Towards Utopia - The education of character and behaviour

This is the fourth of a series of six 'thought pieces' which came about as a result of my unexpected hospitalisation last week, and looking ahead to some news and exciting plans which lie ahead.

I mentioned early on in the series how education happens in and out of formal settings, within the family and community groups, and how a powerful evocation of the true meaning of education is found in how a community and society inducts its young into ‘its ways’.

At one elemental level, this involves moulding behaviours and social norms, whether that be shouting obscenities at passers-by whilst cruising down the street or shaking hands with mother before retiring to the nursery of an evening. I exaggerate of course at both extremes, but there is a wide spectrum of expectation as to how character is inculcated and, of course, children follow the examples of their role modelling elders. Learning how to converse appropriately and demonstrate the right body language are both vital aspects of education.

I am also passionate about children developing situational behaviour – chatting with friends will be different from conversing with Her Ladyship over a Sunday roast, and the interview with the Tutor for Admissions at Eton will be somewhere in between! Eating with your fingers is fine if it’s pizza in front of the TV of a relaxed Saturday evening, but not at a formal luncheon or dinner. We all have different layers which we ‘put on’ at different times, for different situations. Manners, innit?

But, of course, that is an acknowledgement that behaviour is what is on the surface: what is below, in terms of character, is far more important. I have come to appreciate that shaping and guiding the growth and development of character is perhaps the single most important, yet overlooked, aspect of education. Just at the weekend I read another exhortation – from Anthony Seldon no less – for schools to put character education front and centre.

There are many, far more clever educationalists than me leading the way in the codification of character education; for me, it crystallises to a sense of otherness, of respect and of appreciation. It is an understanding of what it means to be a member of a community, a member of society: balancing that with the priority of self and family, and how this translates into behaviours, is a key litmus test of altruistic character. It is about being able, willing and content to express gratitude, as Eton introduced to their character curriculum last year.

Developing an innate sense of altruism and encouraging children to understand the positive benefits to their own happiness as well as to that of others is the ultimate goal, albeit constrained by a societal norm which, in recent years, appears to be gradually shifting in a more individualistic direction.

I have a strong desire to work with care homes to ‘link up’ younger children with residents, to meet together on a weekly basis, share stories and experiences, play games and read. It is something many teenagers do as voluntary service and, more recently, there have been examples of nurseries being successfully co-located with care homes. However, in these ‘middle years’ of childhood I believe the positive effects of such interactions could be just as meaningful for the children, and their exuberant effervescence can bring joy to their elderly companions.

As educators, we have differing levels of contact with children and have to accept that we are working in tandem with parents in all aspects of education, but perhaps most crucially in character education. I say in tandem with caution: one would like it to be in partnership, but there may be at times a dissonance, a tension between value systems and priorities: I suspect anyone who has been a school leader has experienced that tension at some point! I think it is self-evident that when we educate children in a residential setting we can have a greater opportunity to influence their character education, although if in too great a number, that effect can be diluted and peer influence can become the greater power, and not necessarily to the better. Yes, of course, for many children being separated on a daily basis from their family could cause harm in other, more significant ways, but for certain children, living and learning in a small egalitarian community which does not revolve around them can be a central, positive tenet of their character education, with the potential to draw together the formal and informal into one, coherent and truly holistic education.