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African Folktales Podcast
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African Folktales.egg on Aviary.
====Script:==
Script: Folktales are
Are you ready to hear an African Folktale? Lean back and relax. Close your eyes and picture yourself on an African savannah. You are sitting around a campfire ready for a story.
Chief’s Feast.
The chief sent out messengers to announce that he would give a feast and asked that each guest bring one jug of PawPaw juice. One man wanted to attend very badly, but he had no PawPaw juice to bring.
His wife suggested that he buy the PawPaw juice, but he said, "What?! Spend money so that I can attend a feast that is free?"
Each guest had thought that his ONE jug of water would not spoil a great pot of good PawPaw juice, but they were wrong.
Now open your eyes and think about what lesson was learned by the guests at the Chief’s Feast. Perhaps you have found out that playing silly tricks on someone may end by making you feel silly instead.
Nigeria website. ====
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African Folktales Podcast
African Folktales.egg on Aviary.
====Script: Folktales are stories that are often passed down by older people telling the story to their children. In Africa, these stories were told around a campfire after a hard day of work. Most folktales did not have happy endings, but they did have a moral or a lesson to be learned.
Are you ready to hear an African Folktale? Lean back and relax. Close your eyes and picture yourself on an African savannah. You are sitting around a campfire ready for a story.
This story is called, The Chief’s Feast.
The chief sent out messengers to announce that he would give a feast and asked that each guest bring one jug of PawPaw juice. One man wanted to attend very badly, but he had no PawPaw juice to bring.
His wife suggested that he buy the PawPaw juice, but he said, "What?! Spend money so that I can attend a feast that is free?"
He thought to himself, "If hundreds of people were to pour their PawPaw juice into the chief's pot, could just one jug of water spoil so much PawPaw juice?"
The day of the feast came. Everyone dressed in their finest clothes and went to the house of the chief. Each man, as he entered the chief's compound, poured the contents of his PawPaw juice into the chief's large earthen pot. The man also poured his water there and then greeted the chief.
The chief then ordered his servants to fill everyone's cup with PawPaw juice. The man was impatient, because his mouth watered for some sweet PawPaw juice. At the chief's signal, all the guests put their cups to their lips and were surprised that what they tasted was WATER.
Each guest had thought that his ONE jug of water would not spoil a great pot of good PawPaw juice, but they were wrong.
Now open your eyes and think about what lesson was learned by the guests at the Chief’s Feast. Perhaps you have found out that playing silly tricks on someone may end by making you feel silly instead.
I hope you enjoyed this African Folktale as it was interpreted by me from the Motherland Nigeria website. ====

Character Education
I think that any adult who works with children of any age needs to model and reinforce good behavior and decision making. I do not think that teaching and molding character is the job of the school. I think schools have taken on more and more responsibility for the "raising" of children and that that has been a mistake for both the schools and for families.

Character Education
I think there is a fine line here that needs to be respected. While many of these character traits that are desirable should be taught at home, in some cases they are simply not. I think things like "please", "thank you" and "excuse me" are important. It's an essential part of students ability to function in todays work force to be able to be polite, understand appropriate behavior etc. However, in teaching these behaviors, educators must be careful not to interfere to far, and start teaching morality. This should certainly be left at home. But basic human decency, teach away!

Character Education
I think it is a big responsibility to teach character in our classrooms. After all, we are role models for these students. In my setting, I'm one of the most consistent people in my students' lives. My students come from tough home lives. They are not getting the character lessons from a parent. At times, in my building, we focus more on character lessons that academics.

Character Education
I hate to say that schools and teachers are taking such a huge role in building the character of students that will help frame who they become later but it is obviously apparent in my school now. We hold monthly assemblies for the sole purpose of reviewing the character education word for that month and rewarding the students who displayed that trait.

As I was saying in another response, I know that I have had to take the role of emphasizing the character in several children in my current class because there is a lack parental guidence and support at home. They are left to do things for themselves and most of the times that leads them down a bad path.

I know that teaching and emphasizing character is not a part of our job description, but neither is half of the stuff teachers put into each and every lesson we teach.

Character Education
Unfortunately, I agree with Jenna on the fact that character education is not being taught at home in most cases. As an elementary teacher, I see the students more hours out of the waking day than their own parents. I spend one 45 minute block every 6 day cycle on character development because I find it helps in so many ways. Not only are students more attentive during academic time (because they aren't arguing, being bullies, or tattling!) but I also find my classes to be more enjoyable to work with. Third grade is a year of many changes and I hope that I instill in them some problem solving skills, compassion, and a more well rounded view (not so self absorbed). If people outside the educational world really new what our job encompassed we might be better respected!

Character Education
There are two main sides that teachers take in this debate: Some say that character education is the responsibility of the parents and schools should not be charged with doing it; others say that if parents refuse to teach character than schools have no choice and must fill the void. Before I give my two cents, I must make say that this is an extremely tough question to answer and more complex than meets the eye.

While I truly believe that it is one of the most important parental responsibilities to build character in their children, the reality is that this is not happening for an ever increasing number. I think the answer ultimately lies with educating parents on how to educate their children, rather than educating the children directly. However, I also believe that some sort of character education must be done at school also.

The reason that some character education needs to take place at school (although a majority of this should always happen at home) is that basic human psychology tells us that we need repetition and reinforcement to learn something. If adults inside of the school building and elsewhere in the community are enforcing the same basic values consistently, then the kids get the message. Many kids are rude simply because they get away with being that way. When all adults who have contact with a child can be relatively consistent with impressing upon him the same basic values, the child simply has no choice but to meet those expectations.

Now the real question is: How can we make this happen?

Character Education
I think it's incredibly important for students to learn these skills, however, I agree that the children's families should be a primary teacher of these skills. Reinforcing character education at school is extremely important for the kiddos, however, to truly make a difference it needs to come from both home and school.