Exploring Character in Community: Faculty Development in University-Level Communities of Practice

Abstract

A significant majority of faculty at U.S. colleges and universities believe that character is an important aim of university education, but many do not know how to support students in developing their character. This article presents a mixed-methods study that examined the effectiveness of two cross-disciplinary communities of practice (CoPs) in promoting faculty dialogue and development around character in institutions of higher education. Findings highlight that the month-long CoP increased participants’ understanding of the meaning of character education, how to develop character in students, and how to assess character. The results point to the pedagogical potential of an intentional CoP to support faculty development focused on educating character at the university level.

Acknowledgements

We owe special thanks to Kenneth Townsend, Johann Ducharme, Hannah Read, and other staff of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University who were influential in helping to facilitate the community of practice alongside the authors. Additional thanks to Elise Dykhuis who helped develop the survey items and facilitated portions of the community of practice in 2020.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This article and the research behind it was supported by the generosity of the Lilly Endowment, Inc. [20190951] and the Kern Family Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Kate R. Allman

a

Kate R. Allman ([email protected]) is the Executive Director of Winston-Salem TEACH and a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Education at Wake Forest University.

Heather M. Maranges

b

Heather M. Maranges ([email protected]) is an Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at Florida State University.

Elizabeth Whiting

c

Elizabeth Whiting ([email protected]) is the Director for Leadership and Character Formation in the School of Medicine at Wake Forest University.

Rebecca Park

d

Rebecca Park ([email protected]) is a Research Scholar in the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University.

Michael Lamb

e

Michael Lamb ([email protected]) is the F. M. Kirby Foundation Chair of Leadership and Character, Executive Director of Leadership and Character, and Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Wake Forest University.