The Story of the Boston Massacre: A Storytelling Opportunity for Character Education

ith character education a continuing objective of social studies teaching, effective educators address that challenge by first understanding the principles of their discipline and the opportunities for examining character values. Next, strategy comes to the forefront as teachers directly focus on the men and women of history as a major ingredient in teaching character, a method that John Dewey asserted was once widely used in American schools and is currently used successfully in foreign schools (Brooks and Goble 1997, 128). The successful use of historical figures entails more than relating irrelevant facts through lectures. Rather, success rests on a strategy of storytelling. Although history abounds with stories of the human struggle, no greater insight into the human character can be made than through the stories of the lives of those who shaped our heritage. When teachers approach character education from that perspective, myriad opportunities are available. Lockwood and Harris noted that true historical stories involving dramatic moments of moral conflict are especially useful in stimulating students to reflect on values (1985, 18). Those stories center on individuals who made personal decisions involving truth, integrity, honesty, and loyalty, and they encourage students to analyze the issues and choices made. Such stories help students realize that others before them have faced the same dilemmas that they do and, by making the right choices, persevered. More important, the stories prove that the values of good character are not restricted to people of a particular time or place and help teachers avoid the tendency to elevate individuals into one-dimensional mythical heroes (Sanchez 1998, 2). Joseph Campbell noted the sheer power of historical and cultural stories to impart important ideas and values to ensuing generations, stating that such stories “are about the wisdom of life” (Campbell 1988, 3). He lamented that education lacks such emphasis. Because of educators’ reluctance to use the storytelling strategy to relate life values, what students are learning in school is not the wisdom of life but merely information and technology. That is a precipitous circumstance historically, because previous great civilizations with varying degrees of academic competence failed once the citizens were not educated in the virtues of character (Sanchez and Mills 2005, 147). According to Thomas Carlyle, “history is the essence of innumerable biographies” (Fitzhenry 1993, 202). A story that is related to players in social studies events is value-laden by nature with the power to educate for character, an essential component for citizenship, because the values of the story’s characters transcend time and are thus relevant for today’s students (Sanchez 2000, 57). Moreover, such stories create conditions that enable students to ponder the issues associated with the major themes of social studies and to understand them. Through the stories’ form and content, students consider ideas that are beyond those of process (Common 1987, 117). Thus, history, stories, and character education meld into one. America’s history contains adventure stories involving individuals and groups facing life’s challenges in which people encounter personal tribulations, successes, failures, and, ultimately, resolution. As a reflection of values inherent in a democratic society, however, the adventure never ends. Furthermore, the The Story of the Boston Massacre: A Storytelling Opportunity for Character Education

Field of study: Sociology