2001 Volunteer Leader Training Guide
Pillars of Character – Trustworthiness

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Introduction

People with good character are people we can trust. Trust is not automatic. Earning trust takes time; losing trust can happen quickly. Honesty, promise keeping, loyalty and integrity are four elements that are key to building trustworthiness.

Honesty means saying things that are true. Tell the truth.

• Be sincere. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

• If you find something that doesn’t belong to you, return it.

• Don’t deceive, cheat or steal or be sneaky, tricky or deceptive.

Promise keeping is doing what you say you will do. Only make promises that you can keep and that you fully plan to keep. It means you:

• Keep your word.

• Are reliable. Do what you are supposed to do.

• Return what you borrow.

• Be on time.

Loyalty is protecting and promoting the interests of people who are important to you. It means that you:

• Keep private information private.

• Do not gossip.

• Help prevent a friend from doing something that is harmful to him or her.

• Don’t ask a friend to do something wrong to keep your friendship.

Integrity means being what you say you are. It is:

• Standing up for what you believe.

• Living by your principles no matter what others say.

• Having the courage to do what is right even when it is hard or costly.

(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 trustworthiness 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

Discussion Questions

• How did it feel to be the rower blindfolded and walking backwards?

• Which commands were easiest to understand? Which were hardest?

• Did the rowers trust the dock workers?

• Did the "rocks" want the rowers to make it?

• Which rowers went furthest? What accounts for this?

• Can you think of a situation where you misunderstood the instructions given or were given poor instructions? How did it make you feel about the person who gave the instructions?

• What qualities make a person trustworthy?

• What can you do to make it easier for others to trust you?

(Adapted from Cowstails and Cobras by Beverly Hines, 4-H Specialist/Section Leader - 4-H Program.)

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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