College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Healthy Behaviors Translate into a Healthy Workplace
Tall, Hardy Grass May Be Energy Crop of the Future
Poultry Industry Steps Up Biosecurity Efforts
Student Team Debuts Decadent, Convenient Banana Dessert
Crop Improvement Technology Provides Benefits to Developing Countries
A Pearl of Wisdom for the Chesapeake
Getting to the Root of the Matter
Process Verification: A Boon for Beef-Cattle Producers
Microbiologist Works to Better China's Water Quality
Students Adopt Strawberry Mutants
Teaching Character and Learning from It, Too
Building Partnerships with Urban Boarding Schools
What Do Biodiesel and Omega-3 Fatty Acids Have in Common?
EQIPping Growers to Protect the Environment
Timely Notifications Ward Off Vegetable Foes
How Important Are Locally Grown Foods?
Teaching Character and Learning from It, Too
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| The opening session for CHARACTER COUNTS! training in Passos, Minas Gerais was conducted in the courtroom with Judge Luiz Carlos Negro (center), Juvenile Judge presiding. He requested the training for the schools and communities. |
A team of six Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) faculty members traveled to Brazil in February 2008 to conduct training on the CHARACTER COUNTS! program. Extension has been involved in this program since 1994, when Virginia 4-H became a member of the national coalition focused on character education.
Glenda Snyder, 4-H Extension agent in Botetourt County, was the first Extension representative to get involved. She made her first trip to Brazil in 2004, and has hosted Brazilian visitors several times since. Rounding out the most recent group of international travelers were 4-H Extension agents John Blankenship of Tazewell County, Jennifer Unroe of Allegheny County, Brian Hairston of Henry County, and Billie Jean Elmer of Surry County. The group also included Bob Meadows, recently retired associate director for 4-H.
The relationship with educators in Brazil has continued to grow and develop over the years as VCE faculty members have trained Brazilians in methods of teaching character education. Research studies in Brazil have documented a high level of violence and crime in its schools. Authorities there became interested in bringing education about caring, respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, fairness, and citizenship — the character traits taught by CHARACTER COUNTS!— to their youth. During their 2008 trip, VCE faculty provided basic and advanced training to more than 270 state school personnel and about 75 youth.
While this effort has had an impact on the training recipients in Brazil, the impact here in Virginia is being felt as well. Faculty participants in the exchanges report that they have improved their training skills and their ability to adapt training and teaching methods to different audiences. Agents also report a heightened awareness of the need for flexibility and creativity when working with diverse audiences, which becomes increasingly important as Virginia residents themselves become more diverse.
“The Brazil exchanges have helped us learn to step outside the box a bit,” says Snyder. “As a result of these experiences, we have been pushed to think differently and to find creative solutions to issues right here at home.”