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What Would it Take for Society to Truly Flourish?

Watch this video from the Jubilee Centre which explains their approach to character.

What then, is character education?

‘It is impossible to be a teacher and not be a character educator’

Berkowitz, Marvin. (1999). Obstacles to Teacher Training in Character Education. Action in Teacher Education. 20. 1-10. 10.1080/01626620.1999.10462930.

Character education is an umbrella term

It is used to describe the teaching of children (and adults) in a manner that will help them develop variously as moral, civic, good, mannered, behaved, non-bullying, healthy, critical, successful, or socially acceptable beings.

Character can be defined as a set of personal traits or dispositions that produce specific moral emotions, inform motivation and guide conduct.

Jubliee Centre, 2022

Character Education can be defined as developing students' understanding to work out what is ethically important and how to act in the right way, at the right time, for the right reasons and for the right amount.

Kristjansson, K. (2015). Aristotelian Character Education. Routledge. Oxon.

Education is not only the pursuit of knowledge, but also the personal development of the student. This contains a moral and ethical dimension.

Jubliee Centre, 2022

So why is character education so important?

fundamental

Character is fundamental: it is the basis for human and societal flourishing.

Caught

Character is largely caught through role-modelling and emotional contagion: school culture and ethos are therefore central.

Taught

Character should also be taught: direct teaching of character provides rationale, language and tools to use in developing character elsewhere in and out of school.

Sought

Character is sought freely to pursue a better life.

Educable

Character is educable: it is not fixed and the virtues can be developed. Its progress can be measured holistically, not only through self-reports but also more objective research methods.

Foundational

Good character is the foundation for improved attainment, better behaviour and increased employability, but most importantly, flourishing societies.

Partnership

Character should be developed in partnerships with parents, employers and other community organisations.

dependent

Character depends on building Virtue Literacy.

A right

Each child has a right to character education.

Empowering

The development of character empowers students and is liberating.

Now you know why character education is important, let's think about a model to undertsand which virtues are important.

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