Director of Strategy and integration, Aidan Thompson, has contributed to the new Character Education White Paper: The Opportunities and Challenges offered by Character Education, published today by the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust. The White Paper reflects a series of roundtable discussions that were held in the autumn of 2017, one of which was hosted by the Jubilee Centre in the Senate Chamber of the University of Birmingham. The White Paper ‘represents a contemporary insight into the views and experiences of leaders from across education, government, business and the youth sector in the UK’ and is infused with the Jubilee Centre’s language of character. Endorsing the White Paper, Aidan Thompson said:
‘The development of children's characters is an obligation we all share. This is not just contained to formal character education lessons in school, but something that permeates every aspect of society, and something that anyone working with young people at any level should recognise. From mainstream schooling, to enrichment activities, through to alternative and informal education provision, character-led teaching is essential for young people to flourish and live lives of meaning and purpose. The points raised in this White Paper, and the wider work of the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, should challenge all those with stakes in the education of young people to consider how they embed a character-led focus to what they do.’
Dame Kelly Holmes wrote the Foreword to Flourishing From the Margins, which was launched in the University of Birmingham Senate Chamber immediately after the Roundtable event.