character development research paper

A Review of Character Strengths Interventions in Twenty-First-Century Schools: their Importance and How they can be Fostered

Published: 08 January 2019
Volume 15 , pages 573–596, ( 2020 )

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Shiri Lavy 1

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A main challenge of educational organizations is how to foster students’ capacity to fulfill their potential. The present paper, based on educational, psychological, and organizational research, asserts that a discussion of character strengths and their development is highly relevant to this challenge. It provides an integrative overview of the relevance of character strengths to twenty-first - century schools and discusses different mechanisms that can help foster them. Character strengths—widely valued positive traits, theorized to be the basis for optimal functioning and well-being—may derive from inner tendencies, but are expected to have broad potential for development, depending on individuals’ experiences and environments. Furthermore, character strengths are closely related to twenty-first-century competencies – cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies, identified by the American National Research Council as required for thriving in contemporary life and work, and thus considered to be desirable educational outcomes. The paper first delineates the connections between twenty-first-century competencies and character strengths, demonstrating the importance of promoting them in education. Then, mechanisms for fostering development of character strengths in schools are discussed, based on a review of the literature, including mechanisms that affect students (e.g., curriculum, relationships), teachers (e.g., training, supervisors), and schools (e.g., evaluation processes, resource allocation), while considering the interplay between these different levels. The concluding part of the paper outlines an integrative model of an optimal school system, expected to foster character strengths’ use and development and discuss its applications for research and practice.

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Lavy, S. A Review of Character Strengths Interventions in Twenty-First-Century Schools: their Importance and How they can be Fostered. Applied Research Quality Life 15 , 573–596 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-018-9700-6

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Received : 06 October 2018

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-018-9700-6

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p-ISSN: 2162-9463 e-ISSN: 2162-8467

2019; 9(5): 81-86

doi:10.5923/j.edu.20190905.01

Student Character Development: Relationships, Resources, and Considerations

Michael D. Thompson 1 , Irving I. Epstein 2

1 Office of Institutional Research & Planning, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, USA

2 Department of Educational Studies, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, USA

Email:

This case study examination assessed the significant contributions of college resources regarding students’ character development within a liberal arts institutional setting. The effects of attributed contributions from various interactions and experiences are analyzed within the context of Astin’s [1] input-environment-outcome model. Data elements from student participants in their senior undergraduate year were utilized and extracted from merged longitudinal databases that included matching student responses from Student Information Forms (SIF) and College Senior Surveys (CSS), both instruments from the Higher Education Research Institute. The results of this case study confirmed many established results concerning student character development, yet also continue to raise questions regarding which institutional relationships and experiences have the greatest impact in contributing to its enhancement.

Keywords: College Students, Character Development, Liberal Arts

Cite this paper: Michael D. Thompson, Irving I. Epstein, Student Character Development: Relationships, Resources, and Considerations, Education , Vol. 9 No. 5, 2019, pp. 81-86. doi: 10.5923/j.edu.20190905.01.

Article Outline

1. introduction and literature review, 2. methodology, 2.1. participants and procedure, 2.2. instruments, 2.3. variables and design.

Means, Standard Deviations and Pearson Correlations of Predictors

Student Character Development Coefficients

4. Discussion & Conclusions

5. limitations, appendix a: content of multiple item scales.

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Foundational Framework for Character Development in Youth Sports

Aug 26, 2024

By Dr. Pete Paciorek

“ How do I know that my coaching strategies and practices are effective for building long-term character development and well-being of my athletes and teams?” That is the most important question that every youth coach worldwide should be asking themselves on a daily basis. Similarly, parents should be making the same inquiries. In my role as the Head of Leadership & Character Development at the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, that is a question that I have been asked hundreds of times by coaches, parents, and school administrators domestically and internationally, and I am always glad that they asked.

This week’s blog provides an evidence-based framework that thousands of coaches and athletics departments effectively apply to their coaching practices: PRIMED for Coaching for Character (PCC). PCC aligns well with Character.orgs 11 Principles Guide to Cultivating a Culture of Character. In fact, the seminal work of the lead researchers in PRIMED (Berkowitz & Bier, 2005) have also provided research support around “what works in character education” and holistic youth development for Character.org.

Our youth’s long-term character development and well-being should always be the priority. Still, internal and external pressures to win can often derail a coach’s focus and commitment to long-term positive youth development. Sports participation should cultivate joy, balance, happiness, and zest in athletes of all ages. However, this is not always the case. Over the past few decades, research shows a 6% decline in participation in sports among youth aged 8-17. These kids are not leaving sports due to the normal attrition caused by a passion in other areas (e.g., music, art). In fact, many of these young people love sports, but bad coaches, excessive parents, or pressures to be the next Tiger Woods are causing them to opt out and never return to sports (Bates & Anderson-Butcher, 2023).

So, we know the great value that sports can play in the development of youth worldwide. Most would agree that we want kids to stay involved in sports through their formidable years and into their adult lives for an array of health benefits. We also know from the research that kids are dropping out of sports at an alarming rate. Despite the glaring desire and need to bring joy and fulfillment back into youth sports to reverse this trend, our children are losing out long-term.

Fortunately, there are proven strategies to instill joy, balance, happiness, and zest in young athletes, fostering long-term character growth and positive youth development (PYD). We offer a framework for coaches and parents to help reverse this negative trend and bring back the joy of sports.

