CHARACTER THROUGH CURRICULUM

CHARACTER THROUGH CURRICULUM:LIVING MATERIALS AND METHODS

KNOWLEDGE OR CHARACTER?

What is Education? Who will define it? Special Committee after Committee

settles (or not) some side issue leaving the main question untouched.

“What is P.N.E.U. Education and how does it differ from other educational

methods?” wrote an able teacher the other day.

Another wrote,— “The P.U.S. programmes are splendid, but the P.N.E.U.

thinks more of knowledge; we, Heads of Schools, more of character.”

Kitching, “What Next”


“Some people say: ‘Miss Mason cared more for knowledge than for

character.’ But she held actually that the one was impossible without the

other. Without knowledge there could be no character. Since character

comes of thought and thoughts must come of what we know, knowledge

makes character.”

Wix, “Miss Mason’s Ideal: Its Breadth and Balance”


“...character, however much it is supported by discipline, by esprit de corps,

by ‘being good,’ has only one source—knowledge and the training that

knowledge brings with it.”

Kitching, “What Next”

AVOIDING…THE REMEDIAL APPROACH

“Modern psychology in making an alliance with biology seeks the causes of

failures in conduct; therefore it deals with remedies rather than with a

definite method of education which is constructive and therefore

preventive.”

Kitching, “Back to the Children”

AVOIDING…THE HEAVILY EXHORTATIVE APPROACH

“So much of the so-called moral instruction of today is labelled like

advertisements of patent medicine: a set of stories on Courage,

Temperance, or what not, is offered apart from the context that gives

the lesson proportion.

Such stories (on a level with what boys resent as ‘pi-jaw’) fall

frequently on unheeding, even unwilling ears, for they call for no

process of mental digestion, a process which is not seldom attended

by a thrill of discovery.”

Elsie Kitching, “Moral Training”


“The late Jewish philosopher Martin Buber tells the story of how he fell into the ‘fatal mistake of giving instruction in ethics’ by presenting ethics as formal rules and principles. Buber discovered that very little of this kind of education gets ‘transformed into character-building substance.’

In his little gem of moral and educational philosophy, an essay appropriately titled ‘The Education of Character,’ Buber recalls:

I try to explain to my pupils that envy is despicable, and at once I feel the secret resistance of those who are poorer than their comrades. I try to explain that it is wicked to bully the weak, and at once I see a suppressed smile on the lips of the strong. I try to explain that lying destroys life, and something frightful happens: the worst habitual liar of the class produces a brilliant essay on the destructive power of lying.


“Mere instruction in morality is not sufficient to nurture the virtues. It

might even backfire, especially when the presentation is heavily exhortative

and the pupil's will is coerced. Instead a compelling vision of the

goodness of goodness itself needs to be presented in a way that is

attractive and stirs the imagination.”

Tending the Heart of Virtue

“It is character that counts every time, nothing else matters;

intellectual work is entirely secondary. How often have I heard

that said by schoolmasters. That games are a means towards

this end is clearly seen. Arithmetic and Latin are excellent

disciplines. History? perhaps, gives a knowledge of the

character of nations. Science? encourages accuracy and a love

of truth. Besides, it is a preparation for a career. Homer?

Virgil? The sixth form boy who reads the classics with ease

has earned the reward of work well done. What about English

poetry? Oh well, that is largely a matter of taste; it is very nice

if boys and girls do care for poetry. They must read some, of

course, to realise their English heritage. As far as character is

concerned, there are a few poems which are an inspiration to

conduct, such as Wordsworth’s ‘Ode to Duty’ but it would be

far-fetched indeed to suggest that poetry as a whole could

have any effect on character.

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

BROAD

“But Charlotte Mason was a person of vision, and she saw that

great poetry, great paintings, music, the wonders of nature— in

fact everything that is apparently far removed from the moral

sphere (the further removed from morals the better) has its

direct and most important share in character training. She

even goes so far as to call it the basis of national strength. She

says, in the pamphlet of that name, ‘Thought, we know, breeds

thought. It is as vital thought touches our mind that our ideas

are vitalised, and out of our ideas comes our conduct of life.’

“Miss Mason goes every step of the way with the earnest

schoolmasters and schoolmistresses I have been referring to,

but she goes a step further, which alters the whole outlook.”

Mary Hardcastle, “Character Training”

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

BROAD

“Intelligence only plays its part fully when it fulfills a religious

function, that is, when it worships the supreme Truth in its

minor and scattered appearances …

“In reality there is inspiration everywhere; the breath of the

Spirit fills the valleys just as it blows upon the mountaintops. In

the meanest intelligence is a reflection of Infinite Wisdom, and

deep humility is able to recognize it.”

Sertillanges, The Intellectual Life

THE POWER OF BEAUTY

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

BROAD

“Beauty pulls us up short, but in so doing it reminds us of our

final destiny, it sets us back on our path, fills us with new hope,

gives us the courage to live to the full the unique gift of life.

“The way of beauty leads us, then, to grasp the Whole in the

fragment, the Infinite in the finite, God in the history of

humanity … In all that awakens within us the pure and

authentic sentiment of beauty, there, truly, is the presence of

God.

“... Art means: revealing God in everything that exists.”

Pope Benedict

THE POWER OF BEAUTY

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

BROAD

“Music has been described as the language of the emotions. It represents

no definite material thing or physical condition … It is the expression of

thought or emotion unconnected with space sensations. Like thought and

emotion it appears to require time for its expression, but it is nevertheless

in a sense independent of time, inasmuch as any given musical thought is

the same to-morrow as it is to-day, or as it was a century ago. None of us

can claim such a superiority to time. We feel that in the case of music we

are dealing with something on the very highest plane of human faculty,

something which is independent of our material environment and of our

purely physical selves. Through it, in a mysterious way, we get close to the

very soul and inner stream of life. We must all have some means of

expressing ourselves. But the noblest expression invariably has something

of music in it.

THE POWER OF BEAUTY

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

BROAD

“The poet uses rhythm to make the stubborn words flow, with the painter

harmony is essential, with the sculptor a beauty of line which suggests well-

balanced melody, while the engineer or architect uses order, balance,

repetition and design (all musical qualities). But in music itself, all these

things—-rhythm, melody, harmony, design and balance—are the essentials.

And precisely for this reason do we feel that music is a more intimate and

real expression of thought and emotion than is any other form of artistic

representation ... [Music] is there to regulate and control and harmonize

what is crude and unbalanced. It is there to inspire with enthusiasm what is

half-hearted and flat, to ennoble what is vulgar and commonplace. And

none of this directly, but obscurely and mysteriously, beneath the surface of

things, does the leavening influence of music surely accomplish most its

perfect work. In these subjective effects lies the real value ...There is

scarcely any moral quality which cannot be inspired and strengthened by

good music—courage, simplicity, honour, patriotism.”

Gore, “Place of Music in Education”

THE POWER OF BEAUTY

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

BROAD

“And what will this nature study do for the child? In the first place it

provides valuable sense training, it opens those gateways of knowledge and

quickens all the powers of the child, so that by making him alert, bright, and

receptive, it enables him to get the real good of the world about him and to

become a ‘lord of creation’ in a true sense. The reasoning powers may be

exercised about the sense material so provided, and very good results on

the moral character may be looked for. Nature study is peculiarly valuable

in encouraging love of accuracy and truth, patience and self reliance.

Last but not least, nature study is pre-eminent amongst all school subjects

in increasing the child's happiness ... nature study is the great subject which

will give the child reverence for life in all its varied forms.”

Hart, “Nature Study; and How to Encourage It in Children”

THE POWER OF BEAUTY

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

BROAD

“They know what it is to breathe the freshness of the morning, to feel the

loneliness and peace of quiet places, where the parsley fern is growing,

where the streamlet trickles over butterwort and sundew, they know what

it is to find the world so beautiful that the heart leaps and is glad. It is in

these silent places that they come face to face with God, and register high

resolves which form the keynote of their lives. It is not only that they are

learning botany or natural history, though these studies can immeasurably

increase their joy, but they are also acquiring a priceless treasure which can

never be taken from them; which will fill their hearts with praise. I have

noticed reverently, that those of my friends who seem always young, no

matter the date of their birth, are those who have never lost this happy

intimacy with nature, they still "believe in love, believe in loveliness, believe

in belief”…

Parish, “Imagination as a Powerful Factor in a Well-Balanced Mind”

THE POWER OF BEAUTY

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

BROAD

“The child is only truly educated who can use his hands as

truly as his head, for to neglect one part of our being injures

the whole, and the learned book-worm who is ignorant of the

uses of a screwdriver, also lacks that readiness and

resourcefulness, mental neatness and capability, and reverence

for labour and its results, which a knowledge of practical

matter gives.”

Pennethorne, L’Umile Pianta

THE POWER OF MANUAL TRAINING

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

BROAD

“Those of you who teach will know the expectant and pleased air of the

child who comes to fetch a lump of clay. He knows that he is going to

model an apple and he already sees in the clay the wonder of beauty which

will be the result of his work. He is, at first, surprised that his efforts at

modelling produce so strange a result, that when he would press he

squeezes, that when he would make a dimple, he makes a hole. Gradually

he comes to know that, first of all, he must think what he is going to do,

and that after long thinking only may he venture to act. By imagination, he

must see the goal towards which he is working, with his brain he must so

control his hands and arms, and that they will fashion for him the thing he

has in mind. When he experiences this sense of mastery over material, he

has taken the first great step towards independence, and he has the

comforting sense that what he does will not be touched, that bad or good,

it will stand as his work.”

Parish, “The Imagination as a Powerful Force in a Well-Balanced Mind”

THE POWER OF MANUAL TRAINING

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

BROAD

“worthy thoughts, well put; inspiring tales, well told ... the fit

and beautiful expression of inspiring ideas and pictures of life.”

Volume 2, p. 263

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

LIVING

“The child comes into the world with a moral faculty, a

delicate organ whereby he discerns the flavour of good and

evil, and at the same time has a perception of delight in the

good––in himself or others,––of loathing and abhorrence of

the evil. But, poor little child, he is like a navigator who does

not know how to box his compass. He is born to love the

good, and to hate the evil, but he has no real knowledge of

what is good and what is evil; what intuitions he has, he puts

no faith in, but yields himself in simplicity to the steering of

others. The wonder that Almighty God can endure so far to

leave the very making of an immortal being in the hands of

human parents is only matched by the wonder that human

parents can accept this divine trust with hardly a thought of its

significance.”

Volume 1, p. 133

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

LIVING

“The Gospels are full of studies of character training. The story of the

Samaritan woman, for instance, illustrates our Lord's method of dealing

with the question of character. The woman is bad, but He looks at the

eager and intelligent mind behind her boldness. There is no word of ‘being

good’ or ‘being bad.’ He sets her mind to work on a new idea, gives her

knowledge. When her attention is arrested He calls forth a confession of

her sin and its consequences but does not dwell upon it, and then proceeds

to fill her mind with the most profound knowledge man can know. She

recognises ‘the Christ’ and immediately leaves her waterpot—a note of

return—and goes to spread the good news. We know no more of her, but

we do know that the act of recognition is faith, and we may believe that in

her case too,—’thy faith hath saved thee.’ Our Lord always taught those

who came to Him for whatever reason. He challenged the attention of

each one by an appeal to the mind. He then fed the mind and let it work. It

is to be noted that it was not sin that called forth His wrath but want of

under standing. Sin called forth His sorrow, the precious sense of shame

was an appeal He always sheltered, but if a man, if a body of men, would not

use the mind, would not perform the act of knowing and understanding but

blindly followed the tradition of the Elders—for such He kept ‘the Wrath of

the Lamb.’ St. Paul's comment is,—Be ye transfomed by the renewing of

your mind.”

MATERIALS

THAT ARE

LIVING

METHODS

THAT

BUILD

CHARACTER

“We absolutely must disabuse our minds of the theory that

the functions of education are, in the main, gymnastic.

In the early years of the child's life it makes perhaps, little

apparent difference whether his parents start with the notion

that to educate is to fill a receptacle, inscribe a tablet, mould

plastic matter, or, nourish a life; but in the end we shall find that

only those ideas which have fed his life are taken into the being

of the child; all else is thrown away, or worse, is an

impediment and an injury to the vital processes.”

Kitching, In Memoriam

We pace our materials for reflection and balance.

METHODS

THAT

BUILD

CHARACTER

We allow the student to be the active learner.

METHODS

THAT

BUILD

CHARACTER“We need not labour to get children to learn their lessons;

that, if we would believe it, is a matter which nature takes care

of. Let the lessons be of the right sort and children will learn

them with delight. The call for strenuousness comes with the

necessity of forming habits; but here again we are relieved.

The intellectual habits of the good life form themselves in the

following out of the due curriculum in the right way. As we

have already urged, there is but one right way, that is, children

must do the work for themselves.”Volume 6, p. 99

We allow the student to be the active learner.

METHODS

THAT

BUILD

CHARACTER

“Take a simple fact in natural history, say, ‘The grass of Parnassus is fertilised

by flies, not bees.’ There is nothing formative in such a statement, but

suppose a boy is set to find out by which it is likely to be fertilised, is set to

find out first what coloured flowers are most affected by bees, he finds that

when many coloured flowers are present, the bees go to the blue or red in

preference to the yellow, leaving the latter to the flies; then he looks at

white flowers and thinks at first that they are visited by both, but on

looking further sees that the bees go to the scented white flowers and

leave the unscented to the flies; he will come to the conclusion that being

an unscented white flower, the grass of Parnassus will be fertilised by flies;

and when he finds on coming to a swamp where the flower blooms, that

every blossom has a little black fly in it, the very word ‘grass of Parnassus’

will have a deep meaning to him all his life. “The fact could have been

obtained from a book in half a minute, but it would have had no influence in

forming the boy's character; whereas, learned by his own observation, it has

given him the delight of discovery and filled him with the desire for further

conquests.”

Nesbitt, Education Versus Instruction

We encourage the delight of discovery.

METHODS

THAT

BUILD

CHARACTER

“In the very early days of my work, I had to deal with

a thoughtful, rather precocious child. Some small but

persistent discourtesies and obstinacies worried me. My mild

remonstrances had no effect and in my zeal, I thought I'd try

one of the methods by which I had been brought to heart

searching and repentance, when I was small. I tried to press

my point with the help of Bible lessons. The result was

unexpected to me then. After several trials which I hoped

would prove as effective as they were unpleasant to myself, the

girl asked me after an absurdly dignified little apology, ‘Didn't I

think the Bible lessons were getting very personal?’ It gave me

rather a shock, but I had just enough sense of humour to own

she was right, and really it was a relief after all.”

Nesbitt, “Education Versus Instruction”


METHODS

THAT

BUILD

CHARACTER

“ … pleasant talks upon the general principles of conduct,

and wise 'letting alone' as to the practice of these principles.”

Volume 3, p. 43


METHODS

THAT

BUILD

CHARACTER

“From the time a child is able to parse an English sentence till he

can read Thucydides, his instruction is entirely critical and analytic.

Does he read ‘The Tempest,’ the entrancing whole is not allowed to

sink into, and become a part of him, because he is vexed about the

'vexed Bermoothes' and the like. His attention is occupied with

linguistic criticism, not especially useful, and, from one point of view,

harmful to him because it is distracting. It is as though one listened

to ‘Lycidas,’ beautifully read, subject to the impertinence of continual

interruptions in the way of question and explanation. We miss the

general principle that critical studies are out of place until the mind

is so ‘thoroughly furnished' with ideas that, of its own accord, it

compares and examines critically ...

We aim at relationship.

METHODS

THAT

BUILD

CHARACTER

“…knowledge is the result of a slow, involuntary process, impossible

to a mind in the critical attitude. Let us who teach spend time in the

endeavour to lay proper and abundant nutriment before the young,

rather than in leading them to criticise and examine every morsel of

knowledge that comes their way. Who could live if every mouthful

of bodily food were held up on a fork for critical examination before

it be eaten?”

Volume 5, pp. 234-235


METHODS

THAT

BUILD

CHARACTER

“Since the Nazi atrocities of this century and the horror of

hearing Mozart at Auschwitz, many have ridiculed Cicero's

belief in the moral efficacy of teaching the humane letters, but

few have stopped to consider how that generations of

Germans learned their letters. Indeed their gymnasiums ...

were the forerunners of our own highly analytical and

utilitarian academies.”David Hicks, Norms and Nobility


METHODS

THAT

BUILD

CHARACTER

“It is no small part of education to have seen much beauty,

to recognize it when we see it, and to keep ourselves

humble in its presence.”

Volume 6, p. 56


“Miss Mason did not mean quite the same as does the man in the street when she

spoke of knowledge. In the ‘Basis of National Strength’ she gives us a most illuminating

definition of knowledge. She says ‘it is a state out of which persons may pass and into

which they may return, but never a store upon which they may draw.’ To her

knowledge was so bound up with ‘living’ that the two were inseparable.

Again, in the same pamphlet, Miss Mason gives us a negative definition of knowledge.

‘It is not’ she says, ‘instruction, information, scholarship or a well-stored memory.’ ... So

we see that knowledge to Miss Mason was a tremendous thing—; indeed not a thing

at all but a state, just as friendship is a state. It is a condition of happy friendship with

God, with man and with nature, in which one's mind will grow and expand and

blossom as happily as a plant in its native clime; the mind being in direct contact with

other minds as a plant is surrounded by air; thus the mind drinks in from the Divine,

from fellow men and from nature all that is needed for its complete sustenance.”

Wix, “Miss Mason’s Ideal: Its Breadth and Balance”

CHARACTER THROUGH CURRICULUM

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