positive education for the future
hearts and open their minds. A focus merely
on exams, especially if the exams are the
frankly disappointing GCSEs and A-Levels, as
opposed to the much more challenging and
thoughtful International Baccalaureate, can
all too easily lead to closed minds and leave
the heart cold.
The International Baccalaureate in all three
levels: primary, middle years and diploma,
is a much more intellectually profound, as
well as holistic, model for education. I would
expect the University of Birmingham to be
championing it.
Now both of you Michaels are learned and
wise people, and I know that you do not
make the mistake of some exam fanatics
in thinking that all this talk of character is
superficial and lacking in deep grounding,
in the best that minds have thought. I know
that you know that Aristotle taught that an
emphasis on character grounded on values
is essential to education and to the creation
of a good society. I know that you know that
some of the wisest thinkers in the last two
millennia, including all the great spiritual
figures from the great religious traditions,
have placed great stress on the importance
of character. I know that you know that good
character is not simply a question of DNA at
birth, but is nurtured by schools, as well as by
family and friends. So why then do you not
talk more about the importance of character?
Is it because you fear a loss of focus from your
school improvement crusade? Is it because
you believe that valuable lesson time will be
sacrificed?
I will show you tonight that your fears can
be allayed. I will argue that an emphasis on
character is not at the expense of academic
work. I will show that the lesson time does
not have to be eroded by schools focussing
on character. I argue that academic learning
will become much more profound with an
emphasis on character. I will show that exam
success will be boosted by an emphasis on
character. I argue that the development
6
of good character is more important than
exam success. Why? Because good character
strengths are a greater predictor of success in
university and in life than mere exam passes.
Dear Michaels, you are guilty of spreading an
untruth, of popularising a false dichotomy,
that schools can either have exam success or
develop good character.
The best schools have both and if forced
to prioritise one or the other, our schools
should be prioritising character, because the
pendulum has swung far too far and no one
is more responsible than you two for pushing
it so far in the one direction. There is time.
You can win that third cheer.
My lecture tonight will concentrate on
the experience of schools, rather than the
empirical evidence. This is not because the
empirical evidence is lacking, but because
the Jubilee Centre has done so much
excellent work on disseminating work on
good character. I would point you to James
Arthur’s excellent ‘Education with Character’.
Or to the review of the research in the
November 2012 paper by James Arthur
and James O’Shaughnessy, ‘Character and
Attainment: Does Character Make the Grade?’
I want to focus tonight rather on the practical
experiences of schools in the teaching of
character, schools in the UK and in the United
States, drilling down to what they do day by
day on the ground.
Let me begin with the school I know best, my
own
Wellington College
Wellington College was founded in 1859
by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, as the
national memorial to the Duke of Wellington.
It was to provide schooling for the orphaned
sons of British soldiers killed fighting for their
country, and has a long tradition of character
development. Like many public schools, the
development of character was rooted in the
four pillars of chapel, house, games and CCF.