PRIMED for Coaching for Character (PCC) provides coach-educators with an accountability framework that is rooted in 40+ years of evidence-based research in effective character development ( Paciorek, 2023 ). PCC partners with world leaders in character education in schools and youth sports, Dr. Marvin Berkowitz and Dr. David Shields, to present an easy-to-use and remember acronym [P.R.I.M.E.D) that coaches can literally and metaphorically put in their back pocket to stay anchored daily to their commitment to character development.

As a youth coach of 30 years who has always tried to prioritize character development through the vehicle of sport through both my coaching and my non-profit work at CharacterLovesCompany.org , when I was introduced to the PRIMED framework for character education in schools, I immediately found relevance to my daily coaching emphasis on long-term character development. Fortunately, I received a deep dive into PRIMED from the originator of the framework, Dr. Marvin Berkowitz, who was my doctoral advisor and continues to be one of my strongest mentors.

PCC is not a rigid curriculum. Rather, it is a framework for coaches and educators to prime them to show up each day to “be” their best for their students. While the “doing” of character education is important, it is even more vital that coaches model the “being” of character, as they can be some of the greatest mentors in their players’ lives.

What coaches have expressed that makes PRIMED so effective is its ease of application coupled with the stickiness of the mnemonic device of the 6 Design Principles of PRIMED that combat the common “fade-out-effect” of most professional development (PD) models. Coaches have found that taking five minutes prior to practice to prepare to show up their best as character educators, and another five minutes after practice to reflect helps them stay grounded and committed to their true purpose for coaching.

A brief summary of each of the six design principles of PCC are provided below for coaches, educators, and parents to begin applying immediately to their coaching, mentoring, and overall support of the well-being and character development of our youth.

“P” p rioritization of character development and clear p urpose:

What are we prioritizing most as coaches? Is the long-term development of character more important each day than the wins and losses. Are we as coaches concerned most with hoisting the championship trophy in the air at the end of the season, or raising up stronger character in our youth? PCC asks coaches to consider how they proactively prioritize character building prior to practice or competitions, as well as to reflect on how well they did so after each day (Paciorek, 2023).

“R” r elationships of trust:

There is a sentiment that kids don’t care what you know until they know that you care. This can be applied to all stakeholders, especially parents of your students and players. It is vital that coaches committed to character development build relationships of trust amongst their team.

“I” i ntrinsic motivation:

For many coaches, cultivating intrinsic motivators for competing in sport can feel counterintuitive to what they have learned throughout their playing and coaching careers from their mentors. For instance, we all know the old unifying cliché that, “There is no ‘I’ in team” yet we continue to highlight and give out of balance praise and recognition to the stars on the team. Take time to consider the forms of motivation that you use with your players and teams. Are you cultivating a love for the game and a healthy approach to team and life skills learned through sport, or are you only about the rings and the bling.

“M” m odeling high character:

Coaches need to accept the responsibility to act as models of character, as do team captains/leaders. As coaches, our words and deeds need to be in alignment, but more importantly, our “being” needs to reflect strong moral character. They are watching and learning from you as a strong role model in their lives.

“E” e mpowerment of athletes:

Empowerment is an area that many coaches struggle with, as we are often used to maintaining authoritarian, dictator-like control, rather than empowering athletes as leaders. For me, as a sport coach of 30 years who always desired to be a coach of character, I admit that in my early years of coaching this empowerment piece was not a common practice. There are many opportunities each day for sport coaches committed to character development through PCC to empower our athletes.

“D” d evelopmental pedagogy long-term:

As mentioned, sport coaches are highly impactful mentors and influencers in the lives of their players. As coaches, our purpose or “why” for coaching can be easily blurred in pursuit of championship rings, personal promotion, and ego. This final design principle provides a daily reminder for coaches to remain aligned with our true purpose to positively impact the character of all of our players. Let’s keep the most important thing, the most important thing: CHARACTER!

For a deeper dive into PCC, you can access the following articles and links:

Journal of Character Education: PRIMED: An Innovative Program for Coaching for Character
District Administration: Student misbehavior on the rise? Focus on character development
SmartBrief: Why Sports Coaches Need Character Development Training

More About Pete...

Dr. Pete Paciorek, is the Head of Leadership & Character Development at IMG Academy. He was a professional baseball player for close to a decade. Pete comes from a family of 11 professional baseball players and shares insights into the intricate balance between development and fun in youth sports. He has a doctorate in Character Education & Servant Leadership and has coached student-athletes for 30 years.

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Consistency

It’s easy to post a list of core values on the refrigerator. It’s much more difficult for parents to be consistent. Consistency lets children know what to expect and what is expected of them. Of course, children will push boundaries but inconsistency from parents confuses children.

Everyone involved in your child’s development are critical to modeling and upholding core values. Parents need to work with these important role models to foster the importance of doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, and for the right reasons.

Parents need to commit to model and reinforce to their children the core values and character strengths that mean the most to them. They also need to be creative and offer meaningful experiences that illuminate how important these character strengths are to the family’s core values.

Conversations

We know “We need to talk” freaks kids out, but too often parents avoid having conversations about character, especially as children get older. While it may not be easy to talk sometimes, we know from the research that parents who avoid talking to their children about serious matters quickly lose trust and connection.

Celebration

Parents need to find ways for their children to be active participants in their own character growth. Optimal character development occurs when children begin to make self-motivated commitments to consistently practice a core value (e.g. “I want to be the kind of person who is always honest and shows up on time.”) Parents need to celebrate these moments to shape and define individual character.

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Leadership, character and its development: A qualitative exploration

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