Best Practice

The six Cs of character education

The concept of character education is in the news with a number of high-profile supporters emerging. Phil Parker looks at the key tenets to building students’ character and how this might fit into your school's CPD programme.

The issue of character development has certainly hit the headlines of late. It began with the Pearson-sponsored report by Professor Michael Fullan – A Rich Seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. Then, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Social Mobility published its Character and Resilience Manifesto, before Tristram Hunt, shadow education secretary, called for character to be taught in schools and “not left to chance”.

Let’s take the manifesto first. It states: “Cognitive skills do not develop in a vacuum ... educational attainment develops alongside crucial character abilities ... in a mutually reinforcing process.” It goes on to say that too many schools in Britain are “exam factories” that focus on narrow indicators of success .

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