Source - Character Lab When you walk into the Character Lab office, the very first thing you’ll see are the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Intelligence plus character—that is the true goal of education.” The quote comes from an essay King published in the Morehouse College campus newspaper around his 18th birthday. King opens his argument with an observation: “I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education.” A common mistake, he sa

Article Source In classrooms around America, hands go up every day with the question, “Is this for a grade?” But perhaps a more pressing question would be "what is a grade for?" Today, the grades on a child's report card reflect not only a grasp of academic subjects, but also a variety of other factors such as attendance and behavior. Do traditional grading systems tell us what we really want to know about a child's learning? What’s wrong with traditional grading? A lot, acco

Illustration by Lucy Davey Article From the October 2017 issue of Live Happy magazine. Victor Palomares uses humor and hard-earned lessons to empower the next generation. “Because of you, I am alive.” Victor Palomares has heard this sentence more than once. As a motivational speaker for teens, a teacher and anti-bullying coach in Los Angeles, inspiring youth has become his personal mission. Kids call him “Mr. P.” He was only in kindergarten when he found out his father passed

Source When my Dad was growing up he had one jumper each winter. One. Total. He remembers how vigilantly he cared for his jumper. If the elbows got holes in them my Grandma patched them back together. If he lost his jumper he’d recount his steps to find it again. He guarded it like the precious gift it was. He had everything he needed and not a lot more. The only rule was to be home by dinner time. My Grandma rarely knew exactly where her kids were. They were off building for

Source of this article. The gap between the skills people learn and the skills people need is becoming more obvious, as traditional learning falls short of equipping students with the knowledge they need to thrive, according to the World Economic Forum report New Vision for Education: Fostering Social and Emotional Learning Through Technology. Today's job candidates must be able to collaborate, communicate and solve problems – skills developed mainly through social and emotio

Source In the most profound way, integral education is the sibling of integral medicine. Both are founded on a holistic conception of life. Integral education is guided by the insight that humans are born with a unique biological, social, and spiritual identity, that humans both unfold from the dynamic of that unique identity anddevelop through an ongoing interaction between nature and nurture. So integral education begins with the root meaning of the latter word—educere, to

Source If we want our students to become happy adults, research suggests that schools should focus more on students' well-being than academic success. Student success today is defined by getting a job. The Common Core State Standards aim to make students career-ready—and the U.S. Department of Education’s mission is to prepare students for global competitiveness. But does that brand of success lead to happiness? Several studies have found that childhood emotional health and k

What is the purpose of recreation? Should enrichment activities be optional or do we require them? A common goal for both education and recreation is to enhance the lives of people of all ages. Through recreation individuals can find the motivation to lead a productive life. Enrichment activities can help students generate patterns for creative proficiency, build good character, initiate an engaged mode for learning, and find purpose in life. How do enrichment activities gene

(From the Discovering the Real Me Teacher's Manual) A museum exhibit in London displays piles of salt, potassium, carbon, etc., alongside a container of water. Underneath, there is a caption that reads, “THIS IS A HUMAN BEING.” Yes, materially speaking, these are the components of a human being. Yet most people would argue that there is something more to being human. The human mind aspires to truth, beauty, goodness, virtue, and love. Finding or realizing these things gives

There are three basic goals of life and education that systems of education need to be aware of and address if they are to educate responsibly. Bearing these goals in mind shapes education to fulfill its deepest purpose: to produce well-rounded, capable, and benevolent people who are a boon to society and to themselves. Developing a mature heart and character is the first basic goal of life and of education. Yet it is not an end in itself. Ultimately the goal of developing he

(From the Discovering the Real Me Teacher's Manual) When we say that someone has a good character, we are saying the person has a good heart, because the heart is at the core of human character. The deepest motivation for all moral striving arises from the heart. In particular, the heart is the source of the fundamental impulse for relatedness. It is what motivates a person to yearn for the joy of loving and being loved, the satisfaction of valuing and being valued. Love and