A Shining Light Shaping the Field of Character Education

This past week, I received an email from Kristján Kristjánsson, a professor of Character Education and Virtue Ethics at the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues (based at the University of Birmingham, UK). 

Kristján wanted me to know that a newly published article he co-wrote had just been published in the British Journal of Education. Titled, “Reconsidering the ‘Ten Myths’ about Character Education,” the article revisits a landmark article that Kristján wrote in 2013. 

I can’t fully express how much Kristján’s 2013 article has inspired me. For the first time in my career, here was an article that captured what many K-12 educators were sharing with me in one-on-one conversations. For example, one myth is that character education is conservative. Another suggests that character is religious. A third myth offers the perspective that character is paternalistic. And more.

I’ve incorporated these ten myths into countless talks, workshops, and publications. Several years ago, I also took the time to handwrite each of the ten myths onto a 5×7” piece of paper that now hangs in my office. I literally look at these myths every day before I click on my computer and start my day.

The revised version, written in collaboration with two of Kristján’s Jubilee colleagues (Tom Harrison and Andrew Peterson), looks at how our field has addressed each of these ten myths over the past ten years.

The final section of the article spotlights three growing challenges for character education, including how our field might best integrate new technologies (AI, VR, and gaming). As the summer winds down for many of us, I hope everyone reading this post will find the time to soak in the wisdom of this compelling article. 

I hope you have also grasped by now that I am a Kristján Kristjánsson fanboy. Beyond the scores of peer-reviewed articles he’s written, his 2015 book Aristotelian Character Education has become a classic in our field and his 2024 book Phronesis (co-written with BJ Fowers), is a treasure chest of insight and perspective on one of Aristotle’s four cardinal virtues.

My favorite, however, is Kristján’s 2022 book Friendship for Virtue. As I have grown older, I have come to realize how my friendships —in so many ways—have helped to form and shape my character. 

As a person, Kristjan Kristjánsson is humble and insatiably curious. As a scholar…he is my hero. 

Thank you, Kristján, for inspiring so many of us. 

*************

Happy reading: Reconsidering the ‘Ten Myths’ about Character Education (2024)

Wanna geek out? Here is Kristján’s 2013 article