The ‘Character Educator in Focus’ series shares the work of character educators around the world, describing how they have applied character education and the impact that this has had on students and communities.
Charlotte Tibbs, Assistant Principal at Springwest Academy
December 2021
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Charlotte Tibbs. Charlotte is an Assistant Principal at Springwest Academy – a mixed comprehensive school serving the local community of Feltham in Hounslow. In this blog, Charlotte describes character education at Springwest, and how this has developed.
The full piece is available to read here.
Lyndsey Bolton, Rachael Sharpe & Neil Moor, Alumnis Multi Academy Trust
November 2021
This month’s Character Educator in Focus highlights the work of Lyndsey Bolton (School Improvement Leader), Rachael Sharpe (Executive Headteacher), and Neil Moir (CEO), who combined form the Character Education Team at Alumnis Multi Academy Trust (MAT). In this blog, the team describe the approach to character education that they have taken across the Alumnis MAT.
The full piece is available to read here.
Kenny Primrose, Character Education Lead at Emmanuel College, Gateshead
October 2021
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Kenny Primrose. Kenny is Character Education Lead at Emmanuel College, Gateshead, where he also teaches religion and philosophy. He is in the third year of the MA Character Education programme and discusses in this blog how he is implementing a strategic approach to character development across the school.
The full piece is available to read here.
Rebecca Moors, Assistant Headteacher at Woodbrook Vale School, Loughborough
September 2021
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Rebecca Moors, Assistant Headteacher at Woodbrook Vale School in Loughborough. Mrs. Moors, who oversees Personal Development and Character at the school, discusses how Woodbrook Vale practices character education, including an insight into the school’s unique implementation of a mobile app focussed upon personal development.
The full piece is available to read here.
Ben Miller, MA Character Education Student and Head of Theology & Philosophy at Reading School
August 2021
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Ben Miller. Ben is Head of Theology and Philosophy at Reading School and a former Research Fellow at the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues. He completed the Jubilee Centre’s MA Character Education and is currently studying for a PhD at the University of Birmingham with a focus on theology and character formation. In this blog, Ben discusses how Reading School teach character education and how this is incorporated into the school curriculum and culture through methods such as the ‘caught, taught and sought’ approach to teaching virtues and the ‘Floreat’ curriculum.
The full piece is available to read here.
David Church, Teacher & Head of Religious Studies at Mountain Ash Comprehensive School, Wales
July 2021
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is David Church. David is an award-winning teacher (Professional Teaching Awards, Cymru) and Head of Religious Studies at Mountain Ash Comprehensive School (MACS), Wales. In this blog, David discusses how character education and social action at MACS has resulted in multiple awards, honours and once in a lifetime experiences for pupils, such as the Diana Award and Virgin Atlantic – Be the Change’ Scholarship programme.
The full piece is available to read here.
Maureen Spelman, MA Character Education Student and Visiting Professor in Educational Leadership and Coordinator of Character Initiatives at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois
June 2021
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Maureen Spelman. Maureen currently serves as a Visiting Professor in Educational Leadership and the Coordinator of Character Initiatives at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Supported by the funding of the Kern Family Foundation, Maureen is completing her second year in the Jubilee Centre’s MA Character Education programme. In this blog, she discusses her experience of supporting leaders and teachers within schools to better serve the needs of the students in their care and her reflections on the redesign of North Central College’s Educational Leadership program to include virtue ethics.
The full piece is available here.
Erika Elkady, Secondary Head, Jumeira Baccalaureate School, Dubai
May 2021
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Erika Elkady. Since 2011, Erika Elkady has been Secondary Head of Jumeira Baccalaureate School (JBS) in Dubai, UAE. JBS is an International Baccalaureate (IB) Continuum School which became the first Kitemark School of Character outside the UK in November 2020. Erika is currently in her third year of study on the MA Character Education. In this blog, she discusses JBS’ journey to teach character.
The full piece is available here.
Gail Peyton, Regional Director for Primary Education, Birmingham
April 2021
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Gail Peyton. Gail Peyton is a Regional Director for Primary Education in Birmingham, and a student on the MA Character Education programme. In this blog, Gail discusses how professional development focused on the character of the teacher might support teachers to fulfil their roles as character educators.
The full piece is available here.
Louise Simpson, Head of Exeter School
March 2021
Louise Simpson is Head of Exeter School and is currently in her second year of study on the MA Character Education. In this blog, Louise discusses Exeter School’s approach to character education.
The full piece is available here.
Lois Banks, Assistant Headteacher, Hoo St Werburgh Primary School
February 2021
Since September 2020, Lois Banks has been Assistant Headteacher at Hoo St Werburgh in Kent. Hoo is a large primary school for children aged 2-11 years. It is also part of the Rivermead Inclusive Trust. Lois is also studying for a PhD at the University of Birmingham, where she is taking a close look at young children’s perceptions of moral virtues at both home and school.
The full piece is available here.
Michael Hahn, Program Director of Character and Virtue Education at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
January 2021
Michael Hahn is Assistant Professor and Program Director of Character and Virtue Education at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Alongside his role at Saint Mary’s, Michael is enrolled on the Jubilee Centre’s MA Character Education programme. In this blog, Michael discusses his role as Program Director, what Saint Mary’s have set out to achieve and their approach to character and virtue education.
The full piece is available here.
Bindu Rai, Headteacher, Krishna Avanti Primary School
December 2020
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Bindu Rai. Bindu serves as Headteacher of Hindu faith school, Krishna Avanti Primary School, in Edgware. The School is part of the Avanti Schools Trust. Bindu has been teaching for 28 years in a variety of school settings within the London boroughs of Newham, Brent and Harrow. In the various settings she has worked in, Bindu has derived most satisfaction from being able to make a difference to the local community. Bindu’s fundamental principle is about building trusting, synergistic relationships between teachers and students. Bindu believes this dynamic creates a positive environment for effective learning to take place. Within this blog, Bindu reflects on character education at Krishna Avanti Primary and its role during the recent pandemic.
The full piece is available here.
Carole Jones, Headteacher, Yeading Junior School
November 2020
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Carole Jones, an experienced Headteacher who passionately leads Yeading Junior School in Hayes. Carole enjoys working with the wider community and has developed partnerships which have enhanced opportunities for the school. She has modelled the development of leadership amongst the children and viewed character through the lens of social action actively establishing social action projects with others. Carole is a co-contributor to a book about character development within her school, alongside other members of the school community and a neighbouring university. Yeading Junior School were also recently awarded the Association for Character Education Kitemark.
The full piece is available here.
Chris Clyne, Principal of Northampton Academy & Carlington Anderson, Director of Education at Northampton Academy
October 2020
This month’s Character Educators in Focus are Chris Clyne and Carlington Anderson, Principal and Director of Character Education at Northampton Academy, one of the first Schools awarded the Association for Character Education’s Kitemark. Chris and Carlington discuss what interested them in character education, what their roles at the exemplary school entail, and the impact that embedding practices of character education has had upon the school.
The full piece is available here.
Maddie Ruppel, MA Character Education Student and First Lieutenant in the US Army
September 2020
In this month’s Character Educator in Focus blog, Maddie Ruppel, a First Lieutenant in the US Army with a specialty of Military Intelligence and second year student of the Jubilee Centre’s MA Character Education programme discusses how she is applying lessons learned from the programme to her daily interaction with junior Soldiers, peers, and senior leaders alike within her leadership role as Aide-de-Camp.
The full piece is available here.
Dr. Quintin Robinson, MA Character Education Student and Assistant Professor at Santa Clara University
August 2020
This month’s Character Educator in Focus is Dr. Quintin Robinson, an Assistant Professor at Santa Clara University. In this blog, Dr. Robinson explains how character is relevant to his teaching within the School of Education and Counseling Psychology and how studying on the MA Character Education has influenced this.
Read Quintin’s profile here.
Imani CLough, MA Character Education Student and Director and Founder of Imani Academy
July 2020
In this month’s Character Educator in Focus blog, third year MA Character Education student and Director and Founder of Imani Academy, Imani Clough, reflects on character education and the work of Imani Academy. Imani explains how her studies have helped her to develop the holistic well-being and character of the young people she works with.
Read Imani’s profile here.
Rebecca Daniels, MA Character Education Student and Elementary School Teacher
June 2020
In this month’s Character Educator in Focus blog, elementary school teacher and 1st year MA Character Education student, Rebecca Daniels, reflects on her experiences of character education and explains how she hopes her studies will help to benefit students, the school and the wider community. Rebecca has taught for 8 years at a small, pre-K through 12th grade school in Illinois.
Read Rebecca’s full profile here.
Cristy Guleserian, MA Chararacter Education Student and Director of Principled Innovation
May 2020
The Character Educator in Focus for May 2020 is 1st year MA Character Education student, Cristy Guleserian. Cristy is Director of Principled Innovation at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Cristy discusses her role and why she chose to study on the MA Character Education.
This program is expanding my understanding of the approaches and practices that foster nurturing, student-centered environments where educators, leaders, and learners regularly reflect on their own character development and the impact each individual has on the culture of the learning community.
Read Cristy’s profile in full here.
Tom Pole, MA Character Education Student and Associate Principal
April 2020
The first Character Educator in Focus is Tom Pole, 3rd Year MA Character Education student and Associate Principal at Tudor Grange Academy Solihull. Tom shares how his studies on the MA have influenced his school’s practice and how a focus on character education has supported the school community at this difficult time:
The school’s experience with COVID-19 would have been far worse were it not for the fact that, through the work of the Jubilee Centre and what I have learnt on the MA, we have a vocabulary and framework around which we can support our whole community. We have been able to face the challenges this week positively from a perspective of strength, compassion, civic purpose and courage. Importantly, we have the language to help us speak to each other about the difficult emotions and turmoil we are all experiencing.
Read Tom’s profile in full here.