Parents and teachers all over the world invest time, energy and resources to help children acquire more knowledge and skills to help them ‘succeed’. Yet, most agree that academic education alone is not sufficient. In order to prevent the problems our families and nations are facing, we believe it is necessary to ensure a child’s inherent qualities, such as love, responsibility and service also have the opportunity to develop and flourish.
These uniquely human virtues are critical elements for children’s success in their academic endeavors, future career and family life. They are also the surest foundation for building a sustainable, harmonious, society. In this regard it is essential that academic achievement and the development of a praiseworthy character go hand in hand.
Virtues in Us was founded in 2003 to help advance character education in Chinese schools by empowering Principals, teachers and parents to develop the seeds of life-long laudable behavior patterns in kindergarten and early primary school age children. In striving to meet this goal, we have created a systematic Virtues in Us character education curriculum for 4-7 year old children, an array of engaging, interactive character education resource materials and have facilitated extensive teacher and Principal training workshops.
In collaboration with the Moral Education Department of the Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences, the Virtues in Us program has been successfully implemented in over 230 schools across China.
After a period of rapid growth, Virtues in Us is primarily focused on working with a handful of Chinese schools (both rural and urban) to support them in developing a systematic and tailored character education program that is infused throughout the full school community and may extend to serving the broader community surrounding the school. This is an organic process of school led action planning, consultation and reflection.
Our vision is to inspire Chinese schools – the Principals, teachers, parents and children - to embrace the philosophy and tools of character education and to become centers of learning for their community.
“Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value.
Education, alone can reveal its treasures and allow mankind to benefit therefrom.”
