2001 Volunteer Leader Training Guide
Pillars of Character – Respect

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Introduction

People of good character are respectful of others. People of good character show respect by recognizing and honoring everyone’s right to be themselves, to make decisions and to have privacy and dignity.

Everyone wants to be treated with respect. People have become a little careless with respect. We do not always treat others like we want to be treated. Ethical people accept individual differences without prejudice. Respect is given because you are a person of good character.

Use these guides to strengthen character:

• Treat others the way you want to be treated.

• Be courteous and polite.

• Don’t use put-downs, insults, yelling or ridicule to embarrass or hurt others.

• Accept individual differences and don’t insist that everyone be like you.

• Judge people on their character, abilities and conduct without regard to race, religion, gender, where they live, how they dress or the amount of money they have.

• Resolve disagreements, respond to insults and deal with anger peacefully and without violence.

(Adapted from Show-Me Character, University of Missouri, and CHARACTER COUNTS! – The Six Pillars of Character, Josephson Institute of Ethics.)

Target Audience

This guide provides 4-H leaders, EHC leaders and teens with information and an activity to teach lessons on character to youth 9 to 12 years old.

Objective

Participants will reinforce concepts of respect by participating in an experiential process of learning.

Teaching Recommendation

Experiential learning takes place when a person is involved in an activity, looks back at it critically, determines what was useful or important to remember and uses this information to perform another activity. In the past few years, research in the area of experiential learning has strengthened this approach by adding several key processing steps beyond simply doing the activity or experience. These steps include:

• having the participant(s) experience the activity – perform or do it;

• having the participant(s) share the experience by describing what happened;

• asking participant(s) to process the experience to identify common themes;

• having participant(s) generalize from the experience to form principles or guidelines that can be used in real-life situations, e.g., life skills;

• asking participant(s) to apply what was learned to another situation.

Providing an experience alone does not create "experiential learning." The activity comes first. The learning comes from the thoughts and ideas as a result of the experience. This is a "learn by doing" or experiential process (Do– Reflect–Apply). Addressing each step in the process assures a purposeful plan to obtain a specific goal.

Activity

Almost any combination of tubes, tape, clamps, string, construction paper, cardboard, staples and other household or shop supplies can be used. Commercially available construction sets can be reused, but the spaghetti, straws and tubes are generally used only once. Containers can include cups, plastic bags, food containers and tin cans.

Wind can be a factor when attempting this activity outdoors. Make sure to have garbage cans ready if using disposable items to make the towers. Groups of about 4 participants are best for this activity. Consider having the group look at all the designs, and then rebuild their towers using the best technology from each of the designs.

Discussion Questions/Processing

As you work together, it is important to listen, support and respect everyone for his contribution to the group.

• Did your group have a specific design in mind or were several ideas discussed or tried before making a final decision?

• Were your teammates courteous and polite as you worked together?

• Could your group’s tower have been higher if it didn’t need to support weight?

• Which piece in the tower was most important?

• Were you able to accept individual differences among your group? Why or why not?

• What did you learn about the abilities, character and conduct of the individuals who participated in your group?

• Were you able to resolve disagreements that arose during the activity? How?

• Were put-downs, insults or ridicule used to embarrass or hurt others during the activities?

• What was easy about showing respect to others in this activity? What was difficult to do?

• What will you do differently this week to show respect to others?

(Adapted from Teamwork and Teamplay, Jim Cain and Barry Jolliff, by Mike Klumpp, Youth Development Specialist.)

Additional Resources

• "Exercising Character" curriculum available through the county Extension office has activity-based lesson plans to help teens and other teachers work with kids on issues of developing and strengthening personal character.
   

• "Building Assets Together: 135 Group Activities for Helping Youth Succeed" is a collection of group activities and worksheets that help young people explore assets that strengthen their lives, sources of support and areas for growth. Available through the county Extension office or from the Search Institute (800-888-7828).
   

• Character Education Websites:

Character Counts!

Character Education/Utah State Office of Education

Beverly Hines, 4-H Specialist/Section Leader - 4-H Program, and
Mike Klumpp, Youth Development Specialist

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