by Joseph Wardy

Created on: November 24, 2010   Last Updated: November 25, 2010

The missing ingredient in education can be summarized through the following quote: " Watch you thoughts, they become your words". Watch your words they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny".

Accomplishment is the chief ingredient in education. Accomplishment is measured by how well students perform on standardized tests. These tests examine the verbal and mathematical aptitude of students. This is the much needed ingredient of the 3 R's. 

However, the missing ingredient in education is expressed in the quote identifying character as the creator of our destiny. The contradiction begins in our value structure. Example: Accomplishment to succeed academically sabotages character as research indicates that 80 percent of high school students cheat. Result: we have kids who may be book smart at the expense of being life smart.

Put another way, let us examine destiny. Our gravestone will state the year of birth, a dash,  and the year of death. Our destiny is created by the dash. Will the meaning of our lives be determined by our accomplishments or our character?

Concentrating on accomplishment alone is a win/lose situation. When goals are not met, we are unsuccessful. Balancing character with accomplishment is a win/win strategy. If we do not win by tangible success, we win by the execution of integrity.

In addition, accomplishment is not fully under our control. At times, we can be the hardest worker in our company but be downsized if our division is no longer considered an asset. In addition, accomplishment can also be undermined by politics and nepotism. The idea that life is fair is an illusion. On the other hand, character is always a choice and under our total control as it is based by our behavior and decisions. The wealthiest and most powerful people in the world cannot  steal our character.

Academic accomplishment and character intelligence are sometimes not synonymous.Some academically brilliant students are emotionally bankrupt. Case in point: Tyler Clementi of Rutgers University in New Jersey committed suicide in September 2010. Mr.Clementi was videotaped engaging in a same sex act. The act was shown on the Internet. Mr.Clementi was apparently  distraught and committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge.,

One of the two students who taped Clementi was a young man who also attended Rutgers University.  This young man is an example of a student academically brilliant but emotionally bankrupt student. He is academically brilliant as he compiled  almost perfect SAT scores. At best, the young man displayed poor judgment and lack of sensitivity. With character education, these are two of the many components examined. In creative teaching, the components of character can be discussed within every academic discipline! 

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