Dozens of journalists gathered in New Orleans this month to explore a dimension of education that often gets short shrift both in schools and in news coverage: developing students’ character and preparing them for active citizenship.
Reporters heard not only from educators, experts, and fellow journalists, but also students from New Orleans and beyond. Issues on tap included the moral education of young people, social and emotional learning, media literacy, and the rapid rise of ”restorative justice” as an alternative to traditional disciplinary practice.
To get things started at the EWA seminar in New Orleans, reporters helped to create a word cloud by sharing the single character trait they think is most essential for schools to foster.
Below is a sampling of the Twitter chatter from the February 15-16 event.
Live-action word cloud of character trait @EdWriters attendees say students should be acquiring in school. #ewacharacter pic.twitter.com/ZJn7DC4N9o
— Emily Richmond (@EWAEmily) February 15, 2018
Marvin Berkowitz of @Mizzou: “Why is character important? Because it saves the world.” #ewaCharacter
— Education Writers Association (@EdWriters) February 15, 2018
“We know we can’t teach these skills, we have to be these skills.” – @UrbanAssembly‘s David Adams on the teachers’ role in imparting character education to students. #ewaCharacter
— Emily Richmond (@EWAEmily) February 15, 2018
Rand’s Jennifer Kavanagh now speaking at #ewacharacter event. Her recent report has best title ever: Truth Decay: A Threat to Policymaking and Democracy. https://t.co/E1KSH2zk6H
— Greg Toppo (@gtoppo) February 15, 2018
My favorite view so far in #NOLA: Getting to moderate conversation with superstars @KavithaCardoza @NPRCoryTurner. #ewaCharacter pic.twitter.com/0ftD1ZDi22
— Emily Richmond (@EWAEmily) February 15, 2018
.@NPRCoryTurner & @KavithaCardoza are sharing insight on the Rising King series. It’s a deep dive into the “whole child” development framework at a public, all-boys school. #ewaCharacter https://t.co/FiULWjjFVk
— ▪︎beatz▪︎??? (@ComraddComaddre) February 15, 2018
Next up for the @EdWriters is @aliaemily moderating a panel on education for democracy and promoting civic engagement with Abby Kiesa of CIRCLE, @rpondiscio and NOLAs very own @Ms_Summers_Says of @newharmonyhigh. #ewaCHARACTER
— Meghan Mangrum (@memangrum) February 15, 2018
Pretty sure it’s a journalism rule that something big will break on your beat while you’re at a conference or on vacation or something.
— Rachel Abbey McCafferty (@ramccafferty) February 15, 2018
.@RonBergerEL pushes back on notion that political, cultural divides preclude common ground on teaching character. Cites respect, responsibility, courage, & kindness to name a few shared values. #ewaCHARACTER pic.twitter.com/RPwi1UFvQo
— Erik Robelen (@ewrobelen) February 16, 2018
This makes the education reporting job tricky. That and the acronyms #ewaCHARACTER pic.twitter.com/KzJp9M3ME3
— Shannon Gilchrist (@shangilchrist) February 16, 2018
Really interesting talk by @RonBergerEL at #ewaCHARACTER seminar re the rise & fall (& rise again) of character education. His basic idea: Character education was stripped from schools and only returned when educators could make case it was connected to academic success. #GRIT
— Greg Toppo (@gtoppo) February 16, 2018
“If we can show them a little bit of vulnerability, the sky’s the limit.” – Cornelius Dukes of Abramson Sci Academy in New Orleans on teacher and faculty modeling relationships with students #ewacharacter
— Meghan Mangrum (@memangrum) February 16, 2018
Schools are closed in NOLA this week, so we brought the students to our #ewaCHARACTER event, including these two from @KIPP Leadership Academy. @ClaireMcInerny pic.twitter.com/5lkKOQ3KDr
— Erik Robelen (@ewrobelen) February 16, 2018
Terrific panel of students at #ewaCHARACTER conference explaining what works at their schools to make them better people. Said one,”One thing I’ve learned at my school is that you can always keep on learning.” pic.twitter.com/iicIWk5MHO
— Dale Mezzacappa (@dalemezz) February 16, 2018
“We are all bilingual.” Black teen at #ewacharacter just explained code switching (without using that term) to a room full of mostly white adults, by referencing language and behavior in home, professional settings. Nods and applause after.
— Beau Yarbrough ⌚? (@LBY3) February 16, 2018
Appreciated hearing student voices at #ewaCHARACTER, including Kristen and Tim, who participate in @uCCNOLA, with slogan, ‘Building Houses, Framing Character.’ pic.twitter.com/xlKWYFo97R
— Erik Robelen (@ewrobelen) February 16, 2018
Wow. Just spent the last couple of hours listening to and talking with students and educators whose schools embrace character and social emotional learning as part of their identity & mission. #ewaCHARACTER
— Trisha Powell Crain (@Trish_Crain) February 16, 2018
.@CRAcircles’ Troi Bechet on #RestorativeJustice: “If we want children to grow up to be socially responsible people, we need them to believe doing the right thing is the right thing to do.” #ewaCHARACTER
— ▪︎beatz▪︎??? (@ComraddComaddre) February 16, 2018
“Restorative justice is a red herring,” says @maxeden99, and its growth stems from feds’ demands that school suspension rates come down, rather than a genuine interest in rethinking student discipline. #ewaCharacter
— Emily Richmond (@EWAEmily) February 16, 2018
All the snaps for @gtoppo suggesting that the panelists sparring over the merits of restorative justice at #ewaCHARACTER hash things out in a restorative circle.
— Alia Wong (@aliaemily) February 16, 2018
5th grade information technology teacher Jana Chao from Clinton, Mississippi shows this to her students when they learn media literacy and distinguishing between real and fake news #ewaCHARACTER pic.twitter.com/MzuDiSIGm4
— Educate (@EducatePodcast) February 16, 2018
There IS a ‘vaccine’ for #fakenews. Media literacy, says @damasoreyes of @NewsLitProject. #ewaCHARACTER
— Erik Robelen (@ewrobelen) February 16, 2018
Leave it to @EdWriters to send off #ewaCHARACTER participants with a box dinner. Sure hope there are shrimp po-boys in there… pic.twitter.com/N6memHG8J4
— Greg Toppo (@gtoppo) February 16, 2018
Another fabulous @EdWriters seminar has ended. Now…what to do in NOLA? Suggestions?#ewaCHARACTER
— Trisha Powell Crain (@Trish_Crain) February 16, 2018
