Why Character Education Matters

Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote: “Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” It is a teaching philosophy that I believe should be at the heart of all educational institutions. Teaching should not only be about passing on knowledge and developing critical thinking. The role of education must include the cultivation of character, so that we can have more holistic and decent human beings in society.

Young people are facing a tough journey ahead. They will need to navigate their way through a global skills crisis and a global health crisis, as well as avoid becoming a victim of a looming youth unemployment crisis. Our education systems are struggling to keep pace with the changes of the 21st century. And many young people are not properly taught desirable character traits such as integrity, resilience, perseverance, optimism, a growth mindset and (emotional) self-control, among others.

Image from Unsplash.com (@bkotynski)

Character education can play an important role in helping young people get through these troubling times. It’s something that has already proven to be successful in different parts of the globe. This article explores the nature of character and it elaborates on why it is so important to teach it.

What is character?

Character is not the same thing as personality. However, it forms part of it. At a basic level, personality concerns our outer self – those behaviours that people typically notice (and judge) during almost all interactions. It’s things that are easier to read in people, like whether or not someone is optimistic, introverted or extroverted, or lazy for example. Character, on the other hand, is about our moral beliefs and virtues. It’s the deeper inner self that takes relatively longer to identify in someone. It includes aspects such as integrity, resilience, perseverance, a growth mindset, (emotional) self-control, respect and compassion.

The mistake that people often make is that they think moral beliefs and virtues are exclusively religious notions. This is simply not true. These aspects can be taught outside of religious institutions and, in some respects, they actually should be. Philosophers have debated secular morality and what constitutes good character for millennia. Today, there are many non-religious frameworks that can be used to nurture decent human beings and good characters – Immanuel Kant’s famous Categorical Imperative is a case in point. Character is something that cannot be developed in a vacuum. Parents, teachers, friends, mentors, the media and the rest of society all influence the development of both our personalities and character. It is our inner character that ultimately influences our outer personality.

Character education at university

The Jubilee Centre at the University of Birmingham (UK) is an example of a secular institution that regularly publishes interdisciplinary research on character education. More recently, they’ve partnered with the Oxford Character Project in 2020 to develop a character education framework that universities can use. In their own words, their framework is designed “to help universities articulate and structure their mission to further the flourishing of their students and the holistic character development that is central to it.” Their framework sets things out according to the following building blocks of character:

Moral virtues – Those that relate to an ethical awareness in academic work and wider university life, coupled with a sense of purpose that places ambition within a commitment to the common good. Examples include honesty, courage, compassion and justice.

Intellectual virtues – Those that relate to the pursuit of knowledge, truth and understanding. Examples include curiosity, open-mindedness and patience.

Civic virtues – Those that relate to the engagement of institutions and individual students in their local, national and global contexts. Examples include civility, service and charity.

Performance strengths – Character traits that have an instrumental value in enabling intellectual, moral and civic virtues. Examples include confidence, determination, motivation, perseverance, resilience and teamwork.

An interesting thing to note is that the U.K. government aims to be a global leader in teaching character. There are many elected officials that recognise its importance and the UK’s Department of Education recently produced non-statutory guidance for schools. According to the UK government’s proposed “five foundations of character education”, they also assign importance to aspects such as perseverance, resilience, grit, optimism, motivation, neighbourliness, respect, honesty, and many other character traits.

Why is character education so important?

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As a point of departure, character education is important because it helps to nurture more decent human beings in society. Building on this moral foundation, evidence also shows (see below) that character education creates the kinds of conditions that typically lead to more benefits for society and more opportunities for individual success. This includes, but is not limited to, achieving academic performance, entrepreneurial success, making more effective decisions, having less violence in society, or simply having a society that’s happier and more optimistic. In this section, I expand on two important reasons why character education is important.

(1) Character education nurtures a “growth mindset” that has a positive attitude towards failure.

If you cannot embrace failure, then you cannot become resilient or develop perseverance. These are desirable character traits that help you to re-frame disappointment and avoid giving up when things get tough. Attitude is everything, and (young) people can be taught how to have a positive attitude towards failure.

Having a positive attitude towards failure is something that can be achieved in various ways. For example, you can (a) nurture a growth mindset, or you can simply (b) expose (young) people to the failures of other successful people.

(a) Carol Dweck, a prominent psychologist at Stanford University, is known worldwide for her research. She advocates what she calls a “growth mindset” (as opposed to a “fixed mindset”) and the “power of yet”. The former aspect is about an underlying belief that one’s basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. Whereas the latter elaborates on the positive psychological effects that “yet” can have on shaping attitudes towards failure. For example, Dweck refers to a school in Chicago (US) that replaces the word “failed” on a student’s report card with “not yet”. That, in turn, had a powerful psychological impact on students’ mindset. It arguably indicates that they are on a learning curve and that they not yet ready to move on.

(b) When it comes to exposing young people to the failures of others, a 2016 study from Columbia University (US) is a good example. It looks at the effects of learning about great scientists’ struggles on students’ motivation to learn science. The study reveals an improvement in students’ science grades as a result of them learning about the intellectual and personal life struggles of Albert Einstein and Marie Curie. The same study also shows a drop in grades for those students who only learnt about those scientist’s achievements. A clear outcome from the study is that a basic awareness of others’ failures can actually improve academic success. In the process, it can also shine a bright light on desirable character traits such as determination and perseverance.

Part of the problem is that there seems to be far too many “helicopter parents” (and educators) who overly praise young people and don’t really give them opportunities to fail. Andrew Sokatch fittingly articulates this in his TED talk. He mentions that there are too many young people who don’t have the skills to turn a challenge into an opportunity. Instead, they grow up constantly being told that they are “so smart”, that they are “so good at this” or “so perfect”, and when they encounter more serious challenges later on in life, they hit a brick wall. Overly praising (young) people ultimately serves to undermine their character development.

Dweck’s research also looks at the impact of praise and its connection with how students view their own intellectual ability. The research indicates a greater positive effect on students’ learning when you praise their learning process (e.g. “I can tell you worked very hard on this project. We are proud of you.”), as opposed to praising their intelligence (“You are such a smart student“).

(2) Strong characters have a greater chance of success.

Having a positive attitude towards failure lends itself towards developing desirable character traits such as resilience, perseverance and determination. These are all crucial ingredients to achieve any kind of success in life. It could be academic success, entrepreneurial success or even having a successful corporate career. Character traits such as resilience and perseverance are fundamental to problem solving and coping when faced with a tough challenge. They help us avoid giving up too easily, and they help us recognise that it’s more about the learning process than the final outcome.

Having a strong character increases your chance of success and it increases your chance of being a successful leader. Having good character helps you build the kind of trust that’s needed to win people over. Leaders that have moral character and integrity are able to motivate and inspire others more. The Ivy Business Journal recognises character as a central, important element of leadership. They note that we have lost sight of character and suggest that it could be because educational institutions and organisations are so competency focused. Or maybe it could be because we are hesitant to talk about examples of poor character with our friends and colleagues.

To conclude, character development is a lifelong journey and it seems to me that we need to reflect on the role of education in the 21st century. This includes the role of character education in society. We need to ask ourselves what sort of person do we want to be? Or what sort of people do we want to interact with in society? As I see it, character was in crisis even before the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world. If anything, the pandemic continues to test our character. I am hopeful, though, that this period will encourage more educational institutions to revise their curricula and pedagogy so that they can place character education more at the forefront.

References:

Crossan, M., Gandz, J., & Seijts, G. (2012). Developing Leadership Character. Retrieved from https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/developing-leadership-character/

Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset : the new psychology of success. New York: Random House.Kant, I. (1900–). The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/

Dweck, C. (2007). The Perils and Promises of Praise. Educational Leadership, 34-39. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct07/vol65/num02/The-Perils-and-Promises-of-Praise.aspx

Lin-Siegler, X., & N. Ahn, J. (2016). Even Einstein Struggled: Effects of Learning About Great Scientists’Struggles on High School Students’ Motivation to Learn Science. Journal of Educational Psychology, 314–328. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/edu-edu0000092.pdf

Sokatch, A. (2014). Teaching character — the other half of the picture. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/sxHGSTV3LF0?t=312UK

Department for Education. (2019). Character education framework. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/character-education-framework

University of Birmingham (UK). (2020). Character Education in Universities: A Framework for Flourishing. Retrieved from https://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/userfiles/jubileecentre/pdf/character-education/Character_Education_in_Universities_Final_Edit.pdf

Wolff, G. (2020, November 11). Europe can’t afford to lose another generation to youth unemployment . Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/nov/11/europe-cant-afford-to-lose-another-generation-to-youth-unemployment

Author:

Craig V. Johnson

Co-Founder, GiLE Foundation

November 29, 2020

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