Virtues In Action

The following letters demonstrate virtues in action!

ART OF SPIRITUAL COMPANIONING In special ed. class (Donna Wheatcroft, Virtues Project Master Facilitator, Calgary, Canada)

As I sub or relief teacher I was getting a lot of work in special ed. classes. Everyone was settIed and working, when a young man aged 14 or 15 walked in. He said he was late because he was taking his Ritalin for ADD. First, I checked with him that he had the time and it was OK to ask him a question, and that he could be assertive and decline if he wanted. Then I said in a very curious tone "What is it like to have ADD?" I let him talk – empty his cup, only responding to clarify by asking another "what or how" question, or paraphrasing to be sure I had "got it."

I followed his lead and found out how perceptive he was about his "condition" which gave me a better understanding of it. Then I asked him, "How have you learned to handle it?" When he was finished talking (about 17 minutes) I asked him how it was helpful for him to share about his ADD with me. He said that no one had ever asked him before. Choking back my tears I said "thank you for sharing with me, and I honour you for the trust you showed to tell your story." He then sat down quietly and got to work. What a sacred moment.(P.S. This is only one of many stories I can tell about using VP in the classroom)

Virtues Project in a Winnipeg School from Germaine Norberg:

I want to connect with you, to let you know how well the VP has gone over with my class in a Winnipeg High School. I teach 16 – 19 year olds with learning disabilities. I have not been in-serviced in the Project but I heard about it from my sister whose daughter went to the Maxwell School in Shawnigan Lake, BC. I bought the book, poster and cards.

Each day in class one of the students picks a card and reads about that virtue to the class. For typical teenagers, I find they are refreshingly respectful and genuinely interested in this aspect of themselves. It feels like a thirst is being quietly quenched. I photocopied the little certificates in the book on coloured paper so we could give them to each other. There is a place they can put them up on the bulletin board – or they can take them home. I found it interesting that they all chose to put them up for display. They sometimes invited friends from other classes in to proudly show them what they had received .These "cool kids" who are often labeled as negative and apathetic obviously Do care and want to be positive, but in this world they don't know how. The vocabulary of virtues is a valuable tool !

The Grade 12 graduating students had to put together a portfolio of their achievements and interests. My students haven't "shined" academically or otherwise so didn't have much to add. But they were very proud to add the virtues certificates they had received over the year from their classmates, Teacher Assistants and myself.

One of my boys has to live on his own since the Foster Care system doesn't look after 18 year olds. He started fulfilling his belief in himself as a loser, failing grades, not showing up, getting into trouble. The poster on the wall reminded him that he did have some virtues, and he started to prove to me that indeed he had a whole bunch of them. He really turned his life around because of it.

A VIRTUES STORY From Feruccio in Melbourne, Australia:

I was presenting the virtues to teachers at one of the schools for "Special needs Children" – young people who are mentally handicapped to varying degrees, yet able to attend school with the assistance of specialist teachers. While conducting "Speak the Language of the Virtues" and "Recognizing Teachable Moments", the comments were constant – "These children can hardly understand the regular words we use, let alone these virtues," "How can we teach them the meaning of these words if they already have trouble making a sentence?"

Well I remembered Linda and Dan's comments about a child LIVING the virtues and lovingly explained how we are not teaching them an abstract concept of "Respect", but rather catching them while they are "Being" the virtue and acknowledging it in them. Well the next session, sharing positive feedback/stories one teacher told the story of a twelve year old girl (mental capacity of five years old), whom she acknowledged for being "industrious" after completing all her work. The teacher thought nothing of it until the next day when she received a note from the girl's mother. The note went something like this "… what happened at school yesterday? This morning Emilia (not the girl's real name) woke up before the alarm rang, got dressed, and prepared her own breakfast – none of which has ever happened before. She then got me out of bed making sure we wouldn't be late for school. I asked her how come she was so enthusiastic and she said she 'was being industrious' ." The teacher continued how Emilia is now holding her head up and working more diligently than ever.

For more stories, click on the links below:

Experiencing Joyfulness
Sherry Buckner, Artist
Olympia, WA

Hand in Hand Project
Shidan Toloui-Wallace
Brisbane Australia

Virtues in Montessori School
Renee Hyde, VP Facilitator
Whitby, Ontario, Canada

Toddler Teaches Mom
Bethany Quillinan
Portland, Oregon, USA