Amid a summer of remarkable and compelling professional sporting action, last week, Amanda Spielman, the Ofsted Chief Inspector, called on the government to do more to increase sport provision in schools. This call comes amid concerns across England that sport and physical education are being cut out of the school curriculum, as schools focus budgets... Continue Reading →
The Godfather of Poker, Doyle Brunson, once said, ‘Poker actually isn’t about winning or losing; poker is about making the right decision.’ In my opinion, this is a very versatile saying. For example, if you were to substitute the word poker for life, you would have a quote worthy of an inspirational fridge magnet. Such... Continue Reading →
In this vlog, philosopher Julia Annas discusses the concept of Aristotelian flourishing and examines what exactly does it mean to live a flourishing life? Talking about the necessary conditions of what it is to flourish, Julia asserts that money and success are not necessarily the key components to lead a flourishing life. Julia Annas is... Continue Reading →
The Jubilee Centre has just launched its new animated introductory film, produced by Handshake Studios. The film introduces viewers to the Jubilee Centre’s approach to character and virtues and asks the question ‘what would it take for society to truly flourish?’ https://youtu.be/07jEYUqbbQc
It is often claimed that the world in which we live is full of cruelty, ruthlessness and violence. Media reports on violence among students often paint a bleak picture of teachers and the school environment struggling to cope with manifestations of aggression among young people. It was such a news story, which reported on an... Continue Reading →
The role of moral exemplars in character education is often neglected, despite the fact that pointing to models of virtue is an effective way of reminding us of the kind of person we wish to be. It is common to hear teachers tell pupils to “be yourself, don’t copy anyone!”, making emulation sound like poor... Continue Reading →
The virtue of integrity used to be the darling of virtue ethicists and character educators in the 1980s and 1990s, but for some reason it seems to have fallen out of favour. I return to that apparent ‘fall from grace’ at the end of the blog. During the halcyon days of integrity, three broad conceptions... Continue Reading →
Several years ago, I started to include philosophical discussions in my art classes, driven by my desire to deepen pupils’ moral reflection on art projects. I established a community of inquiry in groups of 8th grade pupils, and the first artwork I proposed was René Magritte’s “Not to be reproduced” from 1937. Given the paradoxical... Continue Reading →
Contemporary Polish education is at an ideological crossroads, attempting to construct new ways of thinking, and new concepts of education and teaching in line with contemporary understanding of young people’s development. Since gaining independence in 1989, Poland has been reforming its education system to help young people adapt to the new world order. The changes... Continue Reading →
Digital platforms and online teaching are revolutionising the delivery of educational programmes throughout the higher education sector. Massive open online courses, or MOOCs, are one of the latest developments and the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues’ own online course on character education has had nearly 20,000 registered learners. Such platforms allow institutions to engage... Continue Reading →
From an early age, children are encouraged to express gratitude and display thanks towards others. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you – and mind your Ps and Qs. There are everyday scenarios that fit nicely into the “please and thank you” template, such as ordering a coffee, being served lunch... Continue Reading →
Philosopher Candace Vogler, of the University of Chicago, is a principal investigator in a project grappling with virtue, happiness and the meaning of life. Prof Vogler is seeking to establish if self-transcendence – the sense that life is part of a bigger good – helps to make the cultivation and exercise of virtue a source... Continue Reading →
Amid the pressure to hit targets and the clamour to shine in school league tables, there is resurgent interest in the wider development of students’ character. Teachers and parents see the intrinsic value of helping young people to untap their potential as flourishing citizens of the world. But how does a school judge how well... Continue Reading →
What is the most important moral lesson in a school’s character curriculum? According to American educational psychologist Thomas Lickona, it is the idea that teachers can only cultivate children’s character if they display it themselves. While we have all heard the mantra that virtue is first “caught” and then “taught”, I doubt whether the meaning... Continue Reading →
We now know more than ever about what makes humans flourish. This has been driven by dramatic advances in genetics, psychological research, neurobiology, behavioral economics and a number of other disciplines in the past three decades. As New York Times columnist David Brooks suggests this “intellectual revolution” exposes the superficiality of public current policy debate.... Continue Reading →
Traditionally, moral or other virtues have been considered aspirations to personal excellence: to have cultivated a virtue – albeit imperfectly – is to have attained some higher human state. While regarding virtue and the virtuous in this normatively exalted way, however, it has also been common to esteem people for their so-called ‘spirituality’ or spiritual... Continue Reading →
When we contemplate a virtue, two big questions that we ask about it are, What is it? and What makes it a virtue, that is, a human excellence? The answers to these questions are intertwined, since what makes a trait a virtue will always depend on what that trait is. In this short piece, I... Continue Reading →
During the week of 16th May 2016, the Jubilee Centre was delighted to welcome Blaine Fowers as a Distinguished Visiting Professor for 2016. Blaine, who is Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Miami, focuses his work on the contributions of Aristotle's ethics to a richer understanding of research and clinical practices in psychology... Continue Reading →
In the war to end all wars, it was the battle to end all battles. The date the offensive began, 1 July, was etched on to the collective memory for generations. Now 100 years have elapsed and other battles and place names associated with extraordinary British military endeavour have become engrained in the popular consciousness,... Continue Reading →
A staff nurse enjoys working on a ward for the elderly but ongoing changes to the hospital regime means she has less time to spend with patients. There are fewer nurses on duty, she grows increasingly frustrated, stops enjoying her job and is worried that patient care is being comprised. The nurse’s worst fears are... Continue Reading →
