Developmentally, middle school students are beginning to ask questions about who they are and who they want to become. At the same time, they are increasingly having to navigate real and often complex situations—moments when they may feel pressure to fit in rather than to stand up or speak out for what they know is right.

We are beginning to expect a lot from these pre-teens, whether it’s keeping a promise, taking responsibility, or showing courage. But too often, we have not given them the language, structure, or time to think through how to make the right decision in those moments that matter.

Scientific research can help—believe it or not! There are a range of compelling studies that offer middle school educators a roadmap on what skills and mindsets students need to make the right decisions.
 
Self-determination theory emphasizes the importance of intrinsic motivation—and there are compelling data that middle school students are more likely to act consistently when their goals are personally meaningful, not externally imposed.

In addition, David Yeager’s work on adolescent motivation highlights that young people are deeply driven by a desire for status and respect from their peers and mentors. When students feel respected and see themselves as capable of contributing to others, their motivation and behavior improve.

More recently, research by Benjamin Rogers and his colleagues suggests that when individuals of all ages see their lives as part of a broader “hero’s journey,” they are more likely to act with purpose and be a force for good.

Overall, researchers point to a clear and compelling insight: Students need opportunities to define who they are, who they want to become, and how their everyday choices—guided by their values—align with that identity. This insight directly informed a curriculum we designed for middle school students titled Moments That Matter.
 
The Moments That Matter curriculum is a program of the Griffin Institute at the National Medal of Honor Museum, based in Arlington, Texas. For middle school students, a “moment that matters” could be when they’re being pressured to lie, steal, or cheat or when they want to hang out with their friends, but their mom needs them to stay at home with a younger sibling.

Tapping into their own personal interests and experiences, our mission as educators was to take middle school students on a journey of self-discovery, empowering them to explore two essential questions: Who am I? Who am I becoming for others?

While students learn about the history of the Medal of Honor—the highest U.S. military decoration—the curriculum is primarily focused on four core values that have enabled ordinary Americans to do extraordinary things: commitment, integrity, sacrifice, and courage.

Each student begins their journey by identifying their own superpowers, the unique strengths, talents, and skills they will need to become their best selves for others. Students are also encouraged to identify the superpowers of their classmates. At the core of these activities is an opportunity for students to discover how their unique strengths can connect to and support the values and goals that mean the most to them.

One of the cornerstone moments of the curriculum is when students are encouraged to reflect and write down a set of goals that focus on who they want to become for others. Some students write they want to be the best friend they can be. Others say they want their parents to see them as trustworthy and responsible.

After students have written about a specific goal that will enable them to be their best self for others, teachers guide them through a series of lessons on each of the four Medal of Honor values. The lessons do not focus on hypothetical scenarios but on how each student’s everyday choices and decisions directly connect and shape their personal goals and identity.

Commitment: Turning goals into action

Students are encouraged to reflect on commitments they have already made, whether it’s helping their parents with the dishes or wanting to be the best teammate. Students also collaboratively explore the reasons why it’s sometimes hard to keep their commitments (e.g., peer pressure, competing priorities, wanting to fit in). In addition, students learn how to develop positive habits and routines that will help them to consistently “live” their commitments.

Each student then creates their own “commitment action plan.” The plan includes:

• a commitment they will implement within the next seven days;
• the habits and routines they will create;
• the challenges they may face; and
• a person they will ask to hold them accountable to their commitment (a friend, parent, teacher).

Integrity: Aligning our values, words, and actions

Students next learn why integrity is important in those moments that matter—and how integrity occurs when we align our beliefs, words, and actions. Students read and discuss different scenarios where someone has shown integrity (and the value or belief at the heart of that person’s integrity, such as compassion, friendship, or sportsmanship).

Students then create their own “Integrity Action Plan.” They start by writing down their North Star values, the values and beliefs most important to them (e.g., honesty, fairness, kindness). Every student is also encouraged to come up with their own personal motto that they will repeat to themselves whenever they need to be reminded why it’s important to follow their North Star values.

Sacrifice: Acting for others, not just ourselves

Students next explore how sacrifice is almost always linked to a conviction or strong belief about who they want to be. Students also discover how empathy and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes can help them decide when to make a sacrifice. They write in their journal about a fictional character from a movie, show, or book who made a sacrifice and how empathy might have motivated the character to make that sacrifice.

Each student then creates their own “sacrifice preparedness plan.” They first write down a particular conviction or belief (e.g., “I want to be caring”). Next, they reflect on those “moments” when they may need to make a sacrifice to stay aligned with their convictions and beliefs. A week later, students come together to reflect on two questions: How does making sacrifices impact people in your life? and How could you start making sacrifices for the things or people you care about?

Courage: Acting despite fear, danger, or hardship

At this moment in the Moments That Matter curriculum, students are eager to explore the three essential “tools” that produce courage in those moments that matter: commitment, competence, and confidence. They learn that:

• commitments push us to act with courage;
• competence is having the knowledge and skills to do something scary or difficult; and
• confidence is that internal feeling of “I can do this!” —an indispensable tool that fuels our courageous behaviors.

Students also learn about the power of positive self-talk.

Finally, students are invited to write their own “courage action plan.” At the heart of the plan is identifying the different areas of their lives where they may need to act with courage.

Next, they create their own “if/then” scripts: “If” I am in this situation, “then” I will respond with courage because I have made a commitment, practiced the skills and knowledge to do the right thing, and can leverage my confidence and positive self-talk to overcome my fears or doubts.

What have we learned from tracking the classroom impact of Moments That Matter? Teachers who piloted the curriculum have told us that what they most appreciate about it is how it encourages student voice (e.g., how students were learning from each other as they shared with their peers why they sometimes did not show integrity or courage).

The post-assessment data collected from our pilot implementation is also promising. Students report increased levels of Self-awareness, a greater willingness to take responsibility for their actions, and a stronger tendency to think about their values when making everyday decisions.

Perhaps most powerfully, we appreciated hearing from teachers that the Moments That Matter curriculum gave them the opportunity to serve as mentors. As one teacher shared with us: “The curriculum reminded me why I became a teacher. It gave my students space to talk about character in a way that felt authentic and meaningful for students—and me.”