Wisdom at Work 

Character Education Begins with Leadership: Taking People Seriously as Persons

What excites you most about your work as a school leader? What drew you into education in the first place?  What keeps you there everyday? Tapping into this motivation and keeping it in mind provides powerful inspiration, even under the most challenging circumstances. This module reminds you that leadership is not a solo act and introduces the Practical Wisdom Framework (PWF)™(Bohlin, 2022), a shared approach to decision-making and problem solving aimed at flourishing and high performance.   In this module, we learn two powerful practices at the heart of the PWF–Reflective Listening and Recalibration–and why they are essential to staying agile as leaders and responsive to the people in our care —faculty, staff, students and parents.

Ground Your Compass: Finding your True North Amidst Competing Values and Views

What excites you most about your work as a school leader? What drew you into education in the first place?  What keeps you there everyday? Tapping into this motivation and keeping it in mind provides powerful inspiration, even under the most challenging circumstances. This module reminds you that leadership is not a solo act and introduces the Practical Wisdom Framework (PWF)™(Bohlin, 2022), a shared approach to decision-making and problem solving aimed at flourishing and high performance.   In this module, we learn two powerful practices at the heart of the PWF–Reflective Listening and Recalibration–and why they are essential to staying agile as leaders and responsive to the people in our care —faculty, staff, students and parents.

Pre-Work Materials:

• “The Practical Wisdom Framework: A Compass for School Leaders”

• 23-minute TED Talk: Barry Schwartz: Using Our Practical Wisdom

• Blog post: “How to Help Students Be the Best Version of Themselves”

Practice Reflective Listening & Recalibration using the PWF Reflective Listening Protocol & Recalibration Toolbox here.

Follow the Trailheads

Every subject in school, every rule, every norm, and every learning experience has the potential to expand students’ horizons, to school their desires not simply to earn good grades or stay out of trouble, but to become the kind of person who is eager to pursue rugged but noble paths. What are trailheads that point the way? How do we mark them? Using the Practical Wisdom Framework Curriculum Planning Protocol™, you will learn to identify and mine the formative opportunities present in academic and non-academic programs that contribute to students’ flourishing and performance.

Pre-Work Materials

• Read “Virtue: An Argument Worth Rehearsing”

• Read  Introduction and “Helping Students Navigate Stress Tests: 5 Q&A’s” (pages 4-10) and from “The Struggles of Mathematicians and Scientists” to “Guiding Questions for Teachers” (pages 17-23) in Stress Tests of Character. Feel free to peruse other lessons of interest.

Read Adapted versions of 2 Lessons in Appendix O, “Developing a Yearlong Theme: Our Choices Reveal Our Character” and in Appendix P, “Elizabeth Barker, Prison Educator: Thinking About Choice” in Bohlin, Ryan and Farmer’s  Building Character in School Resource Guide.

Application and Showcase

The Showcase Summit is the culminating module of the program. In this session, you and your team will collaborate on a problem of practice or a character education initiative that directly impacts student flourishing in your school. Each school team will draft a one-sentence SMART aim statement, present their work, and receive constructive feedback on how their problem or initiative can be advanced, socialized, and implemented to shape virtuous decision-making and action. This module also provides space to reflect individually and collectively on the Practical Wisdom Framework™ (PWF) paying particular attention to the 4R’s and how it can continue to guide your leadership practice beyond the program.

Navigate Challenges to Promote Character

Life is messy and unpredictable. We are all works in progress, taking shape as we navigate life’s ups and downs. For students to take ownership of their own character development they need many opportunities for both guided and independent practice, as well as opportunities to learn from mistakes and make amends. Using the Practical Wisdom Framework Coaching Conversations & Formative Discipline Protocols™ you will learn to accompany, coach, and empower students (and adults) as they confront and navigate challenges.

Pre-Work Materials

• Read “The Student From Hell” in Parker Palmer’s The Courage to Teach

• Read Chapters 3 “Breakthrough,” 4 “The Lost Art” and 5 “Classroom Praxis from A to B” in Inchausti’s Spitwad Sutras: Classroom Teaching as Sublime Vocation (pdfs forthcoming)