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Mission Schools Vocabulary Guide


Ethos: The distinguishing attitudes, beliefs, and values of a community. The term also refers to the spirit of a community. While not directly observable, the ethos of a school or college campus can be a formidable force in shaping the minds and hearts of students. The root meaning of the Greek word for ethics, ethikos, signifies an ethos that is rooted in community and transmitted through customs.

Character: Rooted in the Greek word charakter, the term "character" has come to mean the constellation of strengths and weaknesses that form and reveal who we are. Our character does not consist of a single statement or a random act but of those qualities and dispositions that we place consistently--both good and bad. Assessing our character means taking an inventory of our dominant thoughts and actions. As Aristotle once said, "We are what we repeatedly do." Character, as a concept that explains personality and behavior, is neither liberal nor conservative because it is not primarily about politics or policy.

Conscience: The term literally means "with knowledge." Thomas Aquinas considered conscience a "sacred and sovereign monitor" that governs our moral decisions. Kant emphasized the judicial aspect of conscience, "duty's inner citadel." Many educators believe that helping students develop a strong conscience--a desire to do what's right--is at the heart of a character education.

Critical Thinking: The careful observation of a problem followed by a thoughtful and reasoned response. One outcome of the college experience is to foster a more systematic, thorough, and focused mode of thinking.

Idealism: A state of mind that carries the desire to recognize and aim for the best in our own life and for the life of the community of which we are a part. The pursuit of a great vision, a dream, a hope for a better future.

Integrity: Strength and firmness of character; utter sincerity and honesty. A person of integrity keeps his or her word. This quality includes the ability to articulate deeply held values and principles and the ability to resist betraying those values.

Justice: Fairness or equality in apportioning advantages and rewards, as well as punishing wrong conduct. We need justice in order to protect the rights of everyone. The quality of justice means standing up for our own rights and the rights of other people.

Morality: A system of rules or principles prescribing how we should act and defining what our rights and obligations are. A moral person is one who is capable of distinguishing right from wrong and demonstrates a predilection for what is right.

Personal Responsibility: This term signifies being dependable and displaying integrity. Personal responsibility means being accountable to ourselves and others by fulfilling obligations and keeping promises.

Respect: Showing regard for one's own worth and the worth of others. This includes treating our own lives as having inherent value, treating others as having dignity and rights equal to our own, and treating property as an extension of a person.

Self-Control: The ability to delay gratification or to make decisions based on meeting long-term goals. Self-control enables a person to avoid at-risk activities (such as binge drinking), which often have harmful consequences. Historically, learning to practice and display self-control or self-discipline has been an essential aspect of the undergraduate experience. It is arguable that the majority of personal and social problems in society today--drug abuse, violence, school failure, alcoholism, unwanted pregnancy, debt, and poor eating habits--involve deficiencies or failures in self-control.

Spiritual Growth: A process by which a person searches for meaning, connectedness, and significance, often within the context of religious belief and understanding. An outcome of spiritual growth during the school and college years is a vision of moral integrity that coheres and connects our beliefs to our behavior.

Values: What we judge worth having (a job, wealth, wisdom), worth doing (helping others, enjoying family time, planning a vacation), or worth being (honest, happy, successful). Values can be considered nonmoral (such as the benefits of exercising, gardening, reading) or moral (such as the rewards of self-discipline, fairness, compassion). Some personal moral values (serving those less fortunate) are those that certain individuals freely accept without imposing their strong sense of obligation on others.

Virtues: Lived moral values; objectively good moral qualities or attributes (patience, prudence, compassion, courage). A virtues-infused character education has become very popular in colleges and universities.


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