I’ve been reflecting a lot recently on the relationship between attainment and character. This has become rather more personal than usual because my son is now in his final year of secondary school, with his GCSEs looming at the end of the year. As I deploy various strategies to encourage

In my past presentations and writing on character in the digital age, I have tried to hold a particular line about digital technologies, including generative AI. At root, these technologies are highly sophisticated combinations of mathematics, science, hardware, and software. If you boil it right down, a smartphone or laptop

“Be good role models and good human beings.”  These are the words of Joe Root as he prepared to lead the England men’s cricket team once again, this time in the Test series against Pakistan. For those of you reading Reflections on Character who have little interest in English cricket,

Professor Tom Harrison and Rachael Bushby   The Importance of Praxis   We have learnt, from our time working in universities, that academics love a good debate. This is a vital aspect of the role: to challenge assumptions, ask difficult questions, debate concepts and language, and analyse competing philosophical and theoretical foundations. Such debates are prevalent in the field of character

This article is about practical wisdom, virtue, and the problem with modern advice about living well. We are often told to live by our values. Therapists ask clients to clarify them. Coaches invite people to align with them. Schools display them on walls. Organisations print them in strategic plans, often

As with many universities, the motto of the University of Birmingham is in Latin: per ardua ad alta. Adopted as part of the university’s original coat of arms 125 years ago, it remains in use today. While it can be translated in several ways, most commonly ‘through efforts to high