Class of '24 service project at MedWish.

The Meaning of Good Character

By CHARLES DEBELAK
Founder-in-Residence

This is the first of Mr. Debelak's Character Education series. This academic year, through essays and videos, Mr. Debelak will discuss Birchwood School of Hawken’s character education program, explaining what we mean by good character, why we place importance on character education, and how we carry out an effective program that gets results. A companion video explaining the series is linked below. 

You don’t need to spend much time at Birchwood before you realize the importance we place on nurturing good character. Our character education program has been carefully designed and we judge its value by the impact it has upon our students. This program identifies particular instructional and training features which make it effective grade by grade, year after year.

To my knowledge, our approach to character education and the results we achieve might be unique among elementary and middle schools in Northeast Ohio.

Let’s begin by defining what we mean by the term “good character.” 

We understand that everyone has character. Some good, some poor. Character is the collection of our good and bad habits; it’s the behaviors and attitudes which we have reinforced through practice over the course of our lives. One’s character becomes the way a person spontaneously views and responds to the world. It is also the way in which he or she interacts with the world.
But we want to talk about “good character.”

For us, good character is a collection of virtuous habits that encourage and empower growing, thriving, and flourishing. Someone of good character seeks opportunities to become a better person or a more accomplished person. He aspires to develop his innate talents and abilities. He faces challenges in life and finds ways to navigate solutions. Most importantly, someone of good character confronts hardship, disappointment, and failure by expressing resilience and hope. 

In addition, good character describes a person who is growing in his or her ability to serve and benefit other people. He makes his world a better place – whether for his family, friends, teams, or community. He becomes a better son, a supportive brother, a reliable friend, a responsible student, or a trustworthy teammate. 

In sum, a person of good character directs his life in a positive direction. He has goals in life. He forges purpose in small and great matters. His life is meaningful as he reaches toward higher and higher planes. He strives to be a better student, a better baseball player, a better pianist, a better friend, a better son or brother. 

He has learned not to let challenging circumstances stifle his growth. While he faces worries, fears, anxieties, and pressures, he has developed attitudes and habits that do not allow these difficulties to overwhelm and defeat him. 

Having good character is not an attainment. It does not describe a static endpoint like becoming a carpenter or a doctor or a scholar. Good character is directly related to growth. Consequently, at any given time, a person of good character is striving toward goals, occasionally reaching those goals and occasionally not. When he reaches his goals, he enjoys the fruits of his efforts. But soon after, he resumes his quest to reach higher. His life is dynamic. He harbors and nurtures hope. 

Please remember, this description of good character is aspirational. Children will be children. At times they will be troublemakers. They will behave in ways that make you wonder if they’ve ever heard anything about good character. This holds true even for children who are in an excellent character education program! They will never completely shed their bad habits and attitudes. 

For this reason, teachers and adults need to be reminded that a good character education program is not about creating good boys and girls (although this is a desirable byproduct). Rather, it is about planting good seeds in young hearts. These are seeds of human beauty and  integrity. These seeds will not blossom immediately. It takes time and circumstances. But they will blossom – little by little, year after year. 

View the companion video: "2024-25 Character Series – What is it?"

Charles Debelak is Founder-in-Residence, along with his wife, Helene. Together, the Debelaks founded Birchwood in 1984. Mr. Debelak’s writing provides parents with information about sound educational principles and child development issues gleaned from history, contemporary research, and his 50+ years of educating, coaching, and counseling children, young adults, and parents. This article appeared in the Sepember 2024 edition of the school's monthly newsletter, "The Clipboard." 
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