Best Learning Video Of The Week: Can Character Be Taught?
My pick for the best learning video of the week is this recording of a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival, titled “Can Character Be Taught?” It features education writer Paul Tough, head of the Riverdale School Dominic Randolph, and head of the Georgetown Day School Russell Shaw. I liked especially what Shaw had to say:
“When you’re 35, if you can talk about the French-American War at a cocktail party, that’s fine, but it’s not going to be a game-changer for you. But if, when you’re 35, you can encounter something difficult, something you hadn’t expected, and fall down and rally from that experience and think, What can I take away from that?—that is going to be tremendously important for you. We’ve defined a set of skills [like resilience] that we want all our students to possess when they walk across the stage at graduation.”
I think it’s wonderful that heads of school and others in the education world are thinking so explicitly and concretely about the “character strengths” that students need to succeed. You can watch the video here.
This is an interesting subject and one well worth taking a closer look at.