14th Annual Conference: Character Caught, Taught, and Sought

The original conceptualisation from the Jubilee Centre’s framework of dividing strategies of character development into ‘taught’, ‘caught’ and ‘sought’ has found resonance with theorists and practitioners alike, and those terms are now emblazoned on walls in many schools and colleges, within and outside of the U.K. However, the time has come to revisit this conceptualisation and subject it to further scrutiny. Various questions beckon, such as: Is this conceptualisation theoretically rigorous and exhaustive of possible characterological strategies, or does it miss something important? How exactly are these strategies related; would it, for instance, be possible to teach character productively in an institution where it is not caught from the ethos also? How is the ‘sought’ element related to the development of practical wisdom (phronesis) that is currently witnessing renewed interest? Is learning from role models a case of ‘taught’, ‘caught’ or ‘sought, or perhaps all three at once? How does the empirical evidence for the effectiveness of those three strategies – individually and collectively – stack up? What is the role of the individual practitioner in implementing those strategies and how much of the responsibility for implementation rests with the leadership team?