Describing Friend’s Character And Character Formation in Schools

I have a friend, his name is Dima

I know him about five years. He amazed me by his intelligence and brainy. He knows the answer on any question. Even if he doesn’t know the correct answer, he’ll find the way to explain it. I appreciate his optimism and indifference at the same time. When something bad has happened, he is always determined. He says that next time he would be more sense and had learned a lot from that situation.

And next day he behaves as if nothing has happened. Moreover he looks indifferently at some situations that help him not to work up. Dima has got a unique humor; I can’t stop smiling when he begins joking. He is unconventional. He looks differently at the world. I can’t even imagine what is going on in his head. Also Dima is broad-minded, he is keen on travelling.

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He visits different places four times a year, moreover he adore snowboarding, that’s why the main part of his trips includes mountains. Dima is easy-going, he can easily find common ground. Nevertheless each person has negative sides of his character. Sometimes Dima is brusque and impolite. His straightforwardness spurns people. If he doesn’t gain person, he will deal shortly with him. I don’t think that it’s bad behavior, but sometimes it goes over the line.

However he is frank and open-hearted. He enjoys having heart-to-heart talk with family and friends. In spite of his imperturbability he is vulnerable deep in his mind. But he won’t show it, because he thinks that it points out man’s weakness. In conclusion I would like to add that I’m proud that I have such friend. Dima is goal-seeking and ambitious. He knows what he wants and secures his object in any case.

My Most Unforgettable Character

He is a tall, thin man with a hunched back. His dark, suntanned face with its countless wrinkles and creases, reminds you of a prune. He has sunken cheeks and you will know why when he gives you a broad smile-only one golden tooth is left on his upper gum. He looks around ninety years old. But when you ask him how old he is, he will shake his head and say he was born on the day the Japanese invaded Malaya. It is left to your historical knowledge to count the number of years he has been around. I first met him when I was collecting seashells along the seashore.

My parents had always wanted a house by the sea and their dream came true when they inherited some money from a rich uncle. I was walking along the seashore when I saw this old man. He was stooping and picking up something and throwing it into sea. When I drew near, I saw that he was throwing the bright starfish that were washed up along the shore by the high tide. I told him that he was being silly as he could not possibly save all the starfish, as there were countless ones gasping for breath along the seashore.

He told me that although he could not change the destiny of all the starfish, he could surely save some, and that made a difference. He said that we were born on this earth to make a difference. It was up to us to choose whether we wanted to or not to contribute towards a better world. From that day on, I became his shadow. I would meet him in the morning and help him throw as many starfish as I could into the sea. It was only when I was much older that I understood the joy of throwing those sea creatures back into the sea. It has been five years since I met Embon Mat. We have become inseparable.

I have learnt to appreciate the man with a heart of gold, who leads a simple and humble life. When I approach him in an angry mood he will be quiet until I pour out all my troubles to him. Then, he will advise me. My acquaintance with him has changed my perspective towards life. He has taught me that honesty, diligence and determination are important for success. He tells me not to let success go to my head. “A courteous, generous, kind and caring nature will attract true friends to us,” he tells me. “Always speak the truth,” he advises if I ever complained that I was treated unfairly by someone.

He is my mentor, my patient listener and my counselor. He gives his advice freely and does not hesitate to scold me when I am in the wrong. Now that I am working in a busy cosmopolitan city, I look forward to the opportunity to drive down to my seaside haven to be with my mentor. I will recognize him from afar-the hunched figure stooping low to pick another starfish and throw it back into the sea. He will not turn to look at me for he knows that I will soon join him in changing the destiny of some starfish. I am truly blessed to have known him.

The Inevitable Role of Character Formation in Schools

Man is a moral being. Historically, the mission of schools has been to develop in the young both intellectual and the moral virtues. Concerns for the moral virtues, such as honesty, responsibility, and the respect for others, are the domain of moral education. T. Okere maintained that “without Moral Education in our school curriculum, our future generations will continue to be systematically malformed, half-educated, mentally misshapen and spiritually dwarfed”. Then, Holmes (1929) posited that ‘the way to change our society is to foster the growth of child’s soul. Man is a composite being (body & soul). If we pay more attention to one invariably the other will suffer. There is need for harmony to exist between the duo. Your character is the real you. Character is the complex of mental and ethical traits making a person or is said to be the stable and distinctive qualities built into an individual’s life which determine his or her response regardless of circumstances. Everyone has character; it transcends race, religion, education, position, age, gender and personality. No wonder, Abraham Lincoln said: ‘reputation is the shadow.

Character is not just what we try to display for others to see, it is who we are even when no one is watching. ’ Good character is doing the right thing because it is right to do what is right. So, in order to make character, there is need for the formation of character. Character formation refers to helping children to acquire those virtues or moral habits that will help them individually live good lives and at the same time become productive, contributing members of their communities. In this view, moral education should contribute not only to the students as individuals, but also to the social cohesion of a community.

The word Moral comes from Latin root (mos, moris) and means the code or customs of people, the social glue that defines how individual should live together Men of God are respected; men of power are feared, whereas men of character trusted. No wonder German motto reads thus: when wealth is lost nothing is lost, when health is lost something is lost, when character is lost all is lost. When I talk of men of character I mean people of integrity because it involves wholeness. It is being upright in all our dealings. All men are alike in their promises; it is only in their deeds that they differ says Mollier.

Man is like a raw material or rather a crude oil that needs purification in order to remove the impurities. Hence, the centrifugal configuration of our educational system should be character education. This is so because character is the highest, if not the sole purpose of education. Pupils’ behaviours are characterized by their way of trainings than by their talents or natural design. Character formation being the object of education deals with individual and the whole system of his thoughts, believes, habits, values and all those part of his personality which are reflected in his behavior.

Character formation as an object of education should be a continuous process till the death of the individual. Education taken in the most formal way should adopt such patterns as to link itself with the particular environment, needs and the age of the recipient. And as such primary, Secondary and Higher Education should have a separate scheme based on their reasoning. At Primary and Secondary level it concerns itself with the instruction of some basic universal values to the children while deeper issues till higher education.

There cannot be true education which is not wholly directed to man’s last end. It is good to think well and divine to act well says Horace Mann. Character development is the greatest, if not the sole, aim of education. Thus, not education but character is man’s greatest need. A simple character of mine is how treat a person who can do absolutely nothing for me. Character once built is not easily destroyed, because character is the person’s second nature (secunda natura).

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