity will occur. Activities planned for February are shown at "CD Schedule". This schedule allows a practical amount of CD activity to occur each month without overloading the parents, children or teachers, while ensuring an orderly progression of CD activities throughout the year.

ADMINISTRATION

The CDC will meet regularly to ensure the CDP is guided and updated according to the needs of the parents and the children. The CDC will report monthly to the PTO Board.