A Bespoke Experience for Sixty Influential Leaders in Australian Education
The Character Leaders in Education National Symposium has been specially designed to provide opportunities to engage with academic experts and leading practitioners in character education. Capped to a small size, the Symposium will create a unique setting to:
- Access world-leading research on character and the virtues in keynote and masterclass sessions
- Be inspired by exemplary leaders of character in Australian public life
- Explore best-practice models for character programming in schools
- Network with other character leaders in education
Symposium Snapshot
Day 1 | Thursday 26 May 2022
8:30am Arrival and coffee
9:00am Welcome to Day 1 9:15am Live Virtual Keynote: Good Character: What Is It, Why Is It Important, and How Can We Help to Foster It in our Students? (Professor Christian Miller) 10:30am Break 11:15am Masterclasses: Understanding Character and the Virtues 12:45pm Lunch 2:00pm Masterclasses: Character and Leadership 6:00pm Symposium Dinner, Olio Kensington St (included in registration) |
Day 2 | Friday 27 May 2022
8:30am Arrival and coffee
9:00am Welcome to Day 2 9:15am Live Virtual Keynote: The End of Adolescence: The Lost Art of Delaying Adulthood (Professor Nancy Hill) 10:30am Break 11:15am Masterclasses: Connecting Character with Care 12:45pm Lunch 2:00pm Character LeadMeet 3:30pm Afternoon tea and close |
Thursday | 26 May 2022 | 8:30am - 8:00pm
Symposium Day 1 |
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Delegate Registration
Open from 8:30am
Opening Welcome
Live Virtual Keynote Address: Professor Christian B. Miller
Following the Keynote Presentation, a panel of influential Principals will discuss Schools and Character
Good Character: What Is It, Why Is It Important, and How Can We Help to Foster It in our Students?
Honesty, compassion, and humility. These are some of the virtues that make up a good character. In this talk, we will examine what it takes to be a person of good character, and why that is so important. Our main focus, however, will be on some practical steps and strategies we can try to implement at our schools to foster the virtues in students (and ourselves). |
Panel Response
Chaired by Dr Phil Cummins, Managing Partner, a School for tomorrow.
Masterclass Session One - Understanding Character and the Virtues
The Virtue of Honesty: What Is It?, Why Is It Important, and How Can We Cultivate It? (Live virtual by Zoom)
Professor Christian B. Miller
Wake Forest University This short masterclass will provide an opportunity to think deeply about a character trait we all think is important and yet also lacking in society, namely honesty. We will first clarify what the virtue of honesty involves, including both its behavioural and motivational aspects. Then we will note why it is important, as well as why recent empirical research seems to imply that it is relatively scarce. Finally a significant amount of time will be reserved for talking about practical steps for cultivating honesty especially in the high school context.
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Forgiveness and its Virtues
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The Vocation of Formation: Helping teachers teach for character
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Masterclass Session Two - Character and Leadership
The True Character of EntrepreneurshipMr Alex Carpenter
The University of Sydney Business School In Australia, there are many misconceptions which hold entrepreneurship back from being understood and encouraged as the force for positive change that it is. Students all across Australia need to be shown the positive and diverse role models that we have in abundance and need to be encouraged to pursue these opportunities.
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Gentleness: A Despised Virtue?
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Developing Character through Leadership DevelopmentAssociate Professor Mulyadi Robin
Australian Institute of Business While much research and funding have been invested the areas of character formation and leadership development, the efficacy and effectiveness of such programs are still largely anecdotal. Given the large amount of investment of both financial and non-financial resources devoted to these endeavours, measuring return on investment is paramount in ensuring both the suitability and sustainability of such programs. Drawing on best practices and extant research on character, virtue, and leadership development; this workshop will focus on the principles of designing a rigorous and holistic program that is reliable, valid, and measurable. Participants will be involved in designing a program aimed at developing intellectual humility and leadership in schools – including the development and design of control measures to evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of the program.
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The Mark and Measure of Character
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Symposium Dinner
Join Symposium delegates and guests for an intimate dinner and networking opportunities from 6:00pm - 8:30pm, at Olio Kensington St in Spice Alley, a short walk from the conference venue.
Friday | 27 May 2022 | 8:30am - 3:30pm
Symposium Day 2 |
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Live Virtual Keynote Address: Professor Nancy E. Hill
Following the Keynote Presentation, a panel of influential Principals will discuss Schools and Care
The End of Adolescence: The Lost Art of Delaying Adulthood
Honesty, compassion, and humility. These are some of the virtues that make up a good character. In this talk, we will examine what it takes to be a person of good character, and why that is so important. Our main focus, however, will be on some practical steps and strategies we can try to implement at our schools to foster the virtues in students (and ourselves). Many families and schools feel the crunch as youth navigate high school and enter the high stakes of college. Current media suggests that today’s youth are often trapped in an extended adolescence, stalling as they make the transition to adulthood. Rather than understanding the challenges that youth face, our societies are often quick to judge youth and demean them, casting them as apathetic and reticent to take on responsibilities. Hill’s recent research challenges this negative narrative of today’s youth. Based on an analysis of recently discovered archival interviews, Hill will prevent evidence that delaying adulthood and the insecurities that come with it are not new to today’s generation. Each generation has its own struggles and insecurities as they come of age. These struggles are more pronounced when the job market is insecure or unstable. She will outline what youth gain from having more time to launch into adulthood. Based on decades of research with teens, their families and schools, Hill will describe the relational supports from families and schools that teens need to develop character, purpose, and a plan as they make the transition from adolescence to the rest of their lives. |
Panel Response
Chaired by Dr Rob Loe, Senior Fellow, Relationships Foundation
Masterclass Session Three - Connecting Character with Care
Relational Capability, Social Conduct and the Development of Character: From Egoism to AltruismDr Rob Loe
Relationships Foundation / Christian Schools Australia Like our physical muscles, our capacity to assume the first person perspective of another (to think about the world with them) can be encouraged and embedded over time in response to environmental and situational stimulation. Dr Rob Loe will explore how the development of pro-social capability can lay the foundations for social engagement, and responsibility.
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Creating Time and Space for Youth to Thrive (Live virtual by Zoom)
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Does Virtue Make Us Happy? Examining the Link between Character and Wellbeing
Dr Annette Pierdziwol and Mr Tim Smartt
The University of Notre Dame Australia Does having good character make you a happier person? Does a focus on cultivating the virtues support student and teacher wellbeing? This masterclass examines the philosophical concepts of character and wellbeing in order to consider the nature of the potential link between them and to evaluate available empirical work in psychology on this question. We will focus on the virtue of compassion as a test case, examining if being more compassionate improves wellbeing. The masterclass will also give attendees some tools to think well about integrating work across philosophy, psychology, and education.
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Character LeadMeet
The program will conclude with a presentation by Dr Phil Cummins on what the research says about being character leaders, as well as interactive sharing of character education in practice from delegates' schools, and next steps in continuing as character leaders.