Autonomy in Action: Training for Honor Councils\r\nby John Roberts, Ph.D.\r\n\r\nTraining retreats are useful tools to start up a new year’s honor council. Here are suggestions for planning an effective training event.\r\n\r\nIn Breaking into the Heart of Character, David Streight addresses the issue of empowering young people and its importance for moral growth. Empowerment and fostering autonomy undergird honor systems, which invite students to participate actively in their own character development. In fact, honor codes only succeed when students take ownership themselves, so that the guidelines become internalized principles of conduct rather than rules imposed from outside by adults. But it is not enough for schools to empower students; we cannot just hand over power and then walk away.\r\n\r\nThe point is even more relevant for honor councils. After all, the students on an honor council are charged with being exemplars for their peers (role modeling), and with guiding their peers in ethical growth (honor education), and with helping administrators determine consequences and rehabilitative strategies when students fall short (case management). This collaborating in the shaping of the moral climate of the school is indeed a huge responsibility, which means that the adults who advise councils likewise have significant responsibilities. Guiding councils is a multifaceted task that persists throughout the school year; adults must facilitate occasional group activities such as debriefings after cases and also initiate one-on-one reflection and assessment when appropriate. Training for the honor council is essential.\r\n\r\nPage 2 Winter 2014 \r\nCSEE Connections\r\n