Be the Change

LESSON 3. Be the Change is part of the Character Education Program for my daughter's Grade 8 class.

Lesson 1 was on Goal Setting and Lesson 2 was on Vision Boards.

We spoke further about their Vision Boards and how they had all displayed a common theme of wanting to see an improved world without war and poverty.

Then we brought it a little closer to home and I asked what they would like to change in their country. We had an open discussion about it.

Then we talked about what they would like to see changed in their own school. They became very animated; almost every hand was raised. Most of them felt a great need to vent about how they were treated unfairly by some of the school’s teachers and staff.

They gave numerous examples. I asked them to break it down to behavior: “What was it about the teacher’s behavior that you didn’t like?” Here is what they said:

I asked them to raise their hands if they have ever been disrespectful. Everyone slowly raised his or her hand. Then one of the boys yelled out, “Karen – you have to put your hand up too!” I said, “Of course I do,” and raised my hand.

I asked them if they were ever critical. They slowly raised their hands . . . and so on. I asked for examples and they gave some. Most of their examples were not being so nice to siblings and talking back to parents in a disrespectful way.

I asked them to talk about what happens in the classroom. They gave examples of how there is a lot of drama, especially with the girls. They can be mean to each other. They fight a lot.

I asked if any of them knew of Gandhi. Many had heard of him, but didn’t know any details. I told them Gandhi had once said some very powerful words that are used a lot today.

“Be the change that you want to see in the world”.

I asked them if they could explain to me what it means. One of the children did, and they all seemed to understand. I said I would like to start a “Be the Change Program” in the classroom and that it would hopefully blossom to the rest of the school. I explained that there are many “Be the Change” Programs around the world.

To start off, they would need to develop a list of Peace Principles – a set of principles they can use in their everyday life.

We talked about how it is easy to blame others for the wars in the world. We may feel like we can’t do anything about it, but we can, and the change starts with ourselves. If we can’t control the wars in our minds, in our own families, and in classrooms, then how can we blame anyone else for their war? The children seemed to understand.

The principles they have come up with so far are:

I asked each student to choose a principle they would like to practice for that day. We went around the room and each person chose. I suggested that if they notice someone is not using these principles, it is okay to bring it to that person’s attention, but not to attack them verbally. I expressed the importance of using correct, non-combative language.

I also shared with them Gandhi’s quote: “Hate the deed, not the doer”. But I changed the wording to “dislike the deed not the doer,” since I think hate seems too negative.

Later, I heard that the students had fun using their principles to help others, be joyful, and kindly point out to others when they weren’t using them.

The next class I brought in the Gandhi movie for them to watch. Most of the class really enjoyed it and I believe learned from it. All in all a very successful lesson!

My daughter no longer goes to that school, so I am no longer teaching Character Education to her class. It remains a passion of mine and I am sure I will be making other posts with new and relevant information in the future. Thank you.

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