Character Education

Lesson 1: Using intellect and will

Truth and certainty are important to physics. Thus, physicists do not just accept presumptions,
assumptions or perceptions. They subject their hypothesis to investigation to determine whether
these can be accepted or rejected.

Madame Marie Curie

Marie Sklodowski was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1867. Her father was the eminent
Wladyslaw Sklodowski, a professor in phyics. Her mother was the head of a girl’s
school. Marie was seen to love the nature of science so her father encouraged her to
pursue experimentation and research work in chemistry.

- She loved music too.

- She had originality in the recitation of patriotic Polish poem.

When Marie reached young womanhood, she faced a tragic incident of her father’s
death. She continued her studies at the Sorbonne, The great French university in Paris.
She was not prepared for that turn of events life, but she endured all of it just to continue
her studies. Marie had an intense desire for science that she spent hours working in the
laboratory. She worked hard and received her degree.

As Marie graduated, she was still not satisfied and continued her expertise in physics
and math, caught the attention of Pierre Curie, a gifted young French physicist. He hired
Marie as his laboratory assistant and soon fell in love and got married. Marie teacher
during the day and at night they continue experiments in their tumbledown laboratory in
Paris.

- 1986, they discovered a new substance that showed mark of radioactivity which could
help conquer cancer called “radium”.

As a result of their efforts, they had fame, honor, money, and the Nobel Prize. 1986,
Pierre Curie faced a tragic death. Marie stayed courageous despite the grief and
continued to work on the laboratory, they had two young daughters namely Irene, who
was 8 and Eve, who was 3.

- 1911, Marie received the Nobel Prize again for her new discoveries. And it was the only
time that the Nobel Prize was given two times to the same person.
 When world war broke out, Marie and her daughters stayed at a hospital behind the war
lines. Marie gave service to people through her knowledge about chemistry and X-rays.
- She designed the 1st portable X-ray that was sent to warfront and saved 50 thousand
lives.

“Jeanne d’Arc of the Laboratory” – one writer spoke of her as this.

Marie has exemplified the highest form of love: altruistic love, or living for the sake of others.

Apolinario Mabini

- He is the Sublime Paralytic. He belonged to a poor family in Talaga, Tanauan, Batangas.

Suffered a hard and continuous struggle against poverty and illness. He was ambitious,
determined, hardworking, and honest; thus, he became a true national hero.
- As his parents, Inocencio Mabini and Dionesia Maranan, sent him to his grandfather in
Tanauan so he could pursue hie education. Since they were poor and can’t send money,
Mabini worked as a servant in the house of a tailor named Mariano Pastrante.

Andres Bonifacio

- He was the founder of the Katipunan and leader of the Philippine Revolution. His parents
were poor; he had three younger brothers and two sisters. His parents died when he
was young so he became father and mother to all his siblings. Bonifacio and his brothers
had to work to whatever jobs they get. They made wooden canes and paper fans and
sold them in the streets of Manila. He bought foods and clothes for his brothers and
sisters with the money that they earned. He was very patient and persevering in facing
the difficulties of life.

Thomas Claudio

- He was a Filipino hero during the First World War. He was also born to poor parents,
Gregorio Claudio and Pelagia Mateo. He studied in a public elementary school in
Morong, Rizal. He did not finish high school so he tried his luck in the United States. He
found America a land of opportunity. He works in Alaska’s Salmon Canneries at daytime
and he studies commerce at night time. After graduation, he got a job in the post office
of Sparks, Nevada.
- First World War, he was enlisted as a soldier to fight for democracy. The American
officer told him that he was exempted in military service since he was “Filipino” But he
insisted and still fought for America. He fought bravely against the Germans in France.
Unfortunately, he was killed but America cited his Bravery and heroism.
 Lesson 2: The Principles of Moral law

In the story, “in the shadow of death” Geoffrey Prescott was a teacher in Nyala. On
November 27, 1985, he and his fellow teacher, Noel smith decided to take a hike across
the Merra Mountains. At the foot of the hill, they were joined by Mik Ladt. The morning of
the third day of their hiking, they decided to hike over the hills surrounding the rim of Mt.
Gimnbala, the volcano along the Merra Mountain. The three were starting their hike
decently when Geoffrey lost his footing and fell from an unsafe terrain. It took about an
hour for noel and mik to get to him and they found Geoffrey unconscious and bleeding.
When Geoffrey woke up, he was in extreme pain. Mik decided to ask help even if it
would take a week to get back to Geoffrey. Noel stayed with Geoffrey until the next
morning, but sooner than expected, he decided to leave. Hi lit a fire besides Geoffrey but
it ended up into another danger situation since it spread through the dry shrubs across
him but luckily it didn’t He suffered from excruciating pain 2for 2 days and 2 nights. On
the 4th day, Mik was back with rescuers and they managed to get back to Nyala.
Geoffrey was returned by jeep and by horseback. He spent 8 days in the hospital and
went back to England; he found out that he had a cracked skull, broken wrist, three
smashed vertebrae and knee ligaments torn apart. When he recovered, Geoffrey studied
nursing because his experience at the Merra Mountains had inspired him to help others.

Girl Scout Law

- This portrays that every Girl Scout is to be trusted, is loyal, is helpful, a friend to every
other girl scout, is courteous, respects living things, is disciplined, is self-reliant, is thrifty,
and is clean in thought, word, and deed.

The natural moral law (is called pagpapakatao in Filipino) is the norm of morality for the human
natures. It consists of the basic operational tendencies of humans, recognized by all regardless
of creed, race, culture, or historical circumstances.

According to George Berkeley (1685), it is the original principle of the constitution and it is called
“eternal law of reason” or the “Will of God”. Paul Tillich (1969) says that the phrase “Will of God”
is in fact an essential being with its potentialities. Therefore, Natural Moral Law is the tendency
to become what one’s potential is as a person within a community of persons.
 Lesson 3: Listening to the Voice Within

Conscience is the part of yourself that tells you the difference between right and wrong. It works
to point you to the right direction or decision. It is the “good voice” of the “inner light”, whispering
internally to you when you need guidance and when you do not know whether to turn left, right,
or go straight.

Everyone has a conscience but not everyone listens to it. They tend to forget how to decide on
things carefully first instead having impulse movements or decisions on things important for
them.

When you follow your conscience, the voice becomes stronger.

When you are tempted to do something that you know is wrong, your conscience usually
bothers you.

Lesson 4: True Freedom

There are several types of freedom we know, and we believe but what is TRUE freedom?

Adolf Hitler was born in Austria and was the head of the German Nazi party. He became the
Fuhrer (leader) and Reich Chancellor of Germany after the death of President Hindenburg in
August 1934. When Hindenburg died, Hitler abolished the term “president” and placed Germany
under his dictatorial rule until 1945.

As a Nazi dictator Hitler expounded on theories of the racial superiority of the Aryans and his
hatred for the Jews. He sent the Jews to concentration camps where the Nazis tortured,
starved, and murdered them. One of the most infamous concentration camps was Auschwitz,
where Viktor Frankl, a brilliant psychiatrist, was sent to imprisonment.

He saw all the horrible conditions at the camp and witnessed that the prisoners still treasured
some kind of freedom until their death. He witnessed their freedom to choose how they would
act under the most terrible circumstances. It was a choice of responsibility. Based on his
observation, Frankl said “Everything can be taken away from a man but not the last of human
freedom—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own
ways.”

Freedom of will – this is an important dimension because this follows

Freedom is the state of not being
one’s conscience and maintain one’s personal integrity.
restrained and is synonymous to
liberty; thus, the nature of freedom Freedom of speech – this shows that we are able to speak for ourselves
is without restraint. Its purpose is to and for our rights.
give responsibility to be co-creators
of one and others by creating love. Freedom of action – we should follow our conscience. If not, they may
make wrong actions which may result to crime, social collapse etc.
The purpose of freedom is to give
responsibility, to be co -creators
of/to create love.
Lesson 5: A person’s Dignity

The dignity of a person is an irreplaceable quality. It is an invisible medal that shows one’s
worth in society. When a person ignores his/her conscience and disobeys the Natural Moral
Law, his/her dignity gets tarnished. Every time that one does evil acts, dignity loses value little
by little. Dignity is a person’s symbol of goodness and honor.

Unfortunately, not all people value their dignity and others’ dignity as they should. For this
reality, there exist laws which promote the rights and dignity of a person.

The fundamental fact of life is that humans as individuals are endowed with their own free will.
There are universal virtues, but humans do not possess the same universal virtues. They are
the results of what they do with their freedom. Humans are capable of deciding for themselves
the purpose or the end of their actions.

Human beings are born into this world with the same basic anatomical and physiological
features. Almost everyone bears the same physical parts of the body. All humans are gifted with
basic human nature.

Regardless of one’s spiritual beliefs, it is a natural moral law to respect one another as it creates
solidity among a certain unit of society and in society as a whole. Respect is a virtue that must
apply to anybody—anywhere and anytime. It is an indication that one values another person’s
dignity, or his/her state of being honored or worthy.