News outlets over the course of this pandemic have oscillated between being somewhat unforgiving of young people and decrying missed opportunities in relation to their education. There are positive data demonstrating that young people are eager to engage in voluntary work, as well as critical commentaries about students carelessly spreading COVID-19 in university towns and... Continue Reading →
When I became the Head Teacher of Eastbrook Primary, Dagenham, in September 2018, it was fair to say that behaviour was poor. This led to several issues, including a lot of lost learning time. We quickly recognised the need for change. One of the actions undertaken, was to ask all pupils, parents and staff to... Continue Reading →
Gail Peyton is a Regional Director for Primary Education in Birmingham, and a student on the MA Character Education programme. In this blog, Gail discusses how professional development focused on the character of the teacher might support teachers to fulfil their roles as character educators. Gail Peyton I currently work for a large MAT as... Continue Reading →
Over the coming months, the ‘Character in the Corpus’ series will take the body of prose fiction set at A-level to investigate how these texts represent virtue along with accompanying classroom resources that provide practical suggestions as to how these texts can be used in virtue literacy. Literature has been a source for numerous character... Continue Reading →
Image Credit: SG Haywood Photography Louise Simpson is Head of Exeter School and is currently in her second year of study on the MA Character Education. In this blog, Louise discusses Exeter School’s approach to character education. Louise Simpson Recently returned from 6 years of international headship in a large co-educational day school in São... Continue Reading →
With the character development of pupils being given more prominence by both the Department for Education[1] and Ofsted[2], more and more teachers and schools are asking – how exactly do you teach character? Since 2012, the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues has been at the forefront of research into character education, both in the UK... Continue Reading →
Since September 2020, Lois Banks has been Assistant Headteacher at Hoo St Werburgh in Kent. Hoo is a large primary school for children aged 2-11 years. It is also part of the Rivermead Inclusive Trust. Lois is also studying for a PhD at the University of Birmingham, where she is taking a close look at... Continue Reading →
As part of the ongoing research project, Virtues in Policing, the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues commissioned a poll of 406 police officers, conducted by Portland Communications in January 2021. The poll reflects current demographics of UK police officers reasonably well, although it is slightly skewed towards female, ethnically diverse, London-based and junior officers.... Continue Reading →
Michael Hahn, Ph.D., program director (right), Nancy Erickson, assistant program director (center), and Antar Salim, D.B.A., business administration program (left), discuss plans for Saint Mary's character and virtue education. Michael Hahn is Assistant Professor and Program Director of Character and Virtue Education at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Alongside his role at Saint Mary’s, Michael... Continue Reading →
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Bindu Rai. Bindu serves as Headteacher of Hindu faith school, Krishna Avanti Primary School, in Edgware. The School is part of the Avanti Schools Trust. Bindu has been teaching for 28 years in a variety of school settings within the London boroughs of Newham, Brent and Harrow. In... Continue Reading →
A new survey conducted by Yonder and commissioned by the Jubilee Centre has found that three quarters (75%) of parents of children aged 13-17 think that internet and social media companies like Google and Facebook put profit ahead of promoting the social good. Eighty-three per cent of parents, in addition, think that these companies have... Continue Reading →
The National Literacy Trust recently surveyed 4,141 pupils from 51 schools in the UK, to determine the impact that lockdown has had on their reading habits. The report found that pupils were both reading more and enjoying reading more during lockdown; a finding made all the more significant since pupils’ self-reported enjoyment of reading had... Continue Reading →
Introduction The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, at the University of Birmingham, has partnered Step Up to Serve since the launch of the #iwill campaign in 2013. Each year, we have celebrated 50 Ambassadors as exemplars of social action and service to others, creating a cohort of 300 Ambassadors from across the United Kingdom.... Continue Reading →
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Carole Jones, an experienced Headteacher who passionately leads Yeading Junior School in Hayes. Carole enjoys working with the wider community and has developed partnerships which have enhanced opportunities for the school. She has modelled the development of leadership amongst the children and viewed character through the lens of... Continue Reading →
This month’s Character Educators in Focus are Chris Clyne, who is Principal at Northampton Academy and Carlington Anderson, who is Director of Character at Northampton Academy. Northampton Academy is a large secondary school including Sixth Form. It was one of the first schools in the country to be awarded the Association for Character Education School... Continue Reading →
Maddie Ruppel is a First Lieutenant in the US Army with a specialty of Military Intelligence. She currently works as the Aide-de-Camp for a senior leader and has also worked as a Battalion Intelligence Officer and an Intelligence Operations Officer. Maddie is entering her second year of studies in the Jubilee Centre's MA Character Education programme... Continue Reading →
Covid-19 may have temporarily stopped the traditional, gathered assembly but, encouragingly, many schools have continued to offer ‘assemblies’ online – recognising their centrality to school life and their role in wellbeing and community. Even Oak National Academy, the government’s flagship provider of online lessons, has been broadcasting a weekly, national assembly with some high profile... Continue Reading →
Dr. Quintin Robinson is an Assistant Professor at Santa Clara University. In this blog, Dr. Robinson explains how character is relevant to his teaching within the School of Education and Counseling Psychology and how studying on the MA Character Education has influenced this. What is your role at Santa Clara and how is character relevant... Continue Reading →
In this blog, Director and Founder of Imani Academy, Imani Clough, reflects on the MA Character Education and the work of Imani Academy. Imani explains how her studies have helped her to develop the holistic well-being and character of the young people she works with. Why did you decide to study on the MA Character... Continue Reading →
Adrian McLean is a former Head Teacher who has worked in a range of Secondary Schools. As a member of the Central Team for the Severn Academies Education Trust, Adrian works with staff, students and parents to understand the importance of personal values and character and how these influence success, both in and out of... Continue Reading →
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