Responsible decision making is made from the collection of information we obtain from the other 4 competencies of the CASEL competency wheel. This involves the ability to carefully listen and be open-minded to make the best decision possible. This involves understanding the benefits and possible consequences of each decision we make. A very important value we teach students is to do what is ethically right as we need to maintain their integrity even when it may not be the easiest decision to make.
As educators, we are in position to promote responsible decision making through leading by example. Children are very impressionable, they can observe how I respectfully respond to them even in a time of stress or crisis. In addition, we use a theme for many of our units such as respect, trust, integrity, etc. Working with the selected theme, we can ask each student to identify one positive character skill they have demonstrated within the last week. I feel that this will help students be aware, open-minded, and promote responsible decision making. Additionally, we can discuss the history of famous athletes that have demonstrated high levels of character, perseverance and discipline which has helped them reach an elevated level of success.