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When the Heartwood founders first gathered to seek solutions to the lack of moral education of children, they talked about the strengths of character and inner qualities children need to learn. During a year of study, the founders compiled a list of over 50 positive character traits respected by all people regardless of race, culture, or religion. Grouping the traits by themes, they came up with a core framework of seven overarching ethical attributes.
Courage · Loyalty · Justice · Respect · Hope · Honesty · Love During the past 15 years, this framework of core attributes has proven itself over and over. The concepts include body, mind, and spirit. They represent the essence of human community and a foundation for right action. They are first introduced as an organizing ethical vocabulary, and evaluation research has shown that a child exposed to the curriculum for one year understands the attributes and can give examples or identify them in unfamiliar literature. The concepts are referred to as attributes because the ultimate goal goes beyond mere understanding. Over years of exposure to Heartwood, the child has many opportunities to practice Courage, internalize Courage as a valued way to act in life, and make it part of him or herself, an attribute of his or her character. The profound hope of both parents and teachers is that their children will develop into brave, fair, honest, and caring adults. |
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The Seven Attributes