Keeping the Student at the Focus – Character Education in a Multicultural Context

Abstract

This paper will explore the effects of social interaction in a multicultural society on the formation of character and a values system in children. It will discuss how the school community can create a culture that supports every individual to explore one’s values hierarchy while helping students to develop their character and flourish. It will argue that schools can help to foster a culture of inclusion where all can feel safe, valued and enabled to bloom. Schools that are firmly committed to developing the whole child give importance to character education. Character education is a systematic approach that helps students improve their moral judgment and thinking. It helps students to acquire basic human values. Character education becomes even more important in a multicultural context; it provides the essential tools that help one to be inclusive and integrate different beliefs. Humans are social beings and interact with others; this interaction helps individuals to change their attitudes to integrate within the group. The family, peers and schools provide groups of interactions that influence the children’s character formation. They can provide groups of belonging where one can feel safe and widen one’s belief system. The sense of trust created within groups of belonging provides a positive experience where one can examine one’s beliefs and develop them. The role of the media and virtual groups should not be underestimated; in today’s culture, they play an important role in values and character development.