As part of Strand A of the current Teacher Education: Character and the Professional Development of Pre- and In-Service Teachers project, the Jubilee Centre, in consultation with teacher educators and trainee teachers, have designed, trialled and evaluated a Teacher Training Workshop lecture and a My Character Reflective Journal which can be used as part of an Initial Teacher Education programme. For a summary of the research findings from Strand A of the Teacher Education project click here.
The Teacher Training Workshop
The Teacher Training Workshop provides an introduction to character education and the work of the Jubilee Centre, for both primary and secondary courses, in the form of a PowerPoint presentation and accompanying teacher delivery notes. This lecture has been trialled and evaluated at three UK universities, with over 800 trainee teachers. The majority of trainee teachers agreed that the training they received from the Jubilee Centre, in the form of the Teacher Training Workshop, helped to develop their understanding of character education and was relevant to their profession. The Teacher Training Workshop and accompanying notes have been developed so that they can be delivered by teacher educators from across the country. It is recommended that the PowerPoint presentation is edited to suit specific ITE courses and that the workshop is followed-up with seminars throughout the training programme which address areas covered in the workshop.
My Character Reflective Journal
The My Character Reflective Journal is a six-week reflective journal, for use on teaching placements, which provides trainees with a space for structured daily reflection on their personal character strengths. It asks trainees to reflect on the three character strengths which were most important to them on each day whilst also providing a short written reflection at the end of each week. Trainee teachers who had completed the journal commented on the positive impact it had on their well-being and practice.
These resources provide a guide and teacher educators are encouraged to adapt them to best suit the needs of their course and current cohort.