Recognizing External Factors

• People in today's society hold competing ethical views and can chose what moral views they choose to hold. Schools are recognizing that families and religious institutions need help in teaching moral and ethical skills to students. Educators can partner with parents and other stakeholders to establish moral authority against the competing negative influences of peers and mass media who may lead students in troubling directions.
  
  

Using Role Models For Moral Behavior

• Educators can encourage students to adopt habits of moral behavior such as self-control and honesty by presenting effective role models from real life and fictional heroes. Role models teach students how to deal with everyday situations that challenge moral behavior, such peer pressure, emotionally intense situations, times when honesty works against personal or academic self-interest or self-destructive patterns of substance abuse or delinquent behavior. Models show practical ways to develop anger control, social skills, and the ability to resolve conflict and avoid trouble.
  
  

Developing Connections With Students

• Students require daily, individual connections with educators such as daily dialogue, constant reinforcement of good behaviors and the discouragement and reduction of undesirable behaviors to develop moral character.
  
  

Creating an Ethical Educational Environment

• Character education requires a school culture where administrators, teachers, students and other related stakeholders all strive to be the most moral and ethical people they can be. Teachers are usually enthusiastic about character education, but feel overwhelmed by administrative tasks and a crammed curriculum. Schools can start a discussion to define the core virtues of the school and set up a code of conduct. Ethics training can help everyone to learn to reflect before acting, cope with challenging situations and cooperate with others. A school can chose to set up a special ethics class that addresses issues in a specific course of study and use related videos and materials as teaching tools.
  
  

Case Studies

• Case studies from real world can teach morals. For example, an unethical decision by a business and the negative consequences imposed by the government or the law can be presented for discussion. Positive examples of ethical choices can also be presented. The class can explore the motivation behind decisions, the reasons for the choices made and the impact on the people involved. Students can role play case studies in order to see the situation from different perspectives